2 prong vs. 3 prong input jack

[Misanthrope189]

Hi,
I recently put in a Gibson 500T in my Soloist. The old input jack I had with active Seymour Duncan pickups had 3 prongs, and the new one I put it has only 2 prongs. Is there a difference, and should I have kept the 3 prong in there? I seem to be having a grounding problem with the setup; I don't know if it's because of the input jack.

Thanks a lot,
Nick

[MountainDog]

Re: 2 prong vs. 3 prong input jack

The 3 prong jack uses one of the prongs as the battery turn on switch when you plug in the cord. The prong that would hit the jack in the middle of its shaft would be the one used for the battery.

You could have left the 3-prong one in the guitar and just used the ground prong (hits the base of the jack) and the tip prong (only contacts the end of the jack) as hook up points. Using those two points would be the same as the two points on the 2-prong jack.

Here's a link to EMG wiring that shows the three wires going to the jack:
EMG hook up


RE your grounding problem, first make sure you wired the pickup in right See Gibson wiring diagram (go to last page):
Gibson wiring
(make sure you have the pickups shield wire going to ground!)
then make sure you have the hot wire from the volume control going to the tip prong and make sure you have all pots connected with a ground wire and have the ground go to the ground/base of the jack.

If you still have problems after checking out the diagrams, maybe you can describe how you have everything wired and we can try to help.

[Misanthrope189]

Re: 2 prong vs. 3 prong input jack

Thanks a lot...I may just have the two wires going to the input jack backwards, which would be causing all the noise. I'll resolder those two, and see if that fixes it. Thanks a lot.

[MountainDog]

Re: 2 prong vs. 3 prong input jack

By the way, what do you think of the Gibson 500T in the Soloist? This comes stock in my LP Voodoo and I'm not sure if I like it very much. I think I like the 489T in my LP Studio Swamp Ash better, even though it's a lower output pickup.

[Misanthrope189]

Re: 2 prong vs. 3 prong input jack

Well, I just resoldered the two wires on the input jack, and everything's good to go. I really like the 500T; I only played for maybe half an hour, but so far the sounds I'm getting I like a lot. I used to have the Seymour Duncan Live Wires in there...really high output, no tonal variation, everything was the same. So far the 500T is nice, really nice, smooth highs, and a chunky rhythm...if you have Iced Earth's Alive in Athens, the tone is similar. I'm using a Triaxis right now, so I'll have to play around with sounds more to get a better overall idea of how it sounds, but so far I like it a lot. More clarity than the Live Wires. I was thinking of either getting a 57' classic or the 489T for the neck...I wanted a clean pickup mostly, though, but if the 489T can pull cleans off well, then I may just get that.

[delt]

Re: 2 prong vs. 3 prong input jack

i just noticed you get a cool sound if you're in front of your PC with your guitar plugged in, and touch the screen. yay.