any of u have this pickup volume problem?

[WoPei]

hello guys,

i have an LP armed with emg 81/85 and i have got this annoying problem: when the switch set at rythm and rythm pickup volume knob backed to zero, the guitar is still making sound when picking, making it impossible to do those "whale" sound which i particularly like (eg. direstraits). it seems that when switched to rythem the bridge pickup is still picking up sound, and the guitar will ONLY totally shut up when BOTH volume knobs are turned to zero.

do u think this is a defect or just the nature of emg pickup? i have another lp with sd pickups, the volume knobs work perfectly.

thanx a load

[BlueGuitar]

Re: any of u have this pickup volume problem?

It sounds like one of your volume controls is wired up "backwards" compared to most Les Pauls, which have the lead from the pickup connected to one of the outside terminals on the pot (the middle terminal, the wiper, is connected to the 3 way selector switch). If you check the wiring to your volume pots I have a hunch that the wiper is connected to the lead from the pickup on at least one of them.

Try this test with the selector switch in the middle:
#1 turn the bridge volume up to 10 and the neck volume down to 0- do you get any sound out of the speakers when you strum a chord?
#2 turn the neck volume up to 10 and the bridge volume down to 0 and repeat the test- do you get any sound out of the speakers when you strum a chord?

With active pickups like the EMG's, a problem such as you mention could also be caused by crappy wiring...

[WoPei]

Re: any of u have this pickup volume problem?

thanks blueguitar. i did what u said and from both tests i can hear sound out of speakers, weak but audible.

[WoPei]

Re: any of u have this pickup volume problem?

emg owners, any of u had this problem? i am wondering whether i should return the pus and get my money back for another pair of sd..

[XSSIVE]

Re: any of u have this pickup volume problem?

i had an epi. les paul a few years back with EMG's in it (81bridge 85 neck) and it did the same thing your talking about where the rythm pickup would never shut off 100%..i would always get a very very faint amount of sound from it unless like you said both volumes were set on 0. i sold the guitar quite some time ago so i can't check it for you but your not alone lol...now i just wonder if it was the way we wired them or a typical thing...

-Mike

[ArtieToo]

Re: any of u have this pickup volume problem?

It sounds to me like you have a bad ground on the neck volume control. There's no fault of the pickup itself than cause its signal to overcome physics.

Use an ohmmeter to measure between the wiper of the volume control and the negative side of the jack. In counter-clockwise position, it should be close to zero. 2 or 3 ohms should be ok.

Or, just examine the connections closely. You may have grounded to the back of a pot, and its ground has become flakey.