Installing pickups has been a pain in the ass!

[Rex Rocker]

So yeah... I bought my EMG's like two weeks ago. I installed them myself. I was told by everyone at the internet that it's not very hard and whatnot. OK... it wasn't THAT hard, but it was damn stressing.

So yeah... I plug my guitar in... I immediatly notice the noise gate in my POD is having a harder time dealing with the noise. So I turn it off and damn they're noisy! There's something definitely not right in there... So I record a clip with the noise gate off... and they don't sound THAT noisy...

I am like... is there something wrong with me? Am I just imagining this? So I A/B it with my Epiphone with stock Epiphone pickups... the pickups on the Epiphone are definitely less noisy. Something should be wrong with the wiring in my guitar...

So I took it to a friend of mine who has had more experience installing pickups. Problem is he has only installed passives. He told me today he didn't find what was wrong with the wiring... matter of fact, he told me he didn't think anything was wrong with the guitar.

I am confused!

Sorry for the rant.

 

[JBroll]

Check your wiring - ensure that you didn't ground to bridge, and make sure all connections are clean.

Jeff

 

[plague_rider]

Check your wiring - ensure that you didn't ground to bridge, and make sure all connections are clean.

Jeff

+1 agreed, EMGs don't need to be earthed due to their design...

have you tried using the 18v Mod??

 

[JBroll]

The 18V mod won't make a day-and-night difference with noise, but it's a good thing to do anyway.

The only mistakes I can think of that result in a much higher noise level are faulty connections and grounding inappropriately... oh, and make sure you're comparing signal-noise ratio and not just noise level (as the Epiphone pickups may be low noise simply because they have low output) so you don't get an inaccurate impression of the EMGs. They should be pretty damned quiet in terms of signal-to-noise ratio; if your noise is twice as loud and your 'real' output is thrice as loud, you have still encountered 'less noise' and you'll just need to factor in the inherent difference in output levels when thinking about anything (like noise or distortion) affected by output signal.

Jeff

 

[LeSedna]

I've had troubles recently with my Bill Lawrence on my Dean. I removed the stock pickups, put mines EXACTLY the same, and only 1 on both worked. I spent 2 hours trying to re-wire them, still didn't work. As I don't have a multimeter here, I gave the guitar to an electro-technician so that he can check my soldering and also my cables because it was starting to drive me nuts (and I already made custom class AB hifi amplifiers and stuff like that in my previous electronic school so I can deal with pickups wiring schemes !)

 

[Rex Rocker]

Thaks for the replies!

Yeah, I thought about that too Jeff, but the pickup the EMG's replaced was a DiMarzio Super Distortion. It was actually higher output than the EMG's yet still it was noticeably less noisy, both than the Epiphone and the current EMG's.

I don't really think the wiring is completely clean. Especially since this was my first time installing pickups and I had to wire it to a weird 3-way switch that's not one of those Gibson ones. This one's sorta like the John Petrucci 3-way ones, but I was told it could be wired to those. The pickups sound (and they sound great, actually), it's just the wiring at the bridge that's confusing. Particularly, the ground one... I've tried wiring it and pulling the ground wire out and it's not making any diference.

The pups are not grounded to the bridge. I ripped that wire away.

I'm thinking about just getting a Gibson 3-way and taking it to a tech, but I'd prefer to do it myself so that I can learn for the future.

 

[JBroll]

I'd suspect a wiring issue, then... just take your time and don't get ahead of yourself. Consider another switch, perhaps - but if you get a moment, try taking the volume and tone pots out of the picture to make sure that they're not the problem, then remove the switch itself and wire one pickup straight to the jack, then test the other... try to isolate the problem like that if you can.

Jeff

 

[Rex Rocker]

Thanks dude... will try that over the weekend!

 

[Fabbio]

Also, be sure that the Quick connect plug is in the right way!
The first time I installed EMG I had a similar issue, turned out it was that three pins connector inserted in the upside down position (if I recall correctly, the little arrow must be visible when you plug the connector).
Otherwise it should be an soldering issue, make sure that where you solder, you heat the parts as well as the liquid metal you use. A common mistake with soldering is treating the liquid metal as a glue.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Yeah, I do. I actually plugged them in the other way and the noise was gone, but they sounded like ass, lol... and where quite lower output, IIRC.

 

[Psychotic Break]

Yeah, I do. I actually plugged them in the other way and the noise was gone, but they sounded like ass, lol... and where quite lower output, IIRC.

I wish I could help you. I went through the same shit last time I installed new pickups, but they weren't EMG's.

My friend and I spent half of the day just trying to figure out why we couldn't get a signal. Upon examining the pickup switch, I discovered solder connecting the grounded case to the hot connection. It was all inside there. That was the moment when I took the soldering iron away from my friend...

All I can tell you is test every connection. Double check your wiring diagrams. Trial and error, man.

 

[mick thompson]

Also, be sure that the Quick connect plug is in the right way!
The first time I installed EMG I had a similar issue, turned out it was that three pins connector inserted in the upside down position (if I recall correctly, the little arrow must be visible when you plug the connector).
Otherwise it should be an soldering issue, make sure that where you solder, you heat the parts as well as the liquid metal you use. A common mistake with soldering is treating the liquid metal as a glue.

woo i never tried that - im going to test out my jackson tomorrow because i installed an 81 in it about 2 years ago and its the loudest fucking thing i've ever used. loud as in pure filthy noise. its fine for over-saturated gain work but come just standard distortion the second i mute it just sounds like theres a pile of shit leaking down the guitar cable. maybe thats my problem too - hopefully