Bad Single Coil pup?

[ChopTart]

playing around with the pickups on a used jem, and i found that the single coil was DRASTICALLY quieter than the two humbuckers and the 2 and 4 positions were quieter than the 1 and 5, even though the single was MUCH closer to the strings than either humbucker.

there was also some static-like noise coming from the guitar when i used the switch.

any idea why the drop in volume and the static noise? is it a bad pickup? bad switcher?

[kennydoe]

A dramatic drop in volume on a stock Jem middle pickup? Sounds like it's working perfectly :-p

~K (A Jem middle pickup hater)

[ChopTart]

haha understandable i barely ever use it either - but for 2 and 4, and occasionally when i want a strat-bell like substitute, i have to use it (dont have a real sss strat handy)

[kennydoe]

I love the middle pickup, just not the Jem's middle pickup. Ibanez could have put a better stock model in there.

~K

[ChopTart]

i dont know, i rarely use it. do you have an idea to the problem?

[ChopTart]

i asked my friend and he thinks its a bad pup switch (which would be pretty easy to replace)

sound familiar to anyone?

[kennydoe]

happens all the time.
~K

[Drew]

Single coils put out significantly less output than even low to moderate output humbuckers, and Evos are abotu as hot as they get. Also, that slight hum you're getting (you're calling it static) is simply 60-cycle hum - it's normal for single coils, and in fact humbuckers get their name because they're essentially two single coils wired out of phase to remove that hum.

It comes with the territory. If you want a higher output silent single, try a Lace Sensor, maybe. I've got Sensor Golds in my strat, and they're pretty sweet.

[Force]

Me too!

I replaced my V7/V8's with EVO's and the position 2&4 sounds were awful, Out of desperation I relaced the S1 with a Hot Rails. Now the middle pickup is loud but the 2&4 are still crap and unusable,

any suggestions??

[kennydoe]

the 2 & 4 are always going to 'thin out' the sound a little bit - that's the point of going there, but obviously you don't want a drop that makes them unuse-able.

In my jem, between the Evo and PAF pro, i put a Dimarzio Virtual2 bridge model and it keeps up just fine - vitrual2 is a stacked humbicker, but with help from Steve at dimarzio, i wired it as a single coil.

In my JC, between the TZ and the AN, there's aBlue Velvet, which also has a nicely balanced sound.

In my former 550, i had a red velvet between two breeds. Of the three, this was my least favorite, but the 'dropoff' wasn't so bad.

In another former 550, i had a Fender Texas Special bridge model between an Evo and PAF Pro. It worked better than the S1 that was in there, but not as well as the abovementioned three.

hope this helps.
~Kenny

[ChopTart]

i dont think its 60s cycle hum because the noise isnt when the single coil is engaged, its when im selecting pups and when the switch is between, say positions 2 and 3, theres a static-y sound until it reaches the new position.

dig? it doesnt static when a pup is selected, but rather when its between two positions BEING switched.

[ryanb]

That does sound like a funky switch.