• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Emg help!!!

zackthompson

zackthompson

Jul 18, 2011
925
256
Winston Salem
#1
PLEASE HELP!!!!
I just got some emg 45-twx's for an ibanez 6 stringer. Ive wired it absolutely perfectly. Problem is,no sound (out of a mono cable. I happened to have a stereo y cable and in the bridge pup cable and I got sound, but I had no control. It was like it was stuck on.) I've done everything, changed the battery, rewired it,etc. i can't get it to work. My dad suggested that if I touched the battery cable going to the output jack with one of the pup cables going to the output jack, it would fry it. Is this true? If so, I've screwed up. What am I doing wrong? I really need to fix this ASAP. Thanks.
 
#2
If you are getting sound from a stereo cable then you wired the jack up wrong.

First off, with a stereo plug plugged into the jack, you won't switch the battery on, so you won't get any sound. Or very little sound. EMGs don't operate with no power.

And then the ring part of the jack should not have a signal going to it. So it sounds like you have them mixed up.

What kind of jack is it? Is it a panel side mount jack? They often get wired up wrong.
 
#5
Ok, I tried all 18 combinations that I could do with the output jack wires. I got it to make sound, but it was awful. Again, it was stuck on. This time I had some volume control. 1st it sounded like it had a horrible grounding problem. Every time I touched the pot to turn the volume, it crackled. 2nd, when I used the bridge volume only, everything was extremely distorted. It sounded like a broken synth pedal haha. So I replaced the pickup/power buss emg uses. Still did the Same thing. I'm wired vol/vol/tone/tone. Should I just call emg tomorrow to have them troubleshoot it?
 
#7
grendle said:
Time to take it to a pro. That's a very simple install and your guessing. Stop before you damage something and take it to someone who knows what their doing . Honestly thats about a 45 min or less job start to finish.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with this.



If you still don't want to see a pro, try to look everything over carefully. Make sure that every connector is orientated the right way around. The connectors should have a small arrow stamped on them that must be orientated according to the diagrams. To me it sounds like you have reversed one of the connectors on the pot.

Also note that the diagram shows the output jack from the "rear". If you hold the jack with the hole for the plug facing away from you, the cabling should match the diagrams.

Oh, and be VERY sure not to mix up the red wires with any of the other colors. That could easily damage stuff permanently.
 
#8
The problem is, the closest pro is about 2 hours away from me. I live in a musical desert of a town haha.

About the orientation of the wires. I have All the black connectors facing the right direction. But which way should the red wires be facing in the battery buss? Away from the pup buss, towards the toggle switch connector, towards the pup buss, or away from the toggle switch connector?

Oh and I'm not using a toggle switch even though the diagram has one. Could this be a problem?
 
#9
zackthompson said:
The problem is, the closest pro is about 2 hours away from me. I live in a musical desert of a town haha.

About the orientation of the wires. I have All the black connectors facing the right direction. But which way should the red wires be facing in the battery buss? Away from the pup buss, towards the toggle switch connector, towards the pup buss, or away from the toggle switch connector?

Oh and I'm not using a toggle switch even though the diagram has one. Could this be a problem?
Click to expand...

Yes, that's a problem. ;)



I'm assuming this is the guide you are using:

Invalid Link Removed


You need to use diagram 12, but you need to eliminate the switch. To do this you have to connect all 3 of the green terminals together. Just use small pieces of wire to do this. Basically what this does is to emulate a switch set to "both pickups". If you don't have a piece of wire, just bend a paperclip or something. as long as it's uncoated metal it should work. :)


I'm not sure what kind of tone control you are using, but if it's the standard passive type using two of them won't work very well. Using one master tone would probably be better then. The diagram shows the active type. (Passive tone control doesn't have a power wire)

The orientation of the red connectors doesn't matter since they have only one pin. :)
 
#10
Im using the tone controls that come with the emg kit. I tried what you said to do. It worked better, but it still didnt work. Is there anywhere it needs to be grounded? I havent seen the 1st ground wire yet. Whenever i touch a pot, it pops. And the pups are still stuck on.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back