Low Guitar Output - Need Advice

[JOLLY]

Plug another set of your active pickups in to the electronics and see if they react the same way. You might just have a bad set of pickups, and that would be a surefire way to find out.

[nexion218]

I bought a multimeter today. The bridge pickups in 4 of my guitars measure about 17 Kohms at the end of a cable plugged in to the guitars. The one I’m having problems with measured 0.13 Kohms. I guess it’s time to work backwards.

Something's fishy with those pickups then... Even when I accidentally fried the preamp electronics of a set of EMGs, I could still "see" the full approx 16kOhm of both pickups, they just sounded awfully weak without the electronics doing their job. Also, have you paid attention to the quick connect orientation going into the pickups? There is a small, barely visible arrow on the plug which needs to be aligned with the proper pin on the pickup itself!

[Masta' C]

Is it possible one of the lugs on your output jack is contacting shielding paint or somehow grounding out against something?

And nexion is right about the arrow on the plug...gotta make sure that is in the correct orientation

[PFDarkside]

Is it possible one of the lugs on your output jack is contacting shielding paint or somehow grounding out against something?

And nexion is right about the arrow on the plug...gotta make sure that is in the correct orientation

This is my thought as well. If it came back from EMG all wired up and they said it’s good, it’s got to be your power, something at the jack or cable/downstream.

When you sent it in, did you send your battery clip as well? Can you use a multimeter to verify you have power at the appropriate places? (On the power buss/switch battery buss)

Also, I’d pull the jack out of the guitar (but keep it electronically connected) to confirm when you insert the cable it is fully seated, not bridging two of the contacts and not shorting out to and shielding paint.

[Nicad27]

Thanks for all the replies. I got it fixed. Long story short I think one of the hot wires was touching the battery bus that I tried to use, but was not used and left in by the Guitar Center tech. I removed it and remeasured the pickups and started getting about 17 Kohms. Plugged it in and all was good again. I’m hoping it was that simple.


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[GuitarDoc]

Go ahead and give me flack for intentionally using correct terminology and having a desire to improve our community by facilitating proper communication.

In math, it makes a difference whether you use a subtraction sign or an addition sign. If you think it's right to be wrong, best wishes to you.

And just because someone else uses the incorrect terminology, it doesn't mean they are correct. I've never believed that Musician's Friend is the Webster's Dictionary of musical terminology. I could be wrong, but that would be like saying Guitar Center is the epitome of luthiers.

Actually, the "Jack" in and of itself is neither an input nor an output jack, it only depends upon how it is used. Otherwise it should only be called a "jack". In the front of your amp it is an "input jack" receiving the signal from your guitar "into" the amp. In the back of your amp the exact same device is called an "output jack" taking the signal "out" of the amp to the speaker.

If any of you truly disagree with this please let me know, but be prepared to exercise some intellect and "prove" me wrong...don't just post cute pictures or a link to something someone else says.

[Mincer]

i am all for using the correct terms, and gently correcting people when they make a simple mistake (as long as it doesn't develop into bullying). When people come here for info, they need correct info, and the terms used matter. If people can't come here for legit info, than this is no better than the other 1000s of forums. I want to thank everyone who helps people who come here looking for solutions, and y'all gently guiding them.

[ArtieToo]

Guitar vernacular is its own religion. Guitars have never had tremolo arms or phase switches either. (They're vibrato and polarity.) But the former is what they'll always be called.