pick ups work but no gain!?!

[ibanezguitarkid]

Ok, me and my dad just installed an sh-1, and a dimebucker in my epi les paul. they both work, (make sound) but neither of them will get any distortion. I know the sh-1 is not a gain pickup, but the dimebucker is not even coming close. my sh-4 is 4 times more distorted. i know this is probably a noob question, but i need to know. is it a bad wire or a bad pot or something like that? :wrf:

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: pick ups work but no gain!?!

i'm willing to bet that something isn't wired correctly, probably something is shorting out or it's in parallel(he might've mixed up the wires) which leads are hooked into where? did he solder the red/white together and tape them up?

 

[ibanezguitarkid]

Re: pick ups work but no gain!?!

yeah red and white together, and it's got a new pu selector, could be a bad wire or pot. we've installed duncans on all 5 of my guitars, so i am dead sure it's wired up right.

 

[apj]

Re: pick ups work but no gain!?!

I would also double check all the wiring, making sure you have no shorts. When was the last time you played the guitar with the pickups before?

 

[Mark Cearlock]

Re: pick ups work but no gain!?!

Check all the grounds.

 

[uOpt]

Re: pick ups work but no gain!?!

Tell us what wire goes where in your axe.

 

[Ninja Monkey]

Re: pick ups work but no gain!?!

This is why you shouldn't trust dads with pickups. However, how are you trying to get your distortion, dirt box, overdriven tube amp, combination of the two?

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: pick ups work but no gain!?!

I had a Dimebucker. I thought it was broken. Sounded like an angry single coil on crack and Red Bull.
Metered out at 16.whatever K like it should have, but it sounded like sweaty feet smell.

And pickups don't give distortion, nor chorus, nor delay. You need an external device for that. If you're not getting distortion from your amp, preamp, pedals, POD, etc, then either that is broken or you have a bad cable or the jack in the guitar is wired incorrectly.

 

[jeremy]

Re: pick ups work but no gain!?!

make sure the pups are close enough to the strings, especially the dimebucker