Volume difference between pickups selection

[hernan93]

Hello everybody:

I have a JEM7v bought in guitar center in 2006. My pickups have the DiMarzio Mark and each one of the five positions sounds great, but I note to much volume difference between the first 4 positions and the last one (with the pickup selector all down). is this volume difference normal in a JEM 7V Guitar???.

I usually play clean sounds with the first and second position, but if I choose the five position I have to compensate the volume playing less hard, or using my volume foot control, this is uncomfortable.

thank you in advance.

Hernán.

[bcrich1975]

Have you tried adjusting the height of the pickups?

[hernan93]

Not, I had not thought of that. Thank you. I think (and hope) this can work. At the moment, my guitar is like I got it from GuitarCenter.

has the pickups's height significant relevance in the volume level??

[Timbaline]

Originally Posted by hernan93

Not, I had not thought of that. Thank you. I think (and hope) this can work. At the moment, my guitar is like I got it from GuitarCenter.

has the pickups's height significant relevance in the volume level??

Yes the height of the pickup can significantly change the volume level.

Also, if your guitar is at "Guitar Center" level condition, that's not a great thing you might want to make a lot of major adjustments. Guitar Center has a tendency to murder guitars. When they sell you one they tend to "forget" to give you the tools, and they tend to "forget" that a free case comes with certain guitars.

[bcrich1975]

Exactly what Timbaline said.
GC is not known for setting up guitars. Usually they are unpacked and displayed. You should set it up to your preferences and for ideal playability (or have it done professionally). The last new JEM I bought had a relativly poor setup. Although some of these factors can be blamed solely on shipping with humidity and temperature changes. String action was way too high, intonation was very slightly off, truss rod needed a slight adjustment as there was too much relief in the neck, tremolo angle and height needed adjusting (and then more adjusting as I tune mine to E flat). It's very important that the trem angle is set properly. And back to your problem the pickup height adjustments. Long story short, your new guitar will need some fine tuning to play at its best. Comb through Rich Harris' site "Ibanez Rules". There are very good setup tips there.

[hernan93]

Hi guys, thank you a lot for your help.

I tried with the pickup height and I can get some minor changes. I will take my guitar to the workshop.

please play your guitars (JEM 7VWH) and feel the volume difference between the pickups position changes. My guitar has a great tone, but the volume en positions 1 and 5 are louder than 2,3 and 4. I would appreciete if any do the test and write his own experience.

If somebody has no problem with the volume difference, pls indicate how many milimeters (or inches) of heigh is using in each one of his pickups. (just for be sure, this heigh is the distance between the top of the pickup and the string).

Thank you in advance.
H.

[toneboy]

Originally Posted by hernan93

please play your guitars (JEM 7VWH) and feel the volume difference between the pickups position changes. My guitar has a great tone, but the volume en positions 1 and 5 are louder than 2,3 and 4. I would appreciete if any do the test and write his own experience.

When you split the humbuckers with the middle single you will get a difference in volume. That's kind of how it's designed. It's an easy and quick way to clean up a distorted sound without using your volume control or a footswitch. The PGMs are designed the same way.

[GilkyBear]

Yeah, in positions 1 and 5 you are using humbuckers, in 2,3, and 4, you are using single coils. This is why you have the volume difference. This is also why you have such a wide range of tones, but single coils just don't have as much output as humbuckers. No way around that.

If it is that much of a problem I would recommend figuring out a way to use only positions 1 and 5 on some songs and only positions 2,3,4 on other songs. Kind of like "Strat mode" and "Gibson mode".

[Algiman]

or you can bring all the levels closer together using a good compressor.