EMGs in ESP clipping but sound terrible?

[colynomial]

So here's the thing. I've always known that EMGs clip the output of the signal when you really dig in but with this particular guitar it just sounds plain bad. Is this normal or can anyone think of whether there might be something else at play? I'm using an RME Babyface interface through the instrument input jack which is definitely not clipping. The interface gain set at the minimum, but i still hear this awful crackling.

Here's a clip, it's most pronounced towards the end when I'm playing the "loudest":

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/35990709/GUITAR_01.wav

 

[Fandus]

throw in a fresh battery

 

[colynomial]

Hey thanks for the suggestion- I did actually put in a new battery and the problem still exists. One thing that I guess I should've mentioned is that the problem is only apparent on the neck pup; though this isn't surprising because the signal coming off there is much hotter since there's way more bass.

I guess maybe I should just back the pickup off the strings a bit but there's already quite a bit of space there. I wonder if the 18V mod would fix it?

 

[TheWinterSnow]

EMG's do't clip that much so you have something else going on. You can try an 18v mod but I have doubts it would fix it. Are you aware of the quick and easy wiring harness that you can make that doesn't require you to do any mods to your guitar to get 18v?

 

[infectdsniper]

you could also lower your pickup. if it really is clipping, lowing the signal going into the pup would probably remedy it.

 

[ze kink]

I'm also having a similar issue with my Ltd Viper that's got an Emg 81 in the bridge. I've yet to go through the soldering, but somehow I feel like there's a bad connection/cold solder in there somewhere. The output is also quite low compared to the neck pickup, yet it still clips. I tried disconnecting and reconnecting the quick connector - also tried connecting it the other way around - but that didn't help.

Also replaced the battery and lowered the pickup. Battery did nothing (besides, I tested it after and it was full), lowering the pickup made it sound like a bad single coil, and the output became so low that my dirty patches sounded almost clean.

 

[deLuther]

The output is also quite low compared to the neck pickup, yet it still clips.

If neck pickup is 85, then it can be normal, 85 has more output than 81 and have more clipping, because peak levels are the same, but RMS is higher.

 

[colynomial]

Yea... so my research seems to suggest that this is expected for EMGs. Is the 18V mod literally just two 9 volts in series? It looks like this is all the harness is doing. If so I'll probably just do that and see if I can get a better clean DI.

The guitar is also a baritone so I'm sure the ultra low tuning doesn't help in terms of sending a lot of sub low frequency through the pickup.

 

[deLuther]

Better to make some kind of adapter:

It`s very easy to build and you can compare 9V vs 18V without re-soldering.

But you should be aware that actives@18 V can do funny things to pedals, especially when signal goes directly to opamps
Not only clipping, but also overvoltage.
As some kind of illustration:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3630120/Overvoltage.pdf

 

[egan.]

Yea... so my research seems to suggest that this is expected for EMGs. Is the 18V mod literally just two 9 volts in series? It looks like this is all the harness is doing. If so I'll probably just do that and see if I can get a better clean DI.

The guitar is also a baritone so I'm sure the ultra low tuning doesn't help in terms of sending a lot of sub low frequency through the pickup.

I don't know. Yes EMG's running 9v clip but your sample sounds much worse than anything I've heard in normal conditions.

 

[bryan_kilco]

I don't know. Yes EMG's running 9v clip but your sample sounds much worse than anything I've heard in normal conditions.

+1

I run an 81 fairly close to my strings and I never heard such clipping as in that clip, and I'm talking BEATING on those things.