[glockhead]

Ok one more pickup question. Seems there is alot of knowledge here and I have a guitar with a set of EMG pups in it. They are noisey as hell. I see nothing out of the ordinary and they appear to be wired correctly from the schematics I have found online. It is a hum. If I grab the guitar cable or touch the pickups the hum goes away for the most part. I assume that this is a grounding issue than? Any suggestions on this?

 

[ZJH]

Well, if they're active EMGs, the ground wire should be disconnected from the bridge plate. That might be why, if it's still on.

 

[glockhead]

No ground connected. I just checked out EMG's website and all looks good. All the solder joints look nice. Not sure what would cause this. How does the guitar ground with no ground hooked up? Something I have wondered about in the past. Thanks for the tip... wish it was the fix...

 

[ZJH]

There was something on EMG's website that explained how they ground the pickups, but I'm too lazy to look for it. But I'm sorry I couldn't help. Good luck in finding your solution.

 

[lyconxero]

I just got some EMG pickups that I'm having installed in my RG right now. The EMGs are supposed to be "internally grounded" because there's a preamp built into each pickup. Of course since I've never owned a guitar with EMGs, I can't really tell you why they're humming. I would probably email the tech at EMG. When I emailed them about how to wire up my guitar, they responded back with a diagram that explained it very simplistically.

 

[ZOMB13]

I had the same problem with mine, i STILL don't know how too fix it...

 

[glockhead]

Yeah I am waiting for a reply from EMG. I looked at the wiring diagrams and they are right. We will see what they suggest.

 

[glockhead]

Here is emgs response to my email regarding this.

1) Could be the amp.
2) Could be the cord.
3) Could be the jack touching the cavity if it's shielded.
4) If your house has 2 slot plugs, it's time to get new ones.
5) Your guitars with passive pups have the strings grounded.

Best Regards,

Rick Hunt
Customer Service
EMG Pickups
www.emgpickups.com

1) not the amp. No other guitar does this.
2) Not the cord. I tried another.
3) It is on a les paul... Shielding ... what shielding? Lol
4) Something I had thought of but haven't checked yet. I do have grounded outlets but I wonder if they are really grounded?
5) So... even if the guitar was not grounded... it would still ground through you and the strings I take it?

Hmm... the quest for silence continues.

 

[j.arledge]

i would think it would have to ground with the srtings some how. Are you running another active pickup, or what is the pickup config you have?

i have never had any experience with emgs but i though it may be a grounding problem or something simple

 

[buddroyce]

If I recall, even though the pickups are internally grounded, you still need to ground the outer metal sheath of the wire to the back of a pot.

 

[glockhead]

Yeah it is grounded to a pot still. Just not grounded to the bridge like the stock passives.

 

[glockhead]

EMG's second response...

There are 6 connections that make up the system ground on an LP:

1) Selector switch.
2) All 4 pot casings.
3) Middle terminal of output jack.

Check the soldering on these connections. Is the control cavity shielded?

I will check this stuff out tommorow. Seems EMG's tech service is pretty decent. Prompt replies and decent info so far.