Question about the Blackouts Metal pickup

[Captain Metal]

I have just had a set of Blackouts pickups installed in my Ibanez RG (I forgot the model number) with a Blackouts Metal in the bridge. I've noticed that when I play it through my Peavey XXX amp in the Crunch setting, there is a noticeable hum coming from it. When I place my hand on either the tone and volume knobs or the cable (the part where you insert it into the jack), the
humming stops. What is causing this humming?

 

[cakire82]

Re: Question about the Blackouts Metal pickup

This is grounding issue. So that you know active pickups are extremely quite. A little bit of hum is ok with passives but not actives.
Take your guitar back to whomever wired it and tell them to fix the grounding connections.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/images/products/electric/humbuckers/501020-130.pdf

I also suggest you to wire Push Pull or a mini switch in order to be able to use AHB-2 in boost mode if you haven't done so already.

 

[Captain Metal]

Re: Question about the Blackouts Metal pickup

I thought that a "loud-and-louder" boost switch already came with the Metal
pickup, but my guitar repair person said he didn't see one in the case when he installed the pickups. Are these switches sold separately?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Question about the Blackouts Metal pickup

No. There is a switch on the underside PCB that you are supposed to set and leave. Cakire's suggested modification is an obvious thing to do but no DPDT switch or push-pull pot is supplied with the pickup.

Re: Grounding issue. Many EMG installation instructions advise disconnecting the bridge/string ground wire from the guitar circuitry. (I just insulate the contol cavity end then tuck it out of the way.) Check whether SD advises this too.

 

[Captain Metal]

Re: Question about the Blackouts Metal pickup

So the way it is set now is the "louder" setting? That's why I'm hearing the amp buzz? Is this normal?

I tried to take my guitar in to my guitar repair guy, but he was out this afternoon after telling me to drop by. I should try again next week.

It seems strange that for such a "metal" setting, the only thing louder than the actual distorted notes is the amp hum.

 

[cakire82]

Re: Question about the Blackouts Metal pickup

As i have said active pickups are designed to be very quite. So even in louder mode you won't get disturbing hum. This is a grounding issue. Popping sound from touching metal hardware proves it.

 

[Captain Metal]

Re: Question about the Blackouts Metal pickup

I just got my Blackouts Metal pickup re-wired, grounding issue solved, and it sounds AWESOME!!!!!
:cool2:

 

[cakire82]

Re: Question about the Blackouts Metal pickup

Great! Glad to hear it man. Did you get the loud/louder option to switch or push-pull pot?

 

[dvadneau]

Re: Question about the Blackouts Metal pickup

I had the Blackouts Metal and thought it was horrible. It has an incredible amount of mids - so much so that I found it unusable in my Basswood Ibanez and Mahogany LP. I really tried dialing it in, but couldn't find a sound that "lesser" humbuckers couldn't already give. Maybe it's only for the lower tuning crowd?

There is a switch on the underside PCB that you are supposed to set and leave. Cakire's suggested modification is an obvious thing to do but no DPDT switch or push-pull pot is supplied with the pickup.

That was a real puzzler for me. Seymour Duncan supplies a volume and tone pot, 9V battery clip, wires, and even the cap. But for the boost functionality (on the Blackouts Single as well) they only provide a jumper. That allows you to have it "permanently" (for all intents and purposes) on/off.

It would be nice to get a push/pull pot to go with this functionality, however, I realize that's asking a lot, since they already provide everything to make the pickup swap from passives painless. But why don't they provide another cable, like the one that connects to the main connector? Just make it a 2 conductor wire and connector. That would allow people to solder the wires together if they want it permanent, or use their own switch otherwise.

People pay money for boost circuits, and the Metal and Single have it built in. Just missing the last step.

 

[Captain Metal]

Re: Question about the Blackouts Metal pickup

Great! Glad to hear it man. Did you get the loud/louder option to switch or push-pull pot?

This is really strange, when they were first installed a few weeks ago, the guitar repair guy said that he didn't find a push-pull pot, just that it was set for loud/louder option (I'm recalling it was set for the louder option), but that there was nothing to switch, it was already set, or he had already set it to that.

I didn't notice any other parts to it, I was wondering if it's something you add.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Question about the Blackouts Metal pickup

SHAMELESS ZOMBIE THREAD RESUS - but for a reason.

I chanced upon Premier Guitar's 2008 NAMM video interview with Frank Falbo. Frank promotes the (then, new) AHB-2 and AS-1 Blackout pickups, stressing the output level switching capability. He draws the camera's attention to his personal Schecter testbed guitar to which a loud/louder mode switch has been added. Frank goes on to say that a pot could be connected to the jumper pins to render the boost infinitely variable. (My wording, not Frank's.)

Has anyone tried doing this? If so, what pot value did you use?