EMG 81 pickup suddenly stopped responding [solved]

[eh la bas ma]

Hello,

I was playing guitar yesterday, switching from neck to bridge while playing. At some point, the bridge pickup went silent when i tried to switch it. Suddenly I would say, I couldn't notice any suspicious signs before it happened.

Neck pickup EMG 85 is perfectly ok.

I changed the battery, but still no sound. In fact, i was playing with a fuzz circuit, and there is a very tiny signal when the fuzz is engaged. Maybe coming from the neck, i am not sure.

I have no idea what to do to fix this. I don't know what happened. Everything looks ok, guitar is an LTD Viper 400 from Thomann.
EMG pickups look authentic, I know there are some counterfeit.




As you can see on the pic, there are 3 wires going to the pickups. I  checked and there is 9.10 V when i probe red and black wires, if a cable is plugged in. I guess the white one is the signal...
Are there some more  tests I could perform ?

Every suggestions are welcome !

[Rob Strand]

Every suggestions are welcome !

If you have a valid warranty claim then maybe go down that path before using any soldering irons.
(2008 hmm...)

A simple test would be to swap the pickup positions by unplugging the connector.
If the problem follows the pickup then it's the pickup.
If the problem follows the position then it's the wiring.

A wiring issue could be tracked down.  Bad connection in the connector or something.

If it's the pickup you could try to measure the current to see if there's some life
in the electronics.   Compare the current draw with the other pickup.

One possibility is the winding has broken and the only way to check that would
be to open-up the pickup.    Another possibility is a PCB issue.   There's a few sites
and posts showing how to disassemble these things.   Kind of a last resort and
not a fun thing to do.   You still then have the job to fix it.

[eh la bas ma]

Every suggestions are welcome !

If you have a valid warranty claim then maybe go down that path before using any soldering irons.
(2008 hmm...)

A simple test would be to swap the pickup positions by unplugging the connector.
If the problem follows the pickup then it's the pickup.
If the problem follows the position then it's the wiring.

A wiring issue could be tracked down.  Bad connection in the connector or something.

I swapped them and hurrah! Pickup is still good, on neck position EMG 81 works ! Big relief. Thanks !

Funny thing is that once every 5 or 6 times, when i use the switch, I hear the sound of the slack E string I left, through the EMG 85 now in bridge position, it's around 8 or 10 db (just guessing) quieter than neck pickup though. The pickups aren't at the same height, so maybe that's that...

[eh la bas ma]

aaah, I think it 's just the guitar jack' s tip shorting with the body. I re-swapped them and there is a signal on bridge position when the cable isn't fully inserted.

I didn't think about this simple thing... Neck pickup being ok made me think it was the switch or the pickup. Sorry for the trouble !

Thank you very much for your help.