EMG P active - distortion

[F-Clef-Jef]

I have an old EMG active P pickup that I used for many years on my Steinberger. I took it out a few years back and it sat in a box for a while, when I wired it up to put into another bass, I got some (not severe, just a little) distortion. I double checked all the connections, tried different pots and resistor, everything I could think of, still getting a little distortion. I was running it at 18 volts in the Steinberger (it sounded awesome but I wanted to go passive), tried it at both 9v and 18v, still distorting a little. Is it possible that the internal pre-amp in the pickup could have gotten fried? If maybe a wire was crossed or shorted or something? Any thoughts? (BTW the pickup is about 20 years old, used it for 15 then shelved for the last 5)

["T"]

Jack contacts cleaned, cord and amp checked I presume?

[drewdunkin]

You mentioned that u checked the pots, on the preamp there should be a internal trimpot..affecting the basses output.

If the trim pot is set too high u could be overdriving your pre/power amps input.

[mikezimmerman]

Originally Posted by drewdunkin

You mentioned that u checked the pots, on the preamp there should be a internal trimpot..affecting the basses output.

If the trim pot is set too high u could be overdriving your pre/power amps input.

drewdunkin -- The preamp in the EMGs is inside the pickup casing. There is no trimpot, unless the EMGs are connected into anotehr preamp/EQ.

F-clef-Jef -- I haven't heard of too many preamps going bad in EMGs, but it's possible. The big thing would be to make sure your battery connections (and batteries) are good, since distortion is usually the first sign that an active pickup or preamp is not getting the juice it needs.

[steve_rolfeca]

Originally Posted by F-Clef-Jef

I have an old EMG active P pickup ...I double checked all the connections, tried different pots and resistor, everything I could think of, still getting a little distortion. ...tried it at both 9v and 18v, still distorting a little.

When you say you tried another resistor, you mean the capacitor on the tone control, right? Little coloured thing that looks like a breath mint?

If you mean an actual resistor, then it's not part of the standard EMG wiring scheme. You might want to try taking it out of the circuit, and see if that helps.

Another possibility- I get a weird distorted signal if I only plug half-way into the jack on my EMG-equipped bass. It's a very prominent distortion, though, which doesn't match your description.

Otherwise, if you mean distortion in the sense of clipping (not the crackles and pops of a dirty jack or a loose wire), then you might have a low-voltage condition. My EMG's always do a little farty thing, just before the batteries die for good. Try fresh alkalines, use a meter to check your battery voltage, and feel for a warm battery, which would indicate a partial short in the wiring somewhere.

The other possibility is a dead pickup. One of the good things about EMG's, is that they're a sealed assembly, and near-indestructible. On the other hand, the sad thing is that they're not repairable...

[F-Clef-Jef]

Originally Posted by steve_rolfeca

When you say you tried another resistor, you mean the capacitor on the tone control, right? Little coloured thing that looks like a breath mint?

If you mean an actual resistor, then it's not part of the standard EMG wiring scheme. You might want to try taking it out of the circuit, and see if that helps.

Another possibility- I get a weird distorted signal if I only plug half-way into the jack on my EMG-equipped bass. It's a very prominent distortion, though, which doesn't match your description.

Otherwise, if you mean distortion in the sense of clipping (not the crackles and pops of a dirty jack or a loose wire), then you might have a low-voltage condition. My EMG's always do a little farty thing, just before the batteries die for good. Try fresh alkalines, use a meter to check your battery voltage, and feel for a warm battery, which would indicate a partial short in the wiring somewhere.

The other possibility is a dead pickup. One of the good things about EMG's, is that they're a sealed assembly, and near-indestructible. On the other hand, the sad thing is that they're not repairable...

Yes, sorry, capacitor.

It sounds more like a clipping type of distortion, so maybe it could be a battery problem. I'll try again with a meter-tested fresh battery, recheck the pots, solder connections and jack.

I really didn't think there is much that can go wrong with the pickup itself, hopefully it's just bad soldering or battery or something simple (and cheap).

Thanks for your suggestions everyone!

[F-Clef-Jef]

Originally Posted by "T"

Jack contacts cleaned, cord and amp checked I presume?

Yup! (well except the amp, I don't use one of those things...)

[tink9975]

I'm having the same issue with a 20 year old EMG P

if I play with a soft touch, its fine, but normal playing or digging in gets a lot of distortion. a new battery didnt help, I guess I will have to check out the wiring and maybe get some contact cleaner

[F-Clef-Jef]

Originally Posted by tink9975

I'm having the same issue with a 20 year old EMG P

if I play with a soft touch, its fine, but normal playing or digging in gets a lot of distortion. a new battery didnt help, I guess I will have to check out the wiring and maybe get some contact cleaner

Yup, sounds like the same thing. Funny thing is, I have a J-style pickup also (they were a P-J pair) and the J works just fine.

[trunkshope6]

I'm having the same issue if I dig hard it will distort ,any help

[Rickett Customs]

How close are the strings to the pickups? Did you try dropping them a bit.....?

[BarkerBass]

bump for help, i've got the same probvlem with an emg MMtw pickup

[grendle]

Originally Posted by trunkshope6

I'm having the same issue if I dig hard it will distort ,any help

That sounds like your amp distorting from the hot signal.

Never seen a bad emg in over 20 yrs of playing. Not saying it can't happen, just very very rare.

Most likely a battery going dead, noisy pot, bad cord, or too hot of a signal into the amp.

[F-Clef-Jef]

Originally Posted by grendle

That sounds like your amp distorting from the hot signal.

Never seen a bad emg in over 20 yrs of playing. Not saying it can't happen, just very very rare.

Most likely a battery going dead, noisy pot, bad cord, or too hot of a signal into the amp.

No amp in my signal chain... this isn't a clipping/overloaded signal type of thing, but the signal does seem to clean up if you play really really really gentle.

I have since rewired with the J and P pickups, swapping out/replacing pots, and double-checking wiring/solder connections, still getting distortion from the P-bass pickup.
I'm just going to give up on this baby, I did get nearly 30 years out of it! (The J-bass pick-up has been repurposed, so it lives on!)