EMG pickups: hum

[JACKSONFREAK]

It sounds like either a week battery or a abd connection some where. Double check all your connections. (did you have a wiring diagram with the EMG's you got?), The connectios could be wrong on the output jack it'self causeing ground and hot to be switched. Also are you using the triple contact (stereo jack) for the EMG's?
Assuming all the electronics are correct for the EMG system I would double check the wiring and ground contacts.
Gil

[metafaza]

Re: EMG pickups: hum

I would make sure there are no cold solder joints in the system. Sometimes the connections look ok, but there may be a cold solder somewhere. If everything fails, take your guitar and try it with your friend's equipment. The last thing, and quite time consuming, would be to put the pickups in a different EMG eqipped guitar. All new EMGs come with the quick connect feature.

[axeman81]

Re: EMG pickups: hum

I installed active EMG's in my Ibanez this summer, and as I recall it stated in the mounting instructions that you are NOT supposed to ground the pickups to the bridge, so I cut the grounding wire that was soldered from the old pots to the metal piece that holds the trem springs. It works great.

check out this link to EMG, see point no.4

EMG actives wiring

The only time I experience any humming is when facing my computer monitor...I guess I'm gonna have to save up for a LCD screen [img]graemlins/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] (no radiation from those)

hope it works out,

- Rune.

[toejam]

Re: EMG pickups: hum

You say you got the pickups off ebay. Did you also get the 25k pots with them and the stereo EMG jack that EMGs are required to use? Not sure if you got everything you need.

[Immortal]

EMG pickups: hum

Hello!

Since guys at Harmony Central are so unkind I am asking you to help me out a bit.

I was in love with 81's EMG's so I bought them last month via ebay.
I installed them last saturday and soon I noticed hum. I said no problem, the problem lies in grounding. I opened the case and checked grounding. I saw that I didn't connect one grounding so I did so. Then everything worked fine except for hum - it became less noisy but still going on.
When I quieten the guitar it, of course, stops.
I extended the condesator between volume and tone pots with a regular "knitted" wire. Friend told me that this wire should be coaxial. Is this true?

I have my floyd and string grounding disconnected (it says so in EMG wiring plan in instructions). If I connected them too, hum stays and nothing changes...

Hum appears only when using any kind of distortion (preamp or a effect unit or pedal).

Any clues?

I buy a beer the one who solves my problem!

[Sunbane]

Re: EMG pickups: hum

Originally posted by Immortal:
Hum appears only when using any kind of distortion (preamp or a effect unit or pedal).

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I think you have the solution to the problem right there. I'm willing to bet there's nothing wrong with your guitar. Any guitar will have more hum when you have distortion activated, especially if there is electrical interference.

Electrical interference from amps, computers and other electrical appliances make a big difference. If you haven't yet tried facing away from your amp - do that. When I play, just facing away from the floor pedals makes a big difference.

'bane

[Immortal]

Re: EMG pickups: hum

Yes, I have already tried that, but my room is well occupied with gear so I have a small space to move. I found out that turning 90° right-angled to the amp it quietens but if I move for a single cm or feet it starts again.

With my pre pickups (EMG HZ3) I didn't have those problems. Therefore active pickups produce higher output than passive pickups?

I assured myself with recording hum and couple of seconds playing, then reducing the hums. I selected hum and told program to keep noise only. When not playing anything the hum is present and when playing something there's silence (that means that I removed sound and that there's no hum at all while playing).

I don't know... I'm quite unsure about this hum.. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[Immortal]

Re: EMG pickups: hum

Hey!

Let's start from the beginning

&gt; It sounds like either a week battery or a abd connection some where. Double check all your connections. (did you have a wiring diagram with the EMG's you got?), The connectios could be wrong on the output jack it'self causeing ground and hot to be switched. Also are you using the triple contact (stereo jack) for the EMG's?
Assuming all the electronics are correct for the EMG system I would double check the wiring and ground contacts.

What is an abd connection? Baterry is new so I'm supposing it's not very used since I installed the pickups.
Yes I do have EMG original jack for active pickups installed.


&gt; I would make sure there are no cold solder joints in the system. Sometimes the connections look ok, but there may be a cold solder somewhere. If everything fails, take your guitar and try it with your friend's equipment. The last thing, and quite time consuming, would be to put the pickups in a different EMG eqipped guitar. All new EMGs come with the quick connect feature.

No, I think there are no col solders because I resolded everything that look weak. I have tried my guitar at local guitarcentre on some peavy head and it still hums.
I don't have quick connect, because my EMGs are a bit older.

&gt; I installed active EMG's in my Ibanez this summer, and as I recall it stated in the mounting instructions that you are NOT supposed to ground the pickups to the bridge, so I cut the grounding wire that was soldered from the old pots to the metal piece that holds the trem springs. It works great.

I did the exact thing, but for difference I didn't plug those two wires, that come from I-don't-know-where? They are two, than connected to a connector which is screwed to tha inner side of the body and then they have to go to ground. What are those two wires?

&gt; You say you got the pickups off ebay. Did you also get the 25k pots with them and the stereo EMG jack that EMGs are required to use? Not sure if you got everything you need.

I've got everything; Two 25k Ohm pots, EMG jack with battery plug and of course two pickups.

[JACKSONFREAK]

Re: EMG pickups: hum

abd connection equals typo for bad connection.
Gil

[Newc]

Re: EMG pickups: hum

Run another ground wire from the pickup's ground to each pot casing or grounded lug, along with the one going to the jack. Run one from the jack's grounded lug to one of the knobs' grounded lugs. More ground certainly can't hurt [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Newc

[Sunbane]

Re: EMG pickups: hum

Originally posted by Immortal:
I did the exact thing, but for difference I didn't plug those two wires, that come from I-don't-know-where? They are two, than connected to a connector which is screwed to tha inner side of the body and then they have to go to ground. What are those two wires?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Those are also groundwires. The control cavity, as well as each pickup cavity in a Jackson are painted with conductive paint, to shield them a bit. These wires interconnect these areas to form a common ground. You shouldn't need to disconnect those wires methinks, but you could always try and see if it makes any difference.

'bane

[Immortal]

Re: EMG pickups: hum

Hi, me again.

I noticed that battery was old and I replaced it with a new one. But there are no changes except the hum which became constant and not so intense anymore. I was touching tone knob on free slot and when I touch it it hums intesively.

Anyway the hum is now to some normal limits but I want to get to an end. If the hum is normal thing and it's a non-stop thing at active pickups I'll stop searching around and solving my problem.

Thanks!

[Somnuszoth]

Re: EMG pickups: hum

if you dont use your tone knob, disconnect it. i have emgs in all my guitars no tone knobs and have no hum what so ever.....as far as grounds go, as long as you dont have anything grounded to the bridge with emgs, you should be fine....

[Immortal]

Re: EMG pickups: hum

Well, I like tone know actually and I don't want to have a disconnected pot in there just to fill the hole. I was wondering if my EMGs are also shielded against grounding problems like new ones, because they were bought via ebay and one is app. 6 years old. About wiring: I rewired everything as it was but adding another pickup to the battery jack (red) cable. Everything was the same as on delivery (the guy sent me a pre-wired pots and pickup).

[JACKSONFREAK]

Re: EMG pickups: hum

If the hum gets worse when you touch the metal parts than it's got to be a reversed ground and posative wiring. Or something of that nature.
Gil