EMG Bone Breakers vs EMG 81 & 60 - EMG Showdown and Review

EMG Bone Breakers vs EMG 81 & 60 - EMG Showdown and Review

Here is an EMG Showdown! I have 2 nearly identical LTD guitars, one with a set of Kirk Hammett Bone Breakers and the other with a set of EMG 81 & 60 pickups!

The Bone Breakers are Kirk Hammett's new signature pickups and the 81 and 60 are the classic Metallica pickups used on The Black Album, Load, Reload etc.

They sound very similar, but there is a subtle difference. Which do you prefer?
I compare the neck position, the middle position (Which is both pickups combined) and the bridge pickup. I do multiple riffs in each comparison, palm muted chugging, open chords, some riffs and some lead playing. I even do examples in distortion and clean!

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[redboeving]

Great video! I was excited to finally get to hear these. To my ear they’re very similar to the classic 81/60 setup. A tad more clarity and mids but not enough for me to choose one over the other.

[dn]

I use the 81/60 and I was on the fence about maybe purchasing the bone breakers in the future. Great video man!

[UpwardNinja]

OMG Spirit Carries on!!! Liked for that alone! The pickups are pretty nice too.

[IronAgeGuitar]

The bonebreakers sounds extra chunky 🤘🤘

[pablumpicasso]

The Bone Breaker set sounds warmer and has a rounded off top end. Probably sits in a mix better than a regular 81/60 set. I wonder how much is the guitar, though? The “Kirk’s Guitar” LTD sounds very thin and bright compared to the other one with the BB set.

[jeffrasmussen]

I found the BB very weak compared to 81 bridge, I took it out an put the 81 back, the neck is better I find though

[alijankhan]

For what it's worth, I read that Richard Kruspe of Rammstein (who's latest signature guitar has emg 81 pickups) used to use a kh 2 as well. Maybe my ears aren't sensitive enough to tell the difference but they basically both sound the same to me. Definitely not different enough for me to want to spend money on both. I'm more of a rammstein fan anyway so I'll stick with the emg 81 pickups.

[mr.timebombman]

The BB's are more round in the mids

[JasonsElectronicStuff]

I've heard some goofballs saying that the Bone Breakers are just a rebranded 81 and 60 and that there is no difference. This is the video that proved there is a difference, and thank you for that! I've read that the Bone Breaker neck pickup has alnico magnets vs ceramic (in the original 60) and that the BB bridge pickup is very similar to the 81 just with a slight tweak and a little less output. Now I know this to be true.

[TheSelfTaughtSpaceWizard]

Bone Breakers are pushing more mids than the 81 which is lending to it's improved clarity.

[wordsareteething]

Any suggestions for noisegate or maybe cables to eliminate buzz comming from these emgs sounds like a gd fender.

[metalboy]

Te bone breakers sound a little thicker to me. My 2019 kh-602 has the bone breakers.

[franciscolomeli]

because not doing a test with another type of metal other than Metallica, it is obvious that the EMG Bonebreaker serve to sound like the band

[Hyder]

i still prefer the 81 over bone breakers, i like the amount of attack it offers with harsh highs.

[amirrezarezaie]

for me Bone Breakers > EMG 81 & 60 > JH Het Set

[Nghilifa]

The bonebreaker set is just an 81 in the bridge and a 60A in the neck (A denoting an alnico magnet instead of the ceramic magnet on the regular 60s.). So any tonal differences are due to the different guitars (as far as the bridge position is concerned) .

[tanbeenvlogs]

having bonebreakers on m100 just makes it worth more right?

[danadane]

Cool demo. The Bonebreakers are really good but they are noticeably warmer. I gotta go with EMG 81. My guitar has the EMG 81 AND 85 set they're my all time favorites so maybe I'm a bit biased.

[jsr-uzoj]

When playing distorted, there is less difference than playing clean. The bone breakers definitely sound better. They sound less distorted and more clean. Bone Breakers for me.

[Gimi.Endrics]

Hi, how do I know that the battery of these pickups is empty?