HELP with Epiphone EJ-160 pickup

[nukebass]

okay, that was bad...

I was hoping somebody here would have some Epiphone EJ-160 (the Lennon model) experience and would be able to tell if I'm missing something obvious. This guitar is only a year old and I'm getting almost no output through the pickup. I don't use the pickup much (obviously), but would like to have it available if I ever want to use it. I plugged a cable in and measured the resistance and got about 7kOhm (I think that's the right magnitude). When plugged into my amp, I have to crank the gain really high and then I get a faint sound that has an echo. I remember it working when I bought it, or at least I think I do. I reached around in the cavity and couldn't find a battery or anything, so I don't think that would be the problem (unless there is a battery and I've just missed it). There is a Gibson repair shop in Charlotte, but I don't want to look like a complete idiot if it's something simple that I've missed. Thanks for any help!

[tennis_nick]

No battery needed.

It sounds like you might have a loose wire somewhere, perhaps in the pickup winding.


Or, maybe you'd made the mistake of not pushing the cable all the way into the input jack? I've had this happen just yesterday, and it's embarrassing when there's a crowd!

[jingle_jangle]

Plug it into an amp, turn it up a bit, and then fish around inside, moving wires and generally making a disturbance. If you hear nasty electronic crashes and buzzes, isolate the solder joint and redo it. You can also knock on the top near the pickup and listen for the same sounds.

Sounds like sumthin's loose to me...

[admin]

Ryan: These pickups, even when working, are nothing to boast about. I have found their output to be poor and had a close friend who eventually traded his EJ-160 due to a problem similar to the one your describe.

[doctorwho]

Ryan, I have a spare Gibson J-160E pickup with wiring harness (original factory replacement part) if you wind up needing to swap it out. It won't be real cheap, though.

[admin]

Ryan: Just out of interest, what strings do you have on your instrument?

[lennon211]

That's a good point about the strings. If they're bronze, that might account for some loss of the sound. These need to be traditional electric-style strings.

[jps]

Ryan, I have a spare Gibson J-160E pickup with wiring harness (original factory replacement part) if you wind up needing to swap it out. It won't be real cheap, though.

Why? Is this like an ex wife?

[tennis_nick]

Ryan: Just out of interest, what strings do you have on your instrument?

AH HA!!!

I think you may have stumbled upon the reason here Peter, It seems the most likely! Regular bronze wound strings have weaker magnetic properties than steel or nickel or whatever your choice electric guitar string is!

[doctorwho]

Ryan: Just out of interest, what strings do you have on your instrument?

AH HA!!!

I think you may have stumbled upon the reason here Peter, It seems the most likely! Regular bronze wound strings have weaker magnetic properties than steel or nickel or whatever your choice electric guitar string is!

+1

[gregga41]

On a camping holiday with my family this week in country Victoria. Visited the town my father was born in, Wonthaggi, a coal mining town back in its day. My grandfathers Law firm still exists there, nearly 50 years after his passing.
Local guitar shop had an Epi EJ-160 on the wall. New price here in Oz is a touch under AU$1000.
These guys had it at AU$699.
I'll be paying attention to your pickup problem and keen to hear the outcome, before i decide to snag this one.
Hopefully it's a string change that's needed!

[nukebass]

I did some troubleshooting and I'm not sure if I found anything conclusive. I did put on a set of D'Addario extra light acoustic strings so I figured that may be the problem. I cranked up a different amplifier (to eliminate the amp) and had the same result. I then held my electric guitar as close as possible to the pickup and got a little response. I didn't think string type would make that much difference, but I guess maybe it does. I'm not certain that is the whole problem because it wasn't a substantial volume difference, but it also wasn't quite as close as the strings would normally be.

I also looked at the standard internet sites and couldn't find any place that sells the gauge of string that came on the acoustic. It seems a bit weird that people wouldn't sell the strings for this model since it seems to be popular and it has a custom gauge. I have a set of regular electric strings I could try, but the E sting is a lot smaller (46 compared to 52) than the original string. I guess it shouldn't be a problem and would eliminate the strings as the culprit. If it is the strings, it sure would be nice for that to be mentioned in the Epiphone Owners' Manual!

Did the old Gibsons have the same problem or was it just a different and better pickup? I always thought the pickup was used for I Feel Fine and that acoustic strings were used. I could be wrong. Thanks for the help!!

[doctorwho]

... I did put on a set of D'Addario extra light acoustic strings ...

Bingo!

Typical acoustic strings do not contain enough ferromagnetic metal (i.e. iron or nickel) in them to induce a current in the coils of an electric pickup, so they don't produce much sound electrically.

I will use a micrometer to measure the gauges of the strings on both of my J-160Es (don't ask why I have two of them! ) when I get home a little later and report what I find.

[tmossman]

I use TI Flats and DR Zebras on mine. The TI's sound great amplified but very dull acoustically. The Zebras sound good acoustically and amplified.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigati ... ebra&Nty=1

[doctorwho]

Gauges of the string on my J-160Es:

#1 (older, probably non-factory repalcements)
0.053 - 0.041 - 0.032 - 0.024 - 0.014 - 0.012

#2 (probably factory stock)
0.051 - 0.039 - 0.030 - 0.022 - 0.014 - 0.011

I am thinking of changing the strings on #1, and if I do, it'll be a set of flatwounds, most likely a D'Addario ECG24set (0.050 - 0.040 - 0.030 - 0.022w - 0.015 - 0.011). (I just like the way flats feel.)