EMG 81X Active Humbucker Pickup in White

The EMG 81X uses the Solderless Quick-Connect system—you drop it into standard humbucker mounting rings and connect a 3-pin header to your battery connector. No soldering required, and you're ready to play immediately.

The 81X excels in metal, hard rock, djent, and drop-tuning contexts where aggressive, articulate tone and tight low end are priorities. Its tight bass response and controlled midrange are not well-suited to jazz, blues, or folk applications.

A single 9V battery delivers approximately 3000 hours of runtime, making it a low-maintenance active pickup that will power through extended recording sessions and gigging without frequent replacement.

The 81X is the modern evolution of the 81, offering the same classic active aggression with refined preamp circuitry and improved articulation. Both are industry standards in high-gain applications; the 81X is the current recommendation for new builds and upgrades.

The 81X delivers 4.00V string output and 8.50V strum output, providing high-output signal with punchy articulation that maintains definition even at extreme gain settings.

We collect sales tax only on orders shipped to California. Orders shipped to any other US state are charged $0 sales tax at checkout when you buy direct from our website. Marketplaces such as eBay, Reverb and Amazon collect sales tax in nearly every state as marketplace facilitators no matter who the seller is, so the same item at the same price costs less bought direct. Free US shipping and 30-day returns are included. Some states ask buyers to self-report use tax on out-of-state purchases.