Installing a volume pot with an active EMG

[acombmusicman]

A simple enough task you may think.

 

A friend came into my store asking if I could fit a voulme pot to his home built Philistine V. He had connected the active EMG humbucker directly to the input jack and it was working, but upsetting the neighbours. The pickup has been in many guitars, and the guitar has seen many changes over the years.

 

The EMG site says the bridge ground wire is not needed. It has a proper switching jack installed. I have done as follows.

 

Earth braiding from the pickup to the pot casing, live connection to the left terminal on the pot.

 

Negative feed from the input jack to the pot casing, positive feed from the jack to the central terminal on the pot.

 

It still buzzes. The battery is good, the pot simply increases the volume of the buzz.

 

The guitar has an aluminium scratch plate, the pot would be mounted through that.

 

What am I doing wrong?

 

I have looked through the links thread at the top. Nothing quite matches this set up.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Burgess]

I know EMG says you don't have to ground their pickups but I always do just the same. And of course we're asssuming the pot you're using is a 25K pot, right?

[_pete_]

Double check the connections on the jack. Be sure the black battery wire goes to the ring, the vol pot output (white, center lug) goes to the tip, and the vol ground goes to the sleeve.

It sounds like the tip & sleeve may be reversed.

 

http://www.emginc.com/downloads/wiringdiagrams/EMG-Hseries.pdf

[acombmusicman]

Sussed it out. It is working now. The terminal block had come off the back of the pickup!

 

Yes I have used a 25K pot.