EMG 81 making weird noises

[~BURNY~]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2973685/what's that fucking noise.mp3

I decided to put an EMG81 in my baritone guitar...

It's an old pickup I took from a crappy Ibanez that hasn't played for several years.

The owner was the excessively sweaty hands type of guy. Not sure if the pickup was ok initially. I assumed it was.

I did the simple 1 volume wiring then later a direct jack to pickup wiring to make sure the volume wasn't

causing the problem but apparently not.

It seems to get worst if I tap on the pickup.

It's not a ground problem obviously. The battery is new. Other than this problem, it sounds badass although

maybe a bit undergained compared to my LTD.

Halp?

 

[JakeAC5253]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2973685/what's that fucking noise.mp3

I decided to put an EMG81 in my baritone guitar...

It's an old pickup I took from a crappy Ibanez that hasn't played for several years.

The owner was the excessively sweaty hands type of guy. Not sure if the pickup was ok initially. I assumed it was.

I did the simple 1 volume wiring then later a direct jack to pickup wiring to make sure the volume wasn't

causing the problem but apparently not.

It seems to get worst if I tap on the pickup.

It's not a ground problem obviously. The battery is new. Other than this problem, it sounds badass although

maybe a bit undergained compared to my LTD.

Halp?

Sounds like a loose or cold connection pre-preamp. Also, if you haven't already done this, remove the string, body, and other misc ground points from the circuit, they are not needed in a guitar with active pickups.

 

[~BURNY~]

It ended up in the trash bin.

I replaced it with an emg89. I'm liking the result so far.

 

[~BURNY~]

Also, if you haven't already done this, remove the string, body, and other misc ground points from the circuit, they are not needed in a guitar with active pickups.

Yeah done that but the pickup was clearly dying.

 

[Terminus]

Ive heard about some pickups becoming microphonic due to sweat and such, wasnt aware it could happen easily to EMGs with the solid casing and epoxy filler they use. Unless this old one you speak of has visible pole pieces on it? I know those newer metallica ones they are selling have pole pieces showing, which would be a bad thing cuz I sweat up a storm and potentially would just sweat em all up, especially when I was playing live and had to change strings almost every few days just to rehearse without getting tetanus.

 

[~BURNY~]

I'm not sure what caused this. I genuinely thought they were unbreakable before I came across this one.