Members Dime_time Posted July 29, 2015 Members Share Posted July 29, 2015 Hey all, Yet another instance of issues with an emg 81 in the bridge. First up, the guitar: esp ltd m-1000, emg 81's in both positions, 3 way blade switch, 1 volume, 1 tone. Stock, never modified. The problem: the neck pickup is completely fine, but in the blended/bridge position the guitar makes BOTH static/wind noises (which increase in volume with the position of the volume knob) AND what sounds like hum due to not being grounded which occurs when touching the pickup, but lessens when touching the vol/tone pots, AND the volume pot is scratchy (but is not so in the neck position). What I've tried so far: I've resouldered all the wire joints in the cavity, no change. But I did notice that when the shielded cavity plate is off, and the volume pot is all the way open (i.e. volume is on full) the signal from the bridge pickup cuts out completely, but all is still well in the neck position. I've also tested the connections between the ground on the jack and both pickups, and found that the neck pickup is grounded, and the bridge is not. Any ideas? Does this sound familiar? Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted July 29, 2015 Members Share Posted July 29, 2015 Sounds like a bad pot to me. And ground the bridge pickup to the pots. If I remember right, the EMG system doesn't require gounding to the guitar. Ground it anyway to the bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sammyreynolds01 Posted July 29, 2015 Members Share Posted July 29, 2015 Active pickups don't require a ground wire. I agree with badpenguin sounds like a bad pot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Active pickups don't require a ground wire. I agree with badpenguin sounds like a bad pot. They don't require a string / bridge ground, but they still have to be grounded to the back of the pot, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sammyreynolds01 Posted July 29, 2015 Members Share Posted July 29, 2015 They don't require a string / bridge ground, but they still have to be grounded to the back of the pot, right? you learn something everyday. I didn't think they need grounding at all. thanks for the info Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Beck Posted July 29, 2015 Members Share Posted July 29, 2015 Yup, what Phil said. They should be grounded to the pots, but NOT to the bridge like conventional passive pups would be. I've been elbow deep the last week or so modifying an Epiphone SG with EMG 81/85 configuration, one volume, one tone and a 3-way switch. Check to see if the braid in the wire from the bridge 81 has twisted in a way that it might be completely broken inside or intermittent. Also check all connections to the bridge pup, including that side of the 3-way switch. I use wires of various short lengths soldered to alligator clips to bypass wires and components for troubleshooting. You can use them to complete the circuit of any suspect wires/components. The attached pic shows where the EMG's are typically grounded... on the volume pot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Steveo Posted October 6, 2020 Members Share Posted October 6, 2020 hi folks. I've just bought a cort 5 string bass. When in active mode, there's static, sounding like morse code. Back and front pick-ups, any combination ...... any help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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