guitarmonky55 Posted July 13, 2004 Report Share Posted July 13, 2004 ok first off, what are the usual symptoms of extremely low batteries in emg pickups? i wired up, i put a battery in and tapped the pickup covers with something metal and it would only make noise on a high gain setting. i strung up, and i found the same problem, so i took out the battery to see what ti sounds like with no batteries, and found no change in sound. so i started messing with my batteries and found one that gave me slightly more volume, but no matter what, my sound is always heavily distorted(even when set on a clean channel of my amp its very distorted). i also find im getting more volume out of the neck pickup. so my question is, could this be a low battery problem(i dont have any fresh on hand all of the ones i tried were old i found around the house) or would this be the result of some wiring mistake i made? its an 81/85 zw set btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Jabsco Posted July 13, 2004 Report Share Posted July 13, 2004 Yes, with my pickups, whenever hte battery is really low if you turn the treble up and try to play it sounds distorted and awful. i always keep an extra 9 volt in my case. get new batterys and see what happens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowser Posted July 13, 2004 Report Share Posted July 13, 2004 and the 85 is actually higher output than the 81 isn't it? that would probably explain why the neck is louder than the bridge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarmonky55 Posted July 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2004 thats comforting to hear, because it seems to me that i did an extremely neat and precise solder job on it. ill have to wait till the morning to go get some good batteries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted July 13, 2004 Report Share Posted July 13, 2004 and the 85 is actually higher output than the 81 isn't it? that would probably explain why the neck is louder than the bridge Nope, the 81 is hotter, the reason why it's louder is because the resonance (vibration) of the string in that area is greatter that in the bridge, if you had 2 81's you will have to lower the pup a little bit to get the same output, thats my set up on my strat, 81-81 while on the Les Paul is 85-81 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feylya Posted July 13, 2004 Report Share Posted July 13, 2004 I've found the 85 to be incredibly loud and bassy in the neck position. Lowering it helped to balance them perfectly. As for the distorted sound, have you pushed the cable all the way into the jack? I know it sounds like a stupid question but I've seen it happen (I've done it myself). And tapping the top of the pickup with a metal object shouldn't give a loud noise in my experiences. There's no direct contact with the magnets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StratDudeDan Posted July 13, 2004 Report Share Posted July 13, 2004 And tapping the top of the pickup with a metal object shouldn't give a loud noise in my experiences. There's no direct contact with the magnets. even with single coils you can do this, actually. it's not the fact that you're "conducting through the magnet" or anything, it's altering the magnetic field around the coil that makes sound. that's how the whole vibrating string thing works, as we all know. so by introducing metal or even a pick onto the pickup cover, you're moving the coils themselves (through aggressive beatings) or at least making a change in the field around them. granted, it's not always loud. depends on the pickups, but there should be some sort of noise or you have created some really neat kind of pickup that i want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarmonky55 Posted July 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2004 well good news. it was the battery, i got some fresh today and these pickups burn! as for the difference in volume, i found that in my excitement to hear my newly completed frankenphone in action i kind of overlooked adjusting pickup height and while the 85 was full up against the string, the 81 was still way down in the body just barely peeking over the pickup ring. i adjusted them and now they balance perfectly, wow i love these! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirit Posted July 13, 2004 Report Share Posted July 13, 2004 Woo, another PG sucess story!! Well done the PG team!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowser Posted July 13, 2004 Report Share Posted July 13, 2004 and the 85 is actually higher output than the 81 isn't it? that would probably explain why the neck is louder than the bridge Nope, the 81 is hotter, the reason why it's louder is because the resonance (vibration) of the string in that area is greatter that in the bridge, if you had 2 81's you will have to lower the pup a little bit to get the same output, thats my set up on my strat, 81-81 while on the Les Paul is 85-81 www.emginc.com Although the EMG-85 has more measurable output than the 81, its frequency response and string interface are different. The 85 uses two Alnico magnet loaded coils with a wide aperture to maintain a beefy lowend and a fatter top end. Because of a more natural tone, it works great as a rhythm and blues pickup because it has loads of output but isn't muddy. Itís a perfect choice as a rhythm pickup in combination with an 81 in the bridge, which is the same pickup combination used by Zakk Wylde Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted July 14, 2004 Report Share Posted July 14, 2004 They have more measurable output because of the frequenzy response is higher, EMG-81 Logo Color Silver Resonant Frequency (kHz) 2.25 RMS Output Voltage 1.25 Peak Output Voltage 1.75 Output Noise (dBV) -91 Output Impedance (Kohm) 10 Current @ 9V (Microamps) 80 Battery Life (Hours) 3000 EMG-85 Logo Color Gold Resonant Frequency (kHz) 2.55 RMS Output Voltage 1.25 Peak Output Voltage 1.75 Output Noise (dBV) -89 Output Impedance (Kohm) 10 Current @ 9V (Microamps) 80 Battery Life (Hours) 3000 As you can see the output is the same, and all pickups will sound more bassy on the neck, that's how it is. look on the Gibson selector plate, treble for bridge, rythm for neck. I was aware of the remarks on the EMG site, thats the set I got on my EPI, guitarmonky55, got any pics of the guitar to show, this is mine. Sorry for the out of focus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarmonky55 Posted July 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2004 ive got a bunch of before and afters, ill post em as soon as i get myself some free webspace. im not totally finished with the guitar yet, ive still got to work on the pickgaurd and finish decorating the body as i please, and put my earvana nut/graphtech saddles on(waiting for them in the mail). so far i redid electronics, reamed out my 11/32 holes for schaller tuners, and scalloped the fretboard from 12-22(i plan on doing more b/c i like it so much). give me a day or 2 and ill get some up. i would never have been able to do all this without this site tho, especially the reaming and scalloping. [edit] maiden i notice you string around the back of the tailpiece, i started doing that too lately Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirit Posted July 14, 2004 Report Share Posted July 14, 2004 Me too!! I did it cos I saw Zakk do it, and he strummed it and it made high pitched noise that i thought were cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarmonky55 Posted July 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2004 gotta love zakks pinches. i find them so much easier to nail with these emgs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted July 15, 2004 Report Share Posted July 15, 2004 Yeap, I love to string like that, not only the strings last longer, but I find it better to rest my palm over there to mute the strings, also like you want to do my fet boar is scalloped 12-22, and as soon as I get a contour dremel (short of funds) I will finish the whole neck, Go to photobucket and make an album there, thats what I 'm doing to post my pics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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