EMG pickups, hum and silent circuit

[floyd99]

hey guys

as you're probably aware I just finished installing a set of EMG SL-20 pickups in my Silhouette Special. (That's the same configuration as supplied in the LUKE).

They sound great.

However, the neck and neck + middle (so switch posn 1 and 2) have hum (exactly like when you use the stock sil pickups without the battery).

The hum is worse the closer you are to the amp. If I move away from the amp it reduces significantly (but not completely). It's noticeable clean, and naturally worse with o/drive.

Is this normal? For those of you with a LUKE, does it happen for you? Wondering if I did something wrong or if it's normal. I've never used EMG pickups so I don't know what's normal.

After any suggestions on how to reduce it, as working in theatre I am often very close to my amp due to space constraints.

Can the silent circuit that I removed be used.... ???

FYI the method I used to install the system was I simply cut the connector plug inside the guitar (which has red/white/black that go off to the output jack and battery case), then solder & heat shrink joined those three wires to the red/white/black wires coming off the EMG kit. (rather than use the output jack supplied with the kit etc) I also unsoldered the black ground wire that goes off to the trem cavity as instructed.

Thanks guys
Dave

 

[BigTony]

Hi Dave,
Yummy EMG's!
Im not familiar with the electronics inside the Silo, but what I can tell you, is that the jack plug that came with the EMG's is essential. It is a 'stereo' jack plug which allows the battery to be disconnected when you are not playing. Without it, your battery is in constant use.

You shouldn't be experiencing hum with the EMG's. atal. My guess is something to do with the Jack Plug.

 

[floyd99]

Hi Dave,
Yummy EMG's!
Im not familiar with the electronics inside the Silo, but what I can tell you, is that the jack plug that came with the EMG's is essential. It is a 'stereo' jack plug which allows the battery to be disconnected when you are not playing. Without it, your battery is in constant use.

You shouldn't be experiencing hum with the EMG's. atal. My guess is something to do with the Jack Plug.

thanks tony,
the silo already has a battery as the silent circuit in the stock silo is powered. therefore the jack on the silo is already stereo. that's why i didn't change it.

we'll see what others think..
cheers
dave

 

[floyd99]

Hi Dave,
Yummy EMG's!
Im not familiar with the electronics inside the Silo, but what I can tell you, is that the jack plug that came with the EMG's is essential. It is a 'stereo' jack plug which allows the battery to be disconnected when you are not playing. Without it, your battery is in constant use.

You shouldn't be experiencing hum with the EMG's. atal. My guess is something to do with the Jack Plug.

i just threw a multimeter across one of the red wires and the white wire on the output jack and there is 9v going across there if there's a cable in the jack or not.

of course, i'm not sure if this is meant to be the case or not. I don't really feel like taking the strings and pickguard off to test if there's power going to the pickups when the cable is out or not.. so I'll wait and see what others have to say. If I need to re-wire what i've done then cool but i'd like to know for sure what i've done wrong (if anything).

 

[Mikey]

Of course do you have the 9 Volts of the battery when using a multimeter because voltage is measured parallel. But there won't be any current flowing if there is no jack inserted because the jack acts as the switch or the connector in this electric circiut.

 

[floyd99]

Of course do you have the 9 Volts of the battery when using a multimeter because voltage is measured parallel. But there won't be any current flowing if there is no jack inserted because the jack acts as the switch or the connector in this electric circiut.

thanks Mikey

 

[Mikey]

Maybe someone else can tell you more about the emg kit you installed.

The only thing I can tell you is that both of my lukes do not produce any noise or hum in any position even if I'm standing very close to my (engl) amp.

 

[floyd99]

Maybe someone else can tell you more about the emg kit you installed.

The only thing I can tell you is that both of my lukes do not produce any noise or hum in any position even if I'm standing very close to my (engl) amp.

thanks Mikey, that's good to know. I didn't think it would be normal, as the EMG's are talked about being "noiseless".

I can undo what I've done and remove the stock wiring I left behind on the guitar (ie that goes to the output jack and battery casing), and fit the EMG jack and wire the battery casing to the EMG kit.. i was just trying to make it as simple as possible (and easy as possible to reverse should I wish to go back to stock).

If in that shortcut I've missed something, then I'll do the above... hopefully someone can clarify if indeed that is what's needed for sure before I do.

 

[beej]

I've never actually looked at the Luke's wiring, but it shouldn't hum more in the parallel positions, so something is definitely off.

Are they wired out of phase? i.e. is the polarity reversed?

You could email EBMM for a Luke wiring diagram, that might help you trace things. Or I'm sure you can get one from EMG. Probably something simple.

 

[guertzi]

However, the neck and neck + middle (so switch posn 1 and 2) have hum (exactly like when you use the stock sil pickups without the battery).

The hum is worse the closer you are to the amp.

Is this normal? For those of you with a LUKE, does it happen for you? Wondering if I did something wrong or if it's normal. I've never used EMG pickups so I don't know what's normal.

Generally (if installed properly) EMGs don't hum, period.
Only under very, very bad conditions (lots of stage lights at close range) did I ever notice a slight hum, if any and that was rarely the case.
And I have been using EMG pickups for a long time.

So my guess is that you probably did something wrong

After any suggestions on how to reduce it, as working in theatre I am often very close to my amp due to space constraints.

Can the silent circuit that I removed be used.... ???

I'm afraid the silent circuit won't help, because EMGs are humbucking pickups and the silent circuit is basically a dummy coil which turns a single coil pickup into a doublecoil (= humbucking) pickup (in terms of noise cancellation only, that is).

FYI the method I used to install the system was I simply cut the connector plug inside the guitar (which has red/white/black that go off to the output jack and battery case), then solder & heat shrink joined those three wires to the red/white/black wires coming off the EMG kit. (rather than use the output jack supplied with the kit etc) I also unsoldered the black ground wire that goes off to the trem cavity as instructed.

This maybe a stupid question, but have you checked if the color code from the connector plug matches the EMG code (red equals red etc.)?

And last but not least, check on your soldering spots, sometimes they look better than they really are...

 

[kbaim]

However, the neck and neck + middle (so switch posn 1 and 2) have hum (exactly like when you use the stock sil pickups without the battery).

The hum is worse the closer you are to the amp. If I move away from the amp it reduces significantly (but not completely). It's noticeable clean, and naturally worse with o/drive.

Is this normal?
Dave

It might also be a bad neck pickup. I just recently had a bad/noisy middle pickup on a Luke as there was noticeable hum in positions 2,3,4 but not 1 and 2. EB switched it out. I'm wondering if EMG had a bad batch or something.

 

[Mick]

Ok now my 2cts on top:

Do you have any screen, computer or anything in the room you´re playing? Turn it all off.
The noise near the amp is normal and I think the hum you describe is the normal little hum EMGs have, if it´s the same hum which becomes louder when you´re closer to the amp.
The are not 0% noiseless, can´t be (they have an amp inside), so in what ratio you would describe the hum volume to the signal volume in comparison??
And is it a 60cycle hum or a hiss???

Mick

 

[tommyindelaware]

i don't have a diagram for the silent circuit to compare to............but i'm pretty sure the jack emg supplied is required to be used.............as it is wired to work an active circiut. the silent circiut is not an active pickup configuration...........it is for a passive circuit.
you would not be getting ANY noise from the emgs if they were wired correctly. i'm sure you need to utilize the jack emg provided you to solve your noise issue.

hey guys

as you're probably aware I just finished installing a set of EMG SL-20 pickups in my Silhouette Special. (That's the same configuration as supplied in the LUKE).

They sound great.

However, the neck and neck + middle (so switch posn 1 and 2) have hum (exactly like when you use the stock sil pickups without the battery).

The hum is worse the closer you are to the amp. If I move away from the amp it reduces significantly (but not completely). It's noticeable clean, and naturally worse with o/drive.

Is this normal? For those of you with a LUKE, does it happen for you? Wondering if I did something wrong or if it's normal. I've never used EMG pickups so I don't know what's normal.

After any suggestions on how to reduce it, as working in theatre I am often very close to my amp due to space constraints.

Can the silent circuit that I removed be used.... ???

FYI the method I used to install the system was I simply cut the connector plug inside the guitar (which has red/white/black that go off to the output jack and battery case), then solder & heat shrink joined those three wires to the red/white/black wires coming off the EMG kit. (rather than use the output jack supplied with the kit etc) I also unsoldered the black ground wire that goes off to the trem cavity as instructed.

Thanks guys
Dave

 

[floyd99]

thanks everyone, at least the concensus is that in all probability i've done something wrong.
the noise does sound like 60 cycle hum to me. It's similar to the sound a telecaster makes when you're close to the amp, and like i said, similiar to the sound of the neck pup on the silo when you remove the battery.. so i'm pretty sure it is the standard 60 cycle noise i'm hearing.

i was thinking about it while lying in bed last night (don't we all?? come on, you know you do..) and i think the way i've done it whilst trying to be "smart" and make minimal modification to the guitar, may indeed be incorrect.

i'll pull it out tonight and just do it properly and see what happens. i'll just draw a little picture or something so i can remember how to put it back to stock down the track (coz god knows i'll forget... u may have guessed i'm not an electronics guru!! )

thanks friends.

 

[threeminutesboy]

I had a set of EMG SL20 installed on strat and it was as quiet as the Luke

BUT

one thing you have to do is to disconnect the ground wire that is connected to the trem (EMG recomand that, So I did it the way it was recommended by EMG and this might be the reason for the hum)

As for the stereo jack, I think both EBMM and EMG are working the same

 

[floyd99]

I re-wired last night, making everything exactly as the instructions say, and replaced the output jack.

The problem remains.

I'll try swapping the neck and middle pickups tonight and see if the issue moves, to see if the neck pickup is dodgy.

 

[kbaim]

I re-wired last night, making everything exactly as the instructions say, and replaced the output jack.

The problem remains.

I'll try swapping the neck and middle pickups tonight and see if the issue moves, to see if the neck pickup is dodgy.

Good idea. Betting it's the PU

 

[floyd99]

Yep, swapping them around, the noise now exists in posn 2, 3, 4.
Posting the suspect one today, but not sure how long the replacement will take. The guy I've bought it from has kindly agreed to take just the pickup back rather than the whole assembly, and he'll swap it out from a new kit at his end - but we have to wait for the new kit to arrive there as he doesn' t have any more

but anyway, with any luck, let's hope the problem goes away when the new one arrives! So for the forseeable future, Mr Silhouette Special (or shall we say SiloLuke Special???) is lying on the garage bench in pieces. Looks like the strat will get a couple of gigs.

 

[kbaim]

Mystery solved. good luck getting everything resolved.

 

[floyd99]

WOOHOO!!!!!!

Replacement pickup did the trick. Was definitely a dodgy one.
No noise, and it sounds awesome. I also got myself a new volume pedal (25k instead of the 250k that I had) and I think that's also made a huge difference.

We'll call this my SiloLuke Special... I LOVE IT !