Gibson SG standard: Quiet neck pickup

bad2dabone · 21-09-2010 3:23am #1

Hi lads,

after a bit of searching I got a gibson SG Standard yesterday second hand from a shop. Its a beauty and I love it, however when I have the pickup selector in the treble position the guitar is noticeably quieter than the middle and rhythm positions. Am I right in assuming this is caused by the neck pickup? When I touch the pickup it feels a little "loose" - is this causing it to be quiet? The guy in the shop said he had set it up himself, and to be honest it plays very nicely, I just should have noticed this before leaving the shop so I could have asked him about it

Or is the treble position supposed to be quieter than the other two?
Is there any way, short of getting another SG side by side with the one I have bought, to test the pickups output?

Sorry for the seemingly silly questions, i'm wrecking my own head here.

Thanks!

artvandulet · 21-09-2010 7:39am

You can test the pickups resistance if you have a multimeter.
Plug in a guitar lead into your guitar. Put one of the probes on the other end of the lead on the tip (any part above the black ring) and put the other on the sleeve(any metal part below the black ring). Put the meter to 20k. Now depending on the pickup selected, you should see different readings. The resitance changes as you raise and lower the volume. The higher the number the 'hotter' the output. You should see readings roughly between 7-15. You can then compare the output if each pickup against each other and also against brand specs.

Have a look and see if you can adjust the pickup height to compensate. This may help a little.
BTW, the 'treble' position would normally be the bridge pickup.

damonjewel · 21-09-2010 7:52am

These might seem simplistic but when you switch to the treble (which is your bridge pickup) are you sure that the volume pot is up full. the Sg usually has for pots (a volume and treble for each pickup). When you switch to the treble position you are working off that volume pot alone and that could be where the problem is i.e. your volume pot is not open, or possibly faulty.

bad2dabone · 21-09-2010 9:50am

Thanks lads,
sorry i should have said all knobs are turned to 10 and they react when i turn them
so it might be the bridge pickup thats acting up?
the pickup in the neck position looks to be sitting a little low to me, although part of the problem is i don't know what i'm looking for. I'l get a multimeter i think. should both pickups be producing similar outputs?

darrenw5094 · 21-09-2010 9:57am

bad2dabone wrote: »

Thanks lads,
sorry i should have said all knobs are turned to 10 and they react when i turn them
so it might be the bridge pickup thats acting up?
the pickup in the neck position looks to be sitting a little low to me, although part of the problem is i don't know what i'm looking for. I'l get a multimeter i think. should both pickups be producing similar outputs?

It's the bridge pickup. Don't think an average player could fix the issue if it is a wiring problem or something along those lines. You would need to bring it to someone with a bit of know how.

bad2dabone · 21-09-2010 10:01am

grand stuff, just one more question before I ring the shop i bought it from, and ask them to check it out for me....

is it normal for the treble position to be quieter than the other two?

darrenw5094 · 21-09-2010 10:03am

bad2dabone wrote: »

is it normal for the treble position to be quieter than the other two?

Course not. Needs to be fixed.

bad2dabone · 21-09-2010 10:04am

grand

thanks I wasn't sure if i was just inventing a problem. I'll give them a buzz.

Demeyes · 21-09-2010 11:14am

Just want to clear up, is it the neck pickup or the bridge pickup thats quiet? The treble pickup is the bridge. It might be as simple as pickup height, you mention it's a little low. It should be easy to adjust and it can make a pretty big change in volume depending on how low it's set.
However, since you just bought it from a shop you should get them to sort it out for you.

bad2dabone · 21-09-2010 1:29pm

Demeyes wrote: »

The treble pickup is the bridge. It might be as simple as pickup height

Well i'm just back from the shop there, the chap checked out all the components with a multimeter and they were working fine, so I compared it to another SG and sure enough the bridge pickup was too low, so he fixed it then and now its playing like a dream.

Thanks for the advice and stuff lads, much appreciated!

Gibson SG standard: Quiet neck pickup

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