New Pickup installed but trouble..... - Bridge Super Distort

RG Guy · #1 01-08-2002, 04:14 PM

For those who don't already know, I just recently got a Super Distortion for my RG. I wired it but there are some problems I'm having:

1) The sound is weak (weaker than the stock pickups) - When clean there is too much treble and when distorted (Boss DS-1 or amp drive channel) , it seems like it is mixed with the clean (slight overdrive/low gain). Before I got a good full sound when using the DS-1. Now I get....crap...high pitched ear hurting noise.

2) It hums more than a single coil - I followed the DiMarzio instructions and Ibanez wiring diagram for my particular guitar. I soldered the white and black to where the old white was, the green and bare where the old bare was, and the red where the old red was (according to the wiring of the Ibanez JEM555 which uses DiMarzio pickups in a similar configuration)

3) When using my electronic tuner, more hum is added - a higher pitch and faster hum than single-coil hum that sounds like it has a bit of flanging to it.

When using the neck side coil (coil tap) on the Super Distortion and the middle single-coil, the hum is cancelled.

vaijem777 · #2 01-08-2002, 04:29 PM

Sounds like you've got the pickup wired out of phase. *I think it should be wired per the following:

-RED- hot
-Black & White- coil tap
-Green & Plain- ground (to volume pot)

But...depending on what other pickups you have in the guitar, you may need to reverse the green and red wires. *

RG Guy · #3 01-08-2002, 05:10 PM

The middle pickup is the standard Ibanez single-coil and I have it wired the way you have it listed there. How can it be out of phase? In phase or not, it should still cancel hum right? I have it wired for series humbucking (when using only bridge position)...or at least that is what I think I have it wired for. Could the same problem happen if the bare is "accidentally" touching something else (say a contact on one of the pots or the switch)? May have happened when I shut the control cavity since I crammed all the wires in there.

toshiro · #4 01-09-2002, 12:05 AM

Sounds like the pickup is tapped all the time, instead of just the notch position.. Pop the switch out of the guitar, and make sure no solder is connecting the tap(black+white) lug to the metal chassis of the switch.. This is common for these switches, as solder has a tendency to drip and connect there, and the base plate of the switch is run to ground, so...

If this isn't it, I'm at a loss...

RG Guy · #5 01-09-2002, 12:33 AM

Good call.....I popped the switch out and there was a huge glob of solder between the contact and the metal chasis of the switch that looks like it went through the hole of the contact (so that's where the old solder went when I "desoldered" the old pickup). The thing is that the red is the one being "bridged" to the metal of the switch. I will fix it tomorrow when I get a more "respectable" desoldering method

and I will report back.

RG Guy · #6 01-10-2002, 09:02 PM

Well after trying to desolder the bridge between the contact point and the metal chasis of the switch, the melted solder flowed inside the switch messing everything up. I replaced the switch with a strat style one and resoldered all the pickups. Now the pickup actually has the high output I expected but there is still hum. Not as loud as single-coil hum but it can get annoying when I use high gain or a distortion pedal. Is that the nature of this pickup or could there be something else wrong?

BronzeMan · #7 01-13-2002, 08:03 AM

I am sure a professional can help you out.