No output from bridge pickup...

[freeballin]

I have a JH-600 and lately the bridge pickup seems like it's running with a dead battery, yet the neck pickup is fine.

I've tried changing the battery and swapping the pickups around (since they're EMG's and have the quick connect) but the bridge still doesn't work right.

I've opened the back and didn't see anything that looked disconnected so I'm stumped now. :confused: Anyone have any idea?

[Bouncepogo]

probably something fishy going at the pickup selector switch by the sounds of things. I think that should be your next port of call.

[The Sloth]

try some switch cleaner (NOT DW40!!!) in the selector switch while flicking it back and forwards, that may help get rid of any dust/dirt that may be stopping the switch working properly. The only other thing I can think of that is obvious would be dry joints in the soldering...

[andrei]

so... doesn't it work at all, or does it it cut out from time to time?

first try locating the weak spot: solderings, wires, pots, switch, output jack.
if it isn't some bad pot/switch/jack, it may be a wire or soldering joint.

try pulling/moving the wires, till you find the source of your trouble.
then resolder or replace the wire.
(if it's a bad soldering joint - just resolder; if you suspect a weak wire - replace it)

[ESPKH4]

im having the same problem on my 02 viper....the bridge selector goes dead....i think i might either have a bad EMG 81 or the selector is toast

[Pushead]

I've had that problem on every ESP guitar I've owned. The switch goes funky, and needs to be re-soldered. Then it will work fine for a few months, and needs it again.

[ESPKH4]

thats strange mine went 5 years, though i did swap the duncans for EMGS

[Guitarslingerans]

Maybe the quick connect came loose from the back of the pickup itself. I know it seems strange, but ESP usually has soo little wire in the actual pickup cavity, that if you were noodling around in the back, replacing a battery or something, it's posible that you accidentally yanked the quick connect loose from the pickup. Check that. :) If it isn't that, you probably need a new toggle switch. Allparts has super nice ones that last forever.

-Ans-

[ESPKH4]

you know i didnt even think of that ill take a look thanks dude

[ESPKH4]

well i tested ALL connections...my EMG 81 is toast..now i gotta see if its still under warranty or i might have to dump another 90 bucks on another one:\

[Khali]

Are you sure its toast? If you tried it in the neck position and it still doesn't work, okay, its toast. But I think its either, as previously stated, the wire is disconnected from the switch, or the wire is disconnected from the battery. Assuming you have 1vol 1tone. 2 vol, the pups would be wired to teh volume pots, then to the switch, so check the vol pots, then the switch connections.

[andrei]

you just have to check and doublecheck everything...
i hope the pup isn't toast, cose that's about the worse case scenario.

like Khali said, switch the pickups... try them out one at the time on the connector that works fine.

i still hope it's not fired...

[TaoZen]

EMG's have an internal opamp that is usually bulletproof, but can fail. If you have a spare 1/4 inch jack, hardwire the pickup to it, plug in a cable (a good one!) and see if you get a strong signal. A luthier would put it on a meter to see if it was getting good signal, but in lieu of the meter, that should work.

Best of luck my friend!

[freeballin]

Damn, forgot about this.

so... doesn't it work at all, or does it it cut out from time to time?

first try locating the weak spot: solderings, wires, pots, switch, output jack.
if it isn't some bad pot/switch/jack, it may be a wire or soldering joint.

try pulling/moving the wires, till you find the source of your trouble.
then resolder or replace the wire.
(if it's a bad soldering joint - just resolder; if you suspect a weak wire - replace it)

It doesn't cut out, it just sort of always sounds like the volume pot has been turned down really low. With a clean sound I get no sound at all, if that makes it a little clearer.

I took it to a shop here in town and the electronics guy said I had a bad pickup, which can't be because I switched the pickups around to make sure they were both working. I don't believe he's familiar with pickups like EMG's though so whatever (we don't have shit in terms of guitar stuff around here).

I think another possibility might be that the wires that go from the quick connect to inside of the cavity are fucked. I had the pickup cutting out at one point from an the already weak signal to an almost nothing with distortion at one point. I would tap on the bridge pickup and it would come back, then fade again, etc. Assuming that is it, is it possible to get EMG wiring without a new pickup, or can I replace the bad wires with wires of the same type? I've never swapped, installed, blah blah blah pickups so I'm a n00b at this (isn't it obvious?).

Anyway, I can't be fucked to mess with it right now, so I'm going to wait until after my finals before I bother messing with it.

[ESPKH4]

EMG is sending me a brand new one with a all electronics and wireing, so im just gonna replace the hole thing, plus all soder points were solid and well done, i had a luthier install my pickups on my viper just so they WOULDNT be fucked in the first place...

[andrei]

If you have a spare 1/4 inch jack, hardwire the pickup to it, plug in a cable (a good one!) and see if you get a strong signal.

+1

take it step by step and remove the possible causes one by one.

about some proffesionals... if you want a job well done, you have to do it yourself.

i don't think you can order just the wires from emg.
(check emginc.com to be shure)
but some dude who replaced emgs and has the extra wires may be willing to help you out.

good luck with your finals, then get to work!

[1point8t]

I'm pretty sure you can find another QuikConnect wire on ebay, and guitarpartsdepot.com has them too, I think... I paid like $12 shipped for a new wire.