EMG solderless installed, almost no output

[JustinG60]

Well, I just finished up eveything last night on the install and thought i had no output. this morning I looked at everything, removed all the connections, and started over. same. on a 100 watt Marshall I had nothing audible at volume 2. by the time i hit volume 4ish, i could her signal coming from the guitar but it sounded to weak that it seemed like the amp volume was almost completely off.

is this what i get for buying open box?

EMG's video said plug them in with the little metal pins exposed through the holes on one side up, so i did.

guitar is a Gibson SG with 1 volume and 1 tone.

I also pulled the battery and put it in my PRS with a Seymour Duncan Blackout preamp and it worked just fine. just to triple check i ran the PRS with no battery and the battery for the SG is working (it is also brand new).

with no battery in the PRS (Blackout preamp with Seymour Duncan Invader and Jazz) it still had more output than the EMG's in my SG.

ideas? pull it all out and take it back?

 

[Spectivum]

I've never seen or heard about a broken EMG pickup so it must be a connection problem. Which video are you referring to? not sure what you mean by exposed pins, take a photo.

 

[JustinG60]

I've never seen or heard about a broken EMG pickup so it must be a connection problem. Which video are you referring to? not sure what you mean by exposed pins, take a photo.

https://youtu.be/_F8h457SUMU

that as an informative guide but wired according to the instructions provided by EMG.

it's hard to assume that there is something wrong with the wiring itself as it has been triple checked and this is not my first rodeo. honestly i would prefer a solder in kit but it's not an option with the Het Set. yes, i could buy the pots, but i don't want the Het Set that bad.

so any explanations what could cause of signal loss if the connections have been checked, checked, and checked again?

about to check it for the 4th time but have absolutely no expectations of any change...

 

[JustinG60]

checked for a 4th time... all the connections face the right way and EXACTLY as shown in the EMG instructions... i am at a loss here. probably pulling them and returning.

they were open box and clearly installed in a guitar before. light scratching on the covers, one of the feet were cross threaded, one mounting screw was bent, and one of the wires shielding was tore and I taped it back together appropriately...

from here the pickup leads and output lead were put back in the distribution block accordingly. also the power/red leads were put back accordingly as well.

tone the right way...

volume the correct way as well...

output jack is correct. didn't feel like removing it from the body. i compared the AllParts long barrel one to the EMG one provided and it is infact, connected correctly...

still, no output. that's the same connections undone and redone 4 times now.

 

[Konfyouzd]

I've had some strange things happen before when I'm working in a tight electronics cavity where once I screwed the cavity on all the way, something gets pressed on in a way that it seems certain connections get slightly disconnected and it leads to a sound similar to rolling the volume knob way down.

It's happened to me on guitars with pickguards as well. I don't always do the greatest job of hiding the wires inside the compartment (if it's not a swimming pool route) and sometimes one wire will get caught between a high point in the cavity and the pickguard itself. When I screw it all the way down, I'm imagining it pulls a connection apart ever so slightly in this situation as well.

If none of these even apply to your situation, my bad...

 

[JustinG60]

I appreciate the thoughts. I have actually tried it with the cover off, wires pulled mostly out of the cavity so they looked neat and the battery down in my lap, no such luck. I guess tomorrow I am pulling it all out and taking it back. There is literally nothing else left to check. It may be something out of my control. Unfortunately I was really looking forward to trying these pickups out too. Oh well I guess. Not holding onto $240 worth of pickups hoping that it's just the guitar and not the setup itself

 

[yellowv]

I had the exact thing a couple of years ago with a Het set install. Wired it correctly and got almost no output. Tried every other feasible way to wire it and the same thing. Different batteries, different toggle switch, running everything out of the guitar to make sure nothing was grounding out, etc. contacted EMG and they sent me a totally new harness. Installed it all and same thing. Finally they swapped the pickups and BAM worked perfectly with no issue. Contact EMG. They will help you out.

 

[Spectivum]

oh those are the exposed pins! he should have just mentioned the arrow on the connector. open box usually means unused just not sealed in a box. yours seems to be used however so it could have an issue.

 

[TankJon666]

That's not open box dude, that's full on second hand! I'd pull it all out of your guitar, box it back up and return it for a refund. Then buy a brand new set.

 

[ghostred7]

How solid is the core of the yellow wire? One of the pics clearly shows damage to the outside of it down to the wire.... are any of the internal wires severed in any way?

 

[JustinG60]

That's not open box dude, that's full on second hand! I'd pull it all out of your guitar, box it back up and return it for a refund. Then buy a brand new set.

yep, that's what i am going to do...


...and that yellow wire is the original lead from Gibson. it's solid wire, not braided. i'm not sure how much signal is lost but either way i'm not happy with the used pickups that were sold as open box.

thanks for all of the responses!

 

[1b4n3z]

Sorry if you've already tried it, but what if you bypass the EMG buss and wire a pickup to a volume pot, and from there directly to jack?

I've had three solderless systems so far, and all of them seemed to dampen the signal somewhat (tried regular, X-series and Blackouts through them). It wasn't a huge difference, but noticeable.

 

[JustinG60]

thanks for the input but they were returned... replaced them with Seymour Duncan Black Winters