~Wiring Help Needed~ EMG 81 85

[Mr.C]

ok I need some help wiring up this Kerry King set I don't want to use the boost switch, & I have a 5 way blade switch I want to use.

so it's volume & tone knob & a 5 way switch

can someone help me out please?? thanks in advance...

[Rich#6]

I have never seen anything more then a 3 way on active emgs. Don't know if you can do it.

[[NEX]]

well, just wire it as if u were wiring the neck and bridge pickup in the 5-way switch, as a nice side effect u get a nice kill switch in the middle possition.

[Sunbane]

I have never seen anything more then a 3 way on active emgs. Don't know if you can do it.

Of course it can be done. Let's take this again:

EMGs are no harder to wire than any other pickup. The thing people fail to do, is figure out how their 5-way switch works. That's no fault of EMG. EMGs even come with explicit wiring instructions for Fender style 5-way blade switches.

Take note of how your switch is wired up BEFORE you solder off the original pickups. That will save you a lot of trouble.

[Rich#6]

Of course it can be done. Let's take this again:

EMGs are no harder to wire than any other pickup. The thing people fail to do, is figure out how their 5-way switch works. That's no fault of EMG. EMGs even come with explicit wiring instructions for Fender style 5-way blade switches.

This is from EMG
"
Can I split the coils in my EMG-85? No. With the exception of our pickups that have dual outputs, our active pickups only have 3 wires. As a result, coil splitting/tapping is not an option". Can I use the stock 5 way switch with my Zakk Wylde Set? No. Using a 5 way switch with two EMG active pickups results in dead spots in positions 2 and 4. This can result in damage occurring to the speaker cones, especially at high gain levels. You'll have to replace the 5 way switch with a 3 way blade switch instead, like the one shown in our diagrams." try it again sunbane 81&85's can not be split. Which is what is in the kerry king set. and what we are talking about.
89's are splitable to singles with a push-pull knob

[Sunbane]

But nobody mentioned anything about splitting - only if you could use a 5-way with the KK set. If you'd want splittable EMGs, you'd simply buy the 89s.

[Rich#6]

with 2 humbuckers you can only have 3 options if you can't split. way use a 5-way and mess up you speakers?

[Sunbane]

Mess up speakers? From using a 5-way with non-splittable pups? Please enlighten me how.

[Rich#6]

Mess up speakers? From using a 5-way with non-splittable pups? Please enlighten me how.

Read my first post that is straight from EMG's website.

Can I use the stock 5 way switch with my Zakk Wylde Set? No. Using a 5 way switch with two EMG active pickups results in dead spots in positions 2 and 4. This can result in damage occurring to the speaker cones, especially at high gain levels. You'll have to replace the 5 way switch with a 3 way blade switch instead, like the one shown in our diagrams.

I don't say so, the makers of them do.

[Sunbane]

Hmm, yeah you're right. I probably need to have my eyesight checked.

[Spivonious]

How would that damage the speaker cones? They'd simply have no signal passing through them. Maybe they're talking about the "click" that you get when switching something on/off?

[CharvelRocker]

That has a 3 way btw (I know this as I own it).

How would that damage the speaker cones? They'd simply have no signal passing through them. Maybe they're talking about the "click" that you get when switching something on/off?

I guess. Though your switch shouldn't click THAT MUCH unless its a piece of crap or on its way out. As for wiring EMGs, I would go and say its easier then wiring others as you don't need to wire any grounds, and the pickup is soldered directly to the pot, rather the wire running to the clip are, making changing EMGs and installing them much easier.

[marcus]

I am confused by the statement from EMG. If you hook up a five way switch with two pickups, you will have a dead spot in only one position. If tab 1 is the common, and you hook up the two pickups to tabs 2 and 4, the deadspot will be in position 3, while position 2 will be the same as 1, and poition 4 will be the same as position 5.

It is also curious as to why they indicate that this will damage the speakers. Really, this will just float the output which is no different than turning the amp on with nothing plugged in. Switching to this position while playing would be like unplugging the guitar while playing, not the best thing, but I haven't seen this ever damage a speaker cone. But hey, they're the experts here.

In any case these problems are easily solved. You can turn a 5 way switch into a three way switch with several duplicated positions by soldering two of the input tabs together, and hooking up one pickup to these two input tabs and the other pickup to the other, unsoldered tab. Or you can hook up the pickups to two of the input tabs, and ground the other one, and you will have a "kill" position. Or rather, two or three of them

EDIT: I forgot we were talking about actives here. I am not sure, but there may be some issue with grouding the active wires from the pickups, so I don't know if grounding one of the tabs of the 5 way switch will actually work. Any EMG gurus here know? In any case, I wouldn't try this.

[marcus]

I should go ahead and say that I may not know what I'm talking about, so follow my advice at your own peril :ROTF::ROTF::ROTF:

[Sunbane]

I think EMG are just covering their asses, but who knows...

But couldn't you just add a bridging wire for position 2 and 4, or would that fuxxor up the pickup selection?