| Author | Message | ||
| dumfuxx
Junior Username: dumfuxx Post Number: 20 Registered: 1-2005 |
my bridge pickup is much quieter than my neck pickup on the epic. If I pan to it alone, I can barely hear it at all, and it is very close to the strings. Has anyone heard of this before? Suggestions? | ||
| jagerphan84
Advanced Member Username: jagerphan84 Post Number: 209 Registered: 10-2003 |
Hey Gary, Check inside the control cavity. There ought to be a couple little blue boxes which control the gain for each pickup. They are pretty sensitive; it shouldn't take a whole lot of adjustment to bring the levels together. Hope this helps! Adam | ||
| adriaan
Senior Member Username: adriaan Post Number: 594 Registered: 6-2002 |
The Epic package has just one gain pot inside the control cavity, so that's already one thing eliminated. Definitely sounds like there's something wrong - could be a bad contact, could be inside the pick-up itself. | ||
| xlrogue6
Member Username: xlrogue6 Post Number: 98 Registered: 8-2002 |
For diagnostic purposes you might try swapping the PU connectors on the board to see if the problem is the PU or the electronics. | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 2175 Registered: 5-2002 |
Definitely try Kent's suggestion of switching the leads. Also, check to see if anything might be shorting out; i.e. that nothing has become loose and moved inside the cavity to where it's touching something else. | ||
| dumfuxx
Junior Username: dumfuxx Post Number: 21 Registered: 1-2005 |
I'm on an offshore oil rig right now, but I should be back thursday. I have already looked-wiggled inside the control cavity and everything looks ok, but I'll definitely swap the leads to see if the problem moves or not. I'll update to let everyone know. | ||
| dumfuxx
Junior Username: dumfuxx Post Number: 23 Registered: 1-2005 |
ok, found the problem. I swapped the connectors in the control cavity and the problem moved, so I pulled out my multimeter. the neck pickup reads about 7 ohms, and the bridge pickup reads open! I removed the pickup to check if the wiring is intact and found the pickup is cracked in half. Has a broken connection inside the epoxy. New pickup is $160, on its way overnight shipping. Come to find out, the pickup has never worked since I bought it from GCrep on ebay. The 'quiet' output of the pickup was just bleedover of the neck pickup. I can hear it with the bridge P/U removed. | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 583 Registered: 7-2004 |
O.K., now I'm confused. If the problem moved, doesn't that prove it's the electronics and not the pickup? If the problem is a bad pickup, shouldn't it stay the same (same pickup doesn't work) even when you switch the connections? Am I wrong, or did I just go to too many Dead shows? Bill, tgo | ||
| dadabass2001
Senior Member Username: dadabass2001 Post Number: 437 Registered: 6-2002 |
Too many Dead shows.... You wouldn't change the leads at the pickup, but rather at the electronics end. That would move the problem to the other position. Breathe inside a paper bag 5 times deeply.  Mike | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 584 Registered: 7-2004 |
I still don't understand. There are two pickups, lets call them neck and bridge. The problem is that the bridge pickup isn't working. It could be a bad pickup or bad electronics. You switch the leads and the problem switches to the neck pickup. Doesn't this prove that the problem is the electronics? If the problem is a bad bridge pickup, won't the problem stay with the bridge pickup no matter how it is wired? Or does changing the wires cause the pickup to spontaneously heal itself? I don't get it. Bill, tgo | ||
| dumfuxx
Junior Username: dumfuxx Post Number: 24 Registered: 1-2005 |
The problem moves to the neck pickup connection on the elctronics. So when I pan to the neck pickup, its dead. I pan to the bridge pickup (which is the physical neck pickup 'cause I switched leads) it works. | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 585 Registered: 7-2004 |
So, in other words, the problem STAYED with the bridge pickup and DID NOT switch to the neck pickup when you swapped the connections, right? I guess my misunderstanding is a matter of semantics. When I say "neck pickup", I mean the rectangular thing that is nearer the neck. When you say "neck pickup" you mean the setting on the pan switch, right? Bill, tgo | ||
| dumfuxx
Junior Username: dumfuxx Post Number: 25 Registered: 1-2005 |
stayed with bridge pickup, correct. | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 2198 Registered: 5-2002 |
Could be that the spontaneous healing capacitor was burned out <g>. | ||
| dadabass2001
Senior Member Username: dadabass2001 Post Number: 438 Registered: 6-2002 |
quote from Senior's zippy healing capacitor repair... "frayed franims... ya gotta replace the set. Can ya leave it overnight?"  Mike Sr. | ||
| kmh364
Senior Member Username: kmh364 Post Number: 962 Registered: 9-2003 |
Broken doohicky and a burned-out franastat, LOL! Sorry, Gary, I couldn't resist. No disrespect or insult intended. Cheers, Kevin (Message edited by kmh364 on August 13, 2005) | ||
| dumfuxx
Junior Username: dumfuxx Post Number: 26 Registered: 1-2005 |
OMG it is glorious! I have never heard this bass sound so good. My singer looked at me with his mouth hanging open when he heard both pickups for the first time with the filter. Anyone on the fence about buying the $250 filter/qswitch needs to get it. It gives me this tone that I have been trying to describe to people for years. I always called it the 'straw' or 'conduit' sound that some of primus' recordings had (I think he used an sf-2 with his carl thompson). Now I know why you guys are such fanatics. | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 2227 Registered: 5-2002 |
Great!! |
