*Update* Charvel Model 5fx Sounds Thin

[Charvel1975]

Recently had my Charvel setup and gone over and it's tuned to standard E tuning with .009 to .040 guage strings and had the gold Floyd Rose Original that was taken out of it years ago put back in and the EMG-85 that was in the bridge position swapped out for the old EMG-81 that came in the guitar when I got it for a Christmas gift from my parents years ago. In the neck is a slant EMG single coil in the neck (don't know if it's an SA or S?) and it's been in the guitar since I got it, LSR roller nut and the behind the nut Kahler locking nut.
Well last night me and my other guitarist and the drummer got together at our practice spot and was running through some songs and the Charvel is extremely bright sounding and doesn't have any punch, clarity or definition to it and when I plug it in the gain loss is significant... I also hooked u to other guitars as well: Ibanez JEM Blue Foral, my single hum partscaster with Seymour Duncan JB and my Gibson les paul special with Dimarzio P9 Super Distortion in the bridge.
I was using a Blackstar HT40 Club 40 watt 1x12 combo with the matching Blackstar HTV112 Cab and both the combo and cab have the Celestion 70/80 speakers in them, Gigitec RP360XP through the effects loop for effects only and volume pedal on it set for solo boos and also and my Maxon OD808 through the front of the amp. My other guitarist is using a Marshall DSL40CR combo through a vintage Marshall vertical 2x12 cab.

I have no idea what's wrong with my Charvel??!!

 

[tallcoolone]

So you are saying your other guitars sounded right thru the rig? Is there a coil tap switch you may have left on?

 

[tallcoolone]

Also I would check the jack--it's been humid, could be some corrosion interfering with your contacts

 

[Charvel1975]

So you are saying your other guitars sounded right thru the rig? Is there a coil tap switch you may have left on?

Yes the other guitars sounded ok, the Charvel has just 3 way toggle.

 

[tallcoolone]

Check the jack, otherwise it's either 1) during the setup they fat fingered some of the pickup wiring or 2) the bridge/PU swap f'ed up the guitar. You say the neck PU is the same, does that sound shitty as well now too?

 

[Charvel1975]

Check the jack, otherwise it's either 1) during the setup they fat fingered some of the pickup wiring or 2) the bridge/PU swap f'ed up the guitar. You say the neck PU is the same, does that sound shitty as well now too?

Yea in any of the 3 positions it just sounds really thin sounding, no body or nothing

 

[Kinkless Tetrode]

Was this after the latest pickup swap by chance?

 

[Vinsanitizer]

Pics, Keith. We gotta have pics. All of them.

Could be a dozen things. Uhm.. wild guess: check the neck to see if it's too straight? This time of year necks swell and back-bow, bringing the strings closer to the frets. If the action's too low, any guitar can sound thin. If this is your case, then you would need to loosen the truss rod. (Do not change the action height at the bridge).

 

[MikiDord smf]

Recently had my Charvel setup and gone over and it's tuned to standard E tuning with .009 to .040 guage strings and had the gold Floyd Rose Original that was taken out of it years ago put back in and the EMG-85 that was in the bridge position swapped out for the old EMG-81 that came in the guitar when I got it for a Christmas gift from my parents years ago. In the neck is a slant EMG single coil in the neck (don't know if it's an SA or S?) and it's been in the guitar since I got it, LSR roller nut and the behind the nut Kahler locking nut.
Well last night me and my other guitarist and the drummer got together at our practice spot and was running through some songs and the Charvel is extremely bright sounding and doesn't have any punch, clarity or definition to it and when I plug it in the gain loss is significant... I also hooked u to other guitars as well: Ibanez JEM Blue Foral, my single hum partscaster with Seymour Duncan JB and my Gibson les paul special with Dimarzio P9 Super Distortion in the bridge.
I was using a Blackstar HT40 Club 40 watt 1x12 combo with the matching Blackstar HTV112 Cab and both the combo and cab have the Celestion 70/80 speakers in them, Gigitec RP360XP through the effects loop for effects only and volume pedal on it set for solo boos and also and my Maxon OD808 through the front of the amp. My other guitarist is using a Marshall DSL40CR combo through a vintage Marshall vertical 2x12 cab.

I have no idea what's wrong with my Charvel??!!

Battery, change it. Also it may be the high of pickups, could be something with tremolo as well. but usually lack of power with active pickup is due to battery, sometimes new ones aren't good. It could be wiring but since it works and sound thin the best would be to see pictures. If you like DIY then simply go step by step, check electronic ( pots, pickup wiring, switch, jack and battery connection) and battery, If that is for sure OK then check the tremolo.

Since it's a bit old post already, i suppose you have found solution until know, it would be cool to know what it was. Without video, pictures etc it's hard to make a correct ''diagnose''.

 

[Charvel1975]

Battery, change it. Also it may be the high of pickups, could be something with tremolo as well. but usually lack of power with active pickup is due to battery, sometimes new ones aren't good. It could be wiring but since it works and sound thin the best would be to see pictures. If you like DIY then simply go step by step, check electronic ( pots, pickup wiring, switch, jack and battery connection) and battery, If that is for sure OK then check the tremolo.

Since it's a bit old post already, i suppose you have found solution until know, it would be cool to know what it was. Without video, pictures etc it's hard to make a correct ''diagnose''.

Yes I haven't had time to take a picture of the control cavity, I did replace the battery with a new Duracell.

 

[Charvel1975]

*UPDATE* Took my Charvel Model 5FX this morning to guitar repair shop and said they've never encountered a EMG pickup that went bad but could not rule that out and they then plugged it in through an amp briefly and then suggested I get a new Switchcraft short shaft 3-way toggle switch, new EMG wiring kit, 1 - EMG volume pot, 1 - EMG tone pot and new EMG stereo output jack.

 

[Maxbrothman]

*UPDATE* Took my Charvel Model 5FX this morning to guitar repair shop and said they've never encountered a EMG pickup that went bad but could not rule that out and they then plugged it in through an amp briefly and then suggested I get a new Switchcraft short shaft 3-way toggle switch, new EMG wiring kit, 1 - EMG volume pot, 1 - EMG tone pot and new EMG stereo output jack.

That's a standard $100 of gut wiring, which is exactly what most luthiers would do if the pickups weren't responding as they should but were in good condition.

 

[Charvel1975]

That's a standard $100 of gut wiring, which is exactly what most luthiers would do if the pickups weren't responding as they should but were in good condition.

Ok thank you for the information

 

[Charvel1975]

I just got to thinking the owner of the guitar repair shop I took my Charvel to this morning suggested I get a new Switchcraft short shaft 3-way toggle switch, new EMG wiring kit, 1 - EMG volume pot, 1 - EMG tone pot and new EMG stereo output jack and I told him the wiring and the EMG-81 he put back in last year needs checked before he even suggested the above, shouldn't he be checking the output on the 81 and checking the wiring first before I go getting the above??

 

[Dgd73]

I'm not a tech or anything but I do have a couple guitars with emgs. Did you try it straight into the amp without effects (none in front or in the loop). I wasn't sure where your volume pedal was but I've seen that they have different volume pedals for active electronics (with different pot values). I don't use one myself so I don't have any experience either way but could this possibly be causing a problem? It seems the other guitars you tried had passive pickups so maybe they wouldn't be affected the same way. Just a thought. Hope you get it sorted out quickly and inexpensively if possible. EDIT: sorry, I forgot you replaced an 85 with and 81, so it shouldn't matter if it was working before.

 

[BowerR64]

regular jacks have just 2 contacts, the EMG wiring uses a 3 prong type of jack because since its active there needs to be a way to switch the battery on and off. If you changed out anything and didnt use the 3 connector output jack your not getting this on and off switching the 3 prong jack does. Its also important to unplug the guitar when not in use just like a pedal its easy to forget when your use to passive pickups for years. When you mentioned thin sounding and lack of gain makes me think its not getting power to the pickups. If i remember the 81 has a more midrange sound then the 85 which if i remember right had a more scooped sort of sound compared to the 81, the 81 had a more midrange hump and 85 had a fatter low and a little highs. I also remember the "EMG" logo back then had something to do with the model. Like the 81 has EMG in silver and the 85 has EMG in gold seems it was the same as the single coil if the "EMG" is gold or silver on the single coil could tell you which model you have. Now days i have no clue what EMG is doing

 

[saxon68]

Buy a new EMG 81, they include all the wiring and pots needed. 99 bucks.