Unwanted woman tone

[Coma]

Neck pup in one of my guitars sounds like the tone is rolled off even when it's maxed out. Not a huge issue, I pretty much only use the bridge anyway. But I'm curious as to why.

Have owned that guitar for over 20 years, it has had more pickups in and out of it than I can keep track of, and never come across anything like it. Is this something that could happen if the pickup height isn't set correctly? Or a common symptom of a faulty pickup? Apart from the tone issue, it works just fine, output matches the bridge, no signal drop or anything like that.

 

[jeremy]

what pup is in there?

 

[beaubrummels]

What kind of guitar and wiring?

Does it have a separate vol/tone for the neck? Are the cap legs on the tone insulated, or are they touching metal that is grounding out the tone cap?

It can also happen if the pickup has a short in the coil.

 

[Coma]

what pup is in there?

Will Boggs Firewater

What kind of guitar and wiring?

Does it have a separate vol/tone for the neck? Are the cap legs on the tone insulated, or are they touching metal that is grounding out the tone cap?

It can also happen if the pickup has a short in the coil.

Les Paul, standard wiring, nothing fancy.

 

[uOpt]

Disconnect the volume pot from the neck pickup and attach a cable to an amp directly (crocodile clips or whatever). That allows you to rule out electronics harness and pot problems.