Is this amount of noise normal on my EMG's? HELP PLEASE!

[Rex Rocker]

So yeah... I got some EMG's... I installed them myself. I notice they were noisier than the DiMarzios I used to have in my guitar before... so I go and A/B them with my Epiphone. The stock pickups in the Epiphone are less noisy. WTF?!

This is what I came up with:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/315457/EPI-EMG_noise.mp3

First half is the guitar with EMG's, second is the Epiphone with stock pickups, same POD patch, same settings, same everything. Obviously, no noise gate in either. Now, at first, yeah... the EMG's don't seem overbearingly noisy. But notice how the $150 Epiphone with stock pickups is less noisy!? WTF is going on? I am aware of the signal to ratio thing. The EMG's are evidently higher-output than the stock Epis, but the DiMarzio I had before in was higher output than both the EMG's and the Epis and it was noticeably less noisy, as far as I can remember.

I thought 'well, might be a wiring issue'. And just now, I redid the whole wiring. Peeled off the quick-connects just in case I melted the shieliding insoude the ground thingy, soldered VERY carefully so not to overheat the wire and such. Noise is still the same. I am pretty damn sure I am following the EMG diagrams.

Hell, I've even taken it to 2 techs to see if there was anything wrong and none of them could find what the issue was. Matter of fact, one told me he believed there was no issue at all.

Help please!

 

[Metaltastic]

I'm really not hearing a difference at all dude - I mean, it goes dead quiet when you mute the strings, what more do you want from it?

 

[Metaltastic]

And why is there a little cymbal "ting" right before each chord, btw? And is that the MS Diamondplate model? Or maybe Deity's Son?

 

[Rex Rocker]

I'm really not hearing a difference at all dude - I mean, it goes dead quiet when you mute the strings, what more do you want from it?

Really? You don't hear the hiss in the first half that's not there on the second half?

Am I just over-obsessing about it?


*the little ping marks where each guitar starts. first ping is the EMG's, second ping, I unplugg the EMG guitar and plug the epiphone in (of course, I did not record the actual unplugging, but you get the idea. ). So it's basically: Ping, 2 bars of EMG hiss, 1 bar of EMG chord, 1 bar of EMG hiss, Ping, 1 bars of Epiphone hiss, 2 bars of Epi chord, 1 bar of Epi hiss.

It's the Diamondplate!

 

[Metaltastic]

I admit there is slightly more noise visible in the waveform for the EMG as opposed to the Epi, but I really have to crank my speakers to hear it, and I'm pretty certain that if it were noise from a wiring problem, it'd be a lot louder than that! I'd chalk it up to noise from the internal preamp of the EMG, or just outside electrical noise being picked up and amplified (and compressed more, as EMG's do). So I wouldn't sweat it!

 

[Rex Rocker]

Thanks! So you think it is normal?

I mean... I guess I was sort of expecting the EMG's to be dead-quiet because they're active and all... isn't that kinda the deal with actives? I think I remember my Super Distortion being quite less noisy... oh well...

I guess that another thing that worries me is that it is being compared to POS pickups. I mean, I could probably just say 'oh well... yeah, DiMarzios were slightly less noisy, no biggie', DiMarzios are good pickups, but Epiphone pickups...

Another thing I noticed is if that I unplug the ground wire from the switch to the volume, it makes no difference at all. Noise level is exactly the same.

 

[Metaltastic]

Yes, I think it's normal

 

[Rex Rocker]

Oh, well...

Thanks!

 

[JBroll]

Pickups have noise - that's unaviodable.

Apart from checking to make sure everything is as it should be (no grounding the electronics to bridge, all that sort of thing) and making sure that you're comparing signal-to-noise ratio and not just plugging in one after the other without checking volumes (because if the EMGs have twice as much noise but are four times as loud with 'real' signal you've still come out ahead), just make sure you can handle the noise. Electronics in music aren't 'good' so much as 'good enough', so see if you're able to work with the shortcomings and judge based on how much you think you've gained.

Jeff

 

[2000ContourSVT]

I definitely hear the difference. My EMG's are pretty noisy too though so I don't think it'll be that big of a deal.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Thanks for the replies... I tracked some DI's and yeah, the EMG's are hotter than what I thought they actually were compared to the Epiphone pickups...

EMG 85:

Epi stock:

DI from different song, but this is what the Super Distortion looked when it was in the very same guitar:

 

[JBroll]

I can't do much more than eyeball those pictures because there aren't any markings on them, but it does look like you're getting a bit more signal out of the EMGs. Have you set them up with 18V yet?

Jeff

 

[Rex Rocker]

Yes, the EMG's are running at 18V right now.

 

[mintcheerios]

I've noticed that my EMG's pick up more noise than my DiMarzio Deactivators which are supposed to emulate EMG's. Just put a nice gate at the beginning of the signal chain.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Thank you all for the replies!

I've noticed that my EMG's pick up more noise than my DiMarzio Deactivators which are supposed to emulate EMG's. Just put a nice gate at the beginning of the signal chain.

Is there a lot of difference between both?