EMG 81/85 Wiring - Buzz/Hum Problem

[Greg Crowe]

I'll be the first to admit that electronics is my really weak spot on guitars. I can wire in a pickup or change a pot or jack but that's about the extent of my abilities.

I just got a brand new guitar in with a factory EMG 81/85 setup and it has a weird buzz/ground problem. It reminds me of single coil Fender Strats. When the guitar is directly facing my amp or directly back to the amp, parallel with the amp, it has a bad buzz/ground hum. When I turn the guitar 90 degrees either way, the hum goes away.

I'm sure this is simple, I just don't know what to do. The guitar has an OFR trem and there is no ground wire soldered to the trem claw in the back cavity. I tried touching a wire from that claw to anything and everything on all the pots and switches and could never get the noise to go away without killing half the output from the pickups.

Suggestions ?

[84sups]

Use a different cord and start from there. EMG's should make zero hum and dont require a ground.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

My EMG's hum quite a bit under certain circumstances (near a computer monitor for example.) Not quite like a Strat single coil hum, though.

Could you perhaps have a bad solder joint for the pickup's ground on the back of the pot? Maybe you forgot to ground the 3-way? Did you run all of your grounds to a single point?

[Greg Crowe]

My EMG's hum quite a bit under certain circumstances (near a computer monitor for example.) Not quite like a Strat single coil hum, though.

Could you perhaps have a bad solder joint for the pickup's ground on the back of the pot? Maybe you forgot to ground the 3-way? Did you run all of your grounds to a single point?

It's a new guitar, right out of the box with the EMG's and OFR. I tried a different cord, same problem. When I shut down to go home here in a few hours I'm going to shut down all the computers, monitor, LCD TV and whatever else in the room and see if it changes.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

My flat panels (computer monitors) are what I noticed causing noise. I have to be at a 90-degree angle to them if I recall correctly. Otherwise it's pretty minimal.

[Greg Crowe]

I found that even clicking my mouse on my computer made noise thru the guitar, into the amp. I slowly turned off everything in the building and it might have helped just a tiny bit but 90% of the noise is still there. Turn the guitar 90 degrees and the noise is gone.......... really strange and annoying.

[scandoslav]

I play my EMG-equipped LP in front of my ancient laptop with it's own fan-base-thing and a giant window fan a few feet away. Assumed that was the problem, tried the guitar and amp in several other rooms in the house. Dang thing still hummed. It wouldn't hum at guitar lessons in the music store though. I've gotten used to the hum by now, figured my house is just wired "noisy."

[Greg Crowe]

"Wired noisy" You nailed it !

Just for grins, I brought up an EMG 81/85 equiped SL2 to my work building today to compare. Sure enough, it did the exact same thing. I have a "wired noisy" building and the fact that it's a metal building sure isn't helping anything.

Anyone have a clue why only EMG's do this and every other passive pickup doesn't ?

[atdguitars]

EMI. Electromagnetic interference. Even though EMG's are supposed to be free of 60 Cycle hum, and they pretty much are, some things still will cause EMI because of their different frequencies. Radios, fans, Monitors, Drills, motors, most anything that gauzes or creates a magnetic field can cause a problem. Sometimes just being to close to an amp will cause it due to the transformers.
The magic little preamp in EMGs make it more pronounced than passive pickups.

[etepbbb]

EMI. Electromagnetic interference. Even though EMG's are supposed to be free of 60 Cycle hum, and they pretty much are, some things still will cause EMI because of their different frequencies. Radios, fans, Monitors, Drills, motors, most anything that gauzes or creates a magnetic field can cause a problem. Sometimes just being to close to an amp will cause it due to the transformers.
The magic little preamp in EMGs make it more pronounced than passive pickups.

+1 or the outlet 120V.
Try a power conditioner that might be the solution for you. Electronics are very sensitive to eveything, and if you have dirty line voltage could be your problem. It maybe a refrigerator in your house or the big industrial park down the street puting some kind of electrical noise on the line.