The 85-8XH is designed for extended range housings with humbucker style mounting. Loaded with Alnico V magnets, the 85-8XH is a powerful eight string guitar pickup with exceptional tone and versatility with the added dynamic control of the X preamp. The X preamp bridges the gap between passive and active tone and feel while the Alnico magnets provide a muscular growl and smooth lead tones. Although often used in the neck position, make no mistake, the EMG 85-8XH sounds great as a bridge pickup thanks to its exceptional smoothness and soul. This humbucker is available in a number of finish options and comes standard with EMG's solderless wiring system.

The X series preamp gives the pickup a more dynamic range along with increased headroom while keeping the more traditional string-to-string balance. X series pickups also come with an Active Tone Control (VLPF) designed to roll-off (attenuate) high frequencies, similar to a typical passive tone control. The result is a noiseless single coil guitar pickup with a classic EMG sound that bridges the gap between active and passive.

Manufacturer's Note: Make sure to check the instructions for pickup measurements before purchasing to compare your existing pickups with EMG models.

All EMG Pickups are built to order. Estimated shipping is between 7-14 business days.
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  1. Great choice for downtuning without loosing clarity and punch
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    I always choose EMGs for all my longscale (baritone) guitars. I tried a lot of different passive pickups and SD Blackouts, but I always return back to EMG.
    So this time I replaced my pair of EMG 707 with a pair of 85-8XH and 81-8XH.
    Guitar is tuned to E-E one octave down from standard.
    85-8XH in the bridge: warmer, less sterile and less compressed in comparison with 81-8XH. Sounds "wider", a little bit thicker, but still with awesome punch. Great clarity and note definition. Palm-muted "chug-chugs" are bone-crushing. I use it with a highgain tube amp mainly, so can not say something worthwhile about cleans.
    Chrome caps (with all other chrome hardware on my guitar) looks awesome.
    Note about mounting: 81-8 and 85-8 are a hair bigger in width and length than 707 (I mean "body" without "ears", of course). They are the same with 707 in the middle intersection, but at the base of the pickup 81-8 and 85-8 are a hair bigger. So you can run into some problems if you decide (like me) to replace 707 with 85-8 by just routing "ears" for the old pickup cavity. If pickup cavity for 707 was ultra-tight, 85-8 will not fit in. I routed the ears and shaved pickup cavity walls a little bit, and than 85-8 fit right in, but very, very tight.

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