Frustrating Wiring Problem

[Ghwar]

Hey all, I have a gibson sg standard, which had EMG's in it, recently I decided to rewire the stock pickups in as I liked them a lot better..

I wired it all up, 100% perfect (or so it seemed) and there is no signal whatsoever from either pickup. tapped them both with a screwdriver in every switch position and nothing. no buzzing sound, it doesn't even click or buzz when I flick the switch.

but there's no wiring errors that i can see. any ideas what it could be? (and it's not my amp or cables, it's the guitar)

Edited March 9, 2008 by Ghwar

[hooglebug]

were they passive or active emgs? and if they were active have you replaced all the pots too?

[Ghwar]

were they passive or active emgs? and if they were active have you replaced all the pots too?

they were active emg's, but i changed the pots back to the original ones. i think there must be a wire i missed somewhere but to me it looks exactly the same as the diagram i'm looking at.

but let me tell ya, it's not easy to find a good diagram for an sg standard..

[hooglebug]

have you tried this one? seymour duncan diagram

[killemall8]

did you use the stereo jack that the emgs used?

[Thoughtless 7]

The Stereo jack shouldn't make any difference as long as they wired the tip and sleeve up right.

Have you got a Mulit Meter handy you can test everything with? Failing that you could start again and wire in one pickup at a time and see if you can get it working that way. Then start to add the other pickup and 3 way selector switch?

[Ghwar]

have you tried this one? seymour duncan diagram

Thank you, although the pickups are gibsons it's still a good diagram, i'll try that tonight.

did you use the stereo jack that the emgs used?

Yep, but I replaced it with the original when I switched back.

The Stereo jack shouldn't make any difference as long as they wired the tip and sleeve up right.

Have you got a Mulit Meter handy you can test everything with? Failing that you could start again and wire in one pickup at a time and see if you can get it working that way. Then start to add the other pickup and 3 way selector switch?

I don't have any kind of meters or testers, but I will try that approach!. One of my main problems is the only wire I have is some red-sleeved copper wire from radio shack. It works, but having all one color is kind of confusing.

Thanks everyone so much!

[sunnydaze]

have you tried this one? seymour duncan diagram

Thank you, although the pickups are gibsons it's still a good diagram, i'll try that tonight.

did you use the stereo jack that the emgs used?

Yep, but I replaced it with the original when I switched back.

The Stereo jack shouldn't make any difference as long as they wired the tip and sleeve up right.

Have you got a Mulit Meter handy you can test everything with? Failing that you could start again and wire in one pickup at a time and see if you can get it working that way. Then start to add the other pickup and 3 way selector switch?

I don't have any kind of meters or testers, but I will try that approach!. One of my main problems is the only wire I have is some red-sleeved copper wire from radio shack. It works, but having all one color is kind of confusing.

Thanks everyone so much!

Hope this isn't too basic. A lot of Gibson pickups come equipped with the metal braided covering on the wires, compared to a plastic covering on a lot of other pickups. If this is the case with your pickups, the outside metal covering on the wire needs to be connected to ground - usually sodered to the back of the pot, with the exposed tip of the wire continuuing on the appropriate lug of the pot. If this ground connection isn't made, you won't get any sound at all.

hope this helps