Emg single volume, what’s wrong?

acceptance

acceptance

Well-known member
What am I doing wrong here?

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Scan Oct 7, 2023 at 8.45 PM.jpg
 
it looks like the shielded wire going from the center terminal of the Jack to the ground lug of the potentiometer, has the shield grounded at both ends.
This wouldn’t keep the pickup from working but it does keep the shielding from doing any good.

Also what pickup is it/what is “pickup black” supposed to be?
 
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Aynirar27 said:
it looks like the shielded wire going from the center terminal of the Jack to the ground lug of the potentiometer, has the shield grounded at both ends.
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What do you mean grounded at both ends? Isn't it supposed go to the third lug like the diagram? Also, do I need to use shielded wire for the jack? That's what came installed, but I've used regular guitar wire as well and things work.
Aynirar27 said:
Also what pickup is it/what is “pickup black” supposed to be?
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The black wire on the EMG 3 prong connectors. Not sure what it is. I'm a total amateur in case you hadn't noticed. I just try to follow the diagrams and make good joints.
 
denialist said:
What do you mean grounded at both ends? Isn't it supposed go to the third lug like the diagram? Also, do I need to use shielded wire for the jack? That's what came installed, but I've used regular guitar wire as well and things work.

The black wire on the EMG 3 prong connectors. Not sure what it is. I'm a total amateur in case you hadn't noticed. I just try to follow the diagrams and make good joints.
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On second look, I think I was incorrect about the shielding being wrong. In the Jack photo it looked like both the shield and the white wire were soldered to the center lug, but now that I look again it does look to be correct.

So ignore the following paragraphs aside for your own information lol

The “shield” is basically wrapped around the wire to prevent interference. It’s the frayed wire stuff that surrounds the white coated wire.

For the shielding to work, the coated wire should be connected at both ends, but the shielding should only be soldered at one end or the other. It’s hard to tell from the pot picture, but it looks like it is soldered to that lug as well.


BUT in this instance it looks like the shielding is just being used as the ground wire from the jack to the pot. I would check the solder joint on the pot that connects the lug to the back of the pot. If that joint isn’t solid, it breaks the circuit of the 9volt negative back to ground, which may keep the pickup from getting the voltage it needs to make sound.

Just a guess though, active pickups aren’t really my thing. It looks like a ground wire to the bridge or trem claw may be missing too.

I’m not not totally sure what that black pickup wire is doing though. If it is the pickup ground, it’s in the right spot, but if it’s part of a splittable pickup, it might just be sending the signal to ground instead. Are there any “bare” wires coming off the pickup?

Sorry for the jumbled response, I’m also playing Barbies at the moment so my attention is a bit divided lol
 
Aynirar27 said:
Sorry for the jumbled response, I’m also playing Barbies at the moment so my attention is a bit divided lol
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Haha no worries, thanks for taking a moment to respond. Yeah the shielding is being used as the ground, so I guess it doesn't matter in this case. I do have a wire to bridge as well, but I didn't think it was necessary, and I don't really understand what it does, hah. The EMG's are using these three pronged connectors with black, white and red wires. So far as I can tell, the black is the bare/braided in the older schematics I'm using, which I suppose would be ground. I'll just try doing the whole thing over — it's only one pot and maybe just a bad joint or something. I would like to learn how to troubleshoot these so I don't have to redo more complex setups if I'm having issues.
 
denialist said:
Haha no worries, thanks for taking a moment to respond. Yeah the shielding is being used as the ground, so I guess it doesn't matter in this case. I do have a wire to bridge as well, but I didn't think it was necessary, and I don't really understand what it does, hah. The EMG's are using these three pronged connectors with black, white and red wires. So far as I can tell, the black is the bare/braided in the older schematics I'm using, which I suppose would be ground. I'll just try doing the whole thing over — it's only one pot and maybe just a bad joint or something. I would like to learn how to troubleshoot these so I don't have to redo more complex setups if I'm having issues.
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I’m having trouble getting some sounds I like out of some fluence pickups I have, so I’m hoping to rip that guitar apart tonight and see what’s what. I’ll be a pro in no time.
It’s a dual pickup guitar but is only a single volume/no tone

One other potential question, what value pot is that? If it’s a 500k left over from your passive humbucker, it may work more like a switch than a potentiometer
 
Aynirar27 said:
I’m having trouble getting some sounds I like out of some fluence pickups I have, so I’m hoping to rip that guitar apart tonight and see what’s what. I’ll be a pro in no time.
It’s a dual pickup guitar but is only a single volume/no tone

One other potential question, what value pot is that? If it’s a 500k left over from your passive humbucker, it may work more like a switch than a potentiometer
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Good luck. Maybe start by adding another vol? ...yeah pot is 25k.
 
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