Blackouts with EMG solderless kit problems! Help!

[noisefloor]

I'm looking for abit of help here. I've wired up my Gibson SG with my blackouts using the EMG solderless kit, and it's been trouble all around.

I've already wired my other guitar with EMG's using their solderless kit and haven't had problems. So I'm starting to think something specific with the bus board or solder contacts on the switch might be faulty. Sorry for the long thread! But any help would be appreciated.

Take #1: I've wired everything as per the EMG solderless kit diagram that came with the kit and everything seemed fine at first. Plugged in the guitar and everything sounded fine.. UNTIL about 2 minutes of playing the sound would start cutting in and out and eventually just settled to sounding thin(no more distortion), in addition to getting this overwhelming hiss (like white noise) building up gradually on the bridge pickup.

Take #2: So I went back and overlooked all my connections. Even though everything looked fine, I unplugged and replugged a few of the interconnect cables to make sure they were properly connected. Tried the guitar again, and the same thing happened. It sounds fine for the very first minute or two, and then craps out.

Take #3: I noticed something weird with the bridge tone pot when playing so I decide to unplug everything and rewire using the 2volume/1tone configuration. I tried each tone pot one after the other and the same thing happened.

Take #4: I gutted the whole cavity again! I take the 3way toggle switch and unsolder the ground and output and clean up the tabs as well as I can. I resolder the two wires back in place. Here we go again.. I go ahead and rewire the whole cavity with the quick connect kit. I even try a new fresh battery.
Result; everything is great! Here I am jamming with my new pups having a blast, when all of a sudden 10 minutes in... the poop hits the fan...again!
Started with that "white noise" hiss building up on the bridge pickup(eventually on neckpickup too). And then sound cutting in and out on both pups. Then the sound settles to what seems to be tone fully rolled off, and the volume rolled off to barely 1/10. Sounds thin and without any gain/distortion.

I don't know what to try at this point.. Any ideas as to what could be wrong? I can take a pic of the cavity if it can help...

Thanks guys!

 

[noisefloor]

Re: Blackouts with EMG solderless kit problems! Help!

I've gone ahead and bypassed the three way switch altogether and the bus board.

Testing one pickup at a time using one volume / one tone. And then again using just the volume pot. Each time going straight to the 1/4inch jack.

The result is the same all the time: a growing hiss (pink noise) that slowly overpowers the guitar.

I've checked the original Duncan quick connect cable as well as the EMG one. Each has the same red/black/white cable in the same order. Each going to the same respective place; red-power terminal, white-hot, black-ground. I've tried switching the hot/ground at both the pot and the 1/4" jack.. Which cuts out all sound.

I don't know what more to try at this point....

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Blackouts with EMG solderless kit problems! Help!

Any chance of photographs giving clearer views of the connections to the buss board and selector switch, please?

 

[noisefloor]

Re: Blackouts with EMG solderless kit problems! Help!

New update .. I had some long shaft 25k pots lying around (that the blackouts were originally installed with in a les Paul).

I wired the whole guitar and gave it a go..

SAME PROBLEM. Guitar sounds fine for the first minute and then a slowly increasing hiss (like white noise) takes over!

Starting to think these blackouts are now defective?!?!

Funkfingers; I now wired it with actual pots and not the quick connect. However, with the quick connect, even by bypassing the 3-way switch and the bus board (testing one pickup at a time: pickup ->to volume pot -> to 1/4" jack) I had the same problem.

Thought maybe it was a battery failure but I've gone through multiple different batteries, each fresh out of a new box.. And I'm still getting this problem.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Blackouts with EMG solderless kit problems! Help!

Some questions;
1) How much charge is left in each battery after the noise sets in?
2) When did you last inspect the connections on the underside of each of your pickups?
3) Have you tested the solderless loom using a different pickup? e.g. One of the EMG humbuckers in your other guitar.

I would still like a better look at the connections to the selector switch and buss PCB. I am wondering whether you have inadvertently created a short circuit somewhere.

 

[noisefloor]

Re: Blackouts with EMG solderless kit problems! Help!

Thanks for taking the time!

to answer ur questions,

1) I'll have to check this tonight. Although when i unplug the guitar, and try it again minutes later (with the same battery), the situations starts all over again, with the hiss slowly appearing and taking over. Maybe something overheating? hence the noise cutting in and out with loss of tone/volume after the hiss has installed?

2)I was able to see the connector just yesterday when I changed the quick connect kit for the duncan pots. I took the pups out to plug in the duncan quick connect to the back of the pups. Didn't notice anything off. Is there anything i should be looking for? There's not much to see other than the three prog connector for the quick connect.

3)This could be my next step; trying out the whole solderless loom in my other guitar. However, why would my problem persist even with a hardwired loom installed? The only thing thats the same in both situations I've tried are the actual pickups.