The EMG 85 is a popular active

humbucker A humbucking pickup, humbucker, or double coil, is a type of guitar pickup that uses two wire coils to cancel out the noisy interference picked up by coil pickups. In addition to electric guitar pickups, humbucking coils are sometimes used in ...

guitar pickup A pickup is a transducer that captures or senses mechanical vibrations produced by musical instruments, particularly stringed instruments such as the electric guitar, and converts these to an electrical signal that is amplified using an instru ...

manufactured by

EMG, Inc. EMG, Inc. is the current legal name of a company based in Santa Rosa, California that manufactures guitar pickups and EQ accessories. Among guitar and bass accessories, the company sells active humbucker pickups, such as the EMG 81, the EMG 85 ...

It is paired with the 81 in the

Zakk Wylde Zachary Phillip Wylde (born Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt; January 14, 1967) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and as the founder, lead guitarist, lead singer, songwriter and producer of the heavy meta ...

signature EMG set. It was originally designed to be used in the bridge position but is typically installed in the neck position by modern guitar producers. The EMG 85 can be recognized by a humbucker form-factor and gold embossed EMG logo. The EMG 85-7 is the seven string version of the 85.

History and design

The EMG 85 changed the previous EMG 58 pickup in the EMG product lineup as a popular rhythm pickup. Technologically, EMG 85 is an active humbucker with bar-shaped Alnico 5 magnet. The bar-shaped magnet affects strings uniformly, without irregularities known in more traditional design with separate pole pieces. Alnico 5 magnets also contribute to a warmer tone than that normally associated with ceramic magnets, which is why some players often use the 85 in the bridge, as opposed to the 81. As the EMG 85 is an active humbucker, its two coils are not just connected in series or parallel with single output. Instead, they have two separate outputs and are summed electronically in the

preamp A preamplifier, also known as a preamp, is an electronic amplifier that converts a weak electrical signal into an output signal strong enough to be noise-tolerant and strong enough for further processing, or for sending to a power amplifier ...

. However, such sealed solution makes it impossible to do

coil tap A coil tap is a wiring feature found on some electrical transformers, inductors and coil pickups, all of which are sets of wire coils. The coil tap(s) are points in a wire coil where a conductive patch has been exposed (usually on a loop of wire t ...

s or coil splits. The

EMG 89 EMG, Inc. is the current legal name of a company based in Santa Rosa, California that manufactures guitar pickups and EQ accessories. Among guitar and bass accessories, the company sells active humbucker pickups, such as the EMG 81, the EMG 85, ...

is a recommended pickup with a coil tap/split option. As is the case with most other modern EMG pickups, the EMG 85 has a 3-wire ''quik-connect'' output, which consists of a 3-pin male connector on the pickup body and a 3-wire cable to connect it. The easy wire color code scheme that is the same for all EMG products simplifies soldering and installation.

18V Mod

The EMG 85 power source can be modified from 9V to 18V by adding a second 9V battery wired in series. This increases the headroom of the pickup and decreases distortion, particularly with regard to transients. Although the majority of EMG's pickups are rated for 27V operation, they recommend a maximum of 18V, citing the negligible performance increase. There are two main ways to perform this modification. One method involves using separate battery harnesses for each battery. There are several different ways to achieve this, and wiring diagrams can be found all over the internet. The other involves using a separate 9V snap leading to the control cavity to wire two batteries in series outside of the battery compartment.

Guitars with EMG 85

* Pensa-Suhr MK1 (EMG SA/SA/85) * ESP LTD Viper *

Esp LTD H1001 ESP most commonly refers to: * Extrasensory perception, a paranormal ability ESP may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Music * ESP Guitars, a manufacturer of electric guitars * E.S. Posthumus, an independent music group formed in 2000, ...

* Schecter C-1 Hellraiser * Schecter Damien Elite and Elite FR * Schecter Hellraiser Deluxe * Schecter Omen Extreme * Steinberger Synapse ST-2FPA * Jackson Warrior WRXMG eck pickup*

Jackson Dinky The Jackson Dinky is a Superstrat-style double-cutaway electric guitar built by Jackson Guitars. The "Dinky" is named for its slightly smaller than normal (7/8) body size. Usually fitted with a two humbucker pickup configuration, some models al ...

DKMG eck pickup* Jackson SLSMG eck pickup(After July 2006) * Maxes Harmony Les Paul copy eck and Bridge* Godin LG EMG * Godin Freeway EMG * Godin Redline 2 eck Pickup* Godin Redline 3 eck Pickup* Epiphone 1984 Explorer EX eck pickup* Epiphone Les Paul Custom Plus (Zakk Wylde Bullseye, 2011 edition) eck Pickup* Epiphone Les Paul Custom EMG * Epiphone SG prophecy EX * Epiphone les paul prophecy EX * Epiphone Limited Edition G-400 Electric Guitar with EMG Pickups *

Dean Guitars Dean Guitars, commonly referred to simply as Dean, is an American importer and maker of stringed instruments and musical products with its headquarters in Tampa, Florida. Its products include solid-body electric guitars, bass guitars, and acoust ...

Razorback 255 *

Razorback V The Razorback V is an electric guitar designed by Dimebag Darrell shortly before his death in December 2004. It is a more aggressive looking version of the Dean V, and similar to the Dean Razorback. Corey Beaulieu of Trivium is known for using ...

255 *

Deceiver *

Deceiver FG *

Deceiver FMF * B.C. Rich

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Signature Wartribe eck pickup* B.C. Rich

Signature KKV Flying V eck pickup*

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

Les Paul Gothic II kit eck Pickup*

Custom

Signature Les Paul eck Pickup*

Double Cut Longhorn * Suhr Reb Beach Signature Model ridge Pickup* Music Man Steve Lukather Signature Model ridge Pickup* Washburn X50Pro FE ridge Pickup* Washburn Wi-200 PRO E * Washburn Wm24v PRO E * Washburn Wm526 * Agile AL-2500 EMG Black/Green/Blue eck Pickup* Agile Reaper Custom Black/White eck Pickup*

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as ...

RGT6EX eck Pickup* PRS SE Torero eck Pickup* B.C Rich Asm Pro eck Pickup* Cort EVL-X7 eck Pickup

References

EMG data sheet
an Adobe PDF file) {{reflist Guitar pickups