EMG single coil volume drop?

[fretburner]

Is it normal form an EMG SLV (or some other EMG single coil) in the neck to have a drastic volume drop compared to an EMG 85 (or any other EMG humbucker)?

I bought an EBMM Luke II and I noticed the volume drop switching from bridge to neck when playing CLEAN.

However, if I played dirty, under heavy gain, the volumes are balanced.

Is this normal for EMGs or any other active pickup set in HSS configuration?

I'm afraid if I bring the neck pup closer to the strings to get it balanced clean, then I might mess up the balance playing dirty.

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[dystrust]

That's normal. The volume is balancing when playing under heavy gain due to compression.

 

[ToneFiddler]

that’s normal.

since it’s active pickups you can increase the load for the bridge without altering the tone too much.
if you add 25k in parallel to the volume when the bridge is on, you can decrease the bridge vol.
or add 10k in series to the humbucker output wire

 

[jeremy]

yep, totally normal. i ran sv, sv, 81 for years and there was a big difference in volume

 

[fretburner]

Thanks a bunch! I was worried about it. I guess I will just learn to live with it.

It's probably not worth the hassle of replacing it with passive pickups - if the volume drop playing clean is my only concern.

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[donaldr]

I have a 60-S-S set in my HSS Godin Exit 22 and they are volume balanced, both clean and dirty.

 

[fretburner]

I have a 60-S-S set in my HSS Godin Exit 22 and they are volume balanced, both clean and dirty.

Could it be a case of the 85 v 60?

I raised the single coil neck on my Luke II but I don't want to lower the 85 in the bridge and risk losing the attack right now. I got more volume on SC clean now, but still NOT balanced clean with the 85.

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[hamerfan]

My way balancing is to fret the high E string on the highest fret and have an equal distance. This maintains the attack on all pickups. The low string side are now set to have a good balance.

 

[Mincer]

Could it be a case of the 85 v 60?

I raised the single coil neck on my Luke II but I don't want to lower the 85 in the bridge and risk losing the attack right now. I got more volume on SC clean now, but still NOT balanced clean with the 85.

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That's one seriously cool Music Man. I love the color.

 

[ToneFiddler]

Could it be a case of the 85 v 60?

the 60 is less hot than the 81 and 85, but still hotter than the S or SA.
But the balance is way better...

 

[fretburner]

That's one seriously cool Music Man. I love the color.

Candy Red. My fave color for strat-type guitars. Been wanting to have a strat of that color for a very long time.

It's my 1st Piezo guitar as well. Super happy with my Luke II (also my fave EBMM model)

The "V" shape on the lower frets were surprisingly nice as it's married to a narrow nut.

Previous owner refretted it to stainless and rounded the edges. Not my preference, but I can't complain.

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[fretburner]

My way balancing is to fret the high E string on the highest fret and have an equal distance. This maintains the attack on all pickups. The low string side are now set to have a good balance.

I use Gibson's factory specs of 3/32 on the neck pup on all my guitars and adjust the bridge to balance both clean and dirty.

The 85 right now is already lower than the Gibson spec for the bridge pup and still overwhelms the neck pup clean. I don't want to lower it further as it's balanced already under high gain.

I actually want a little more volume in the neck playing dirty, and raising the neck pup did a little bit, but not much. The volume bump playing clean was more noticeable, but still not balanced.

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[fretburner]

the 60 is less hot than the 81 and 85, but still hotter than the S or SA.
But the balance is way better...

That probably explains why donaldr's Godin was balanced clean.

I can live the unbalanced clean though. The important thing is the dirty sound which is where I play most of the time.

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[hamerfan]

I use Gibson's factory specs of 3/32 on the neck pup on all my guitars and adjust the bridge to balance both clean and dirty.

The 85 right now is already lower than the Gibson spec for the bridge pup and still overwhelms the neck pup clean. I don't want to lower it further as it's balanced already under high gain.

I actually want a little more volume in the neck playing dirty, and raising the neck pup did a little bit, but not much. The volume bump playing clean was more noticeable, but still not balanced.

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I never ever adjusted a guitar by figures, even not when a costumer brought a sheet.
Every guitar set is different, it also depends on the bridge system, the bridge material, the neck angle, the neck mass, the magnet strength on the pickup surface, the string material, the string thickness and more.
Just lower the bass side, the treble has not so much to do with the volume. You can bring up adjustable pieces in case the strings are it balanced. Just sayin...

 

[Juanhanglo]

I just saw a thread somewhere that addressed this very issue.

Add somewhere between a 22 and 47k resistor inline with the bridge bucker. The 22k apparently cuts the volume difference in half.

I guess that's why they said try up to a 47k one to equal it out.

I am thinking about emgs for my next build and have been doing research.......

 

[ToneFiddler]

I just saw a thread somewhere that addressed this very issue.

Add somewhere between a 22 and 47k resistor inline with the bridge bucker. The 22k apparently cuts the volume difference in half.

I guess that's why they said try up to a 47k one to equal it out.

I am thinking about emgs for my next build and have been doing research.......

yes that will work, you can find the value ease if you use a pot….
although they are active pickups, still i had some tonal changes for the worse, but could be my amp which will be very dry and kinda muddy with less gain in that channel…