VG-99 - Noise when using steel guitars

[admin]

Have your looked at the wiring? Is the ground wired in the correct way?

yes - shocked how cheap the EMG pots used today are - and you have poor shielding in the cavity, and really terrible wiring for the output jack  - but this is what a typical import guitar electronics look like these days( what brand  / make model guitar is it?  ( so I know not to recommend it

But the Active EMG's often mask these flaws.

[topido]

It's a Jackson SL2LH but the owner told me he had it made by a luthier...

Anyway Sounds good with the emgs.

[topido]

It is this one: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/jackson-sl2h-select-usa--left-handed

I own some other ones but as I only use the GK3, I thought that the important thing was the comfort for me. And it is great on this one. Better than my Les Paul for instance.

[admin]

Might benefit by having control cavity shielded with Copper foil ( IMHO - The existing conductive paint is poor)  and  implement  a genuine shielded coax cable between the Vol Pot and 1/4" Output jack

but that wiring looks like $300 guitar territory - (James Turser / First Act)  - not  an $1800 Jackson !

wow!

[whippinpost91850]

I agree It sure doesn't look like the electronics in a higher end Jackson

[aliensporebomb]

EMGs typically don't use string grounding if they are the low impedance type:
Paraphrasing EMGs own website:  "When installing EMG Pickups, DO NOT reconnect the bridge ground wire. This wire is usually soldered to a volume or tone control casing and goes to the bridge. This wire grounds the strings and uses them and your body as a shield against hum and buzz. It also creates a shock hazard. EMG Pickups are shielded internally and DO NOT require string grounding. THis greatly reduces the possibility of reverse polarity shock from microphones and other equipment."

I have two guitars with EMG pickups and they are both very quiet even under heavy overdrive/distortion conditions.

Secondly on my Jackson guitars the back cavities are covered by aluminum plates not plastic - partially aesthetic and partially I suspect a shielding measure - your Floyd rose is setup really weirdly as there are too many springs involved. 

Do you downtune with very heavy strings?  That may be one reason.

[aliensporebomb]

It's a Jackson SL2LH but the owner told me he had it made by a luthier...

Anyway Sounds good with the emgs.

Bolt on or neck through?  The only thing I would say is based on what I can see it appears that someone has taken an import version of a Dinky or Soloist and modified it to suit your purpose.  Not that this is bad, but there could be numerous problems with this guitar.

[topido]

I agree It sure doesn't look like the electronics in a higher end Jackson

It might have been modified by the previous owner.
Do you think I should take it to a professional?
My only matter is the pb with the GK.
Think I'll buy other GKs for my other guitars and see if I still have the pb...

[topido]

EMGs typically don't use string grounding if they are the low impedance type:
Paraphrasing EMGs own website:  "When installing EMG Pickups, DO NOT reconnect the bridge ground wire. This wire is usually soldered to a volume or tone control casing and goes to the bridge. This wire grounds the strings and uses them and your body as a shield against hum and buzz. It also creates a shock hazard. EMG Pickups are shielded internally and DO NOT require string grounding. THis greatly reduces the possibility of reverse polarity shock from microphones and other equipment."

I have two guitars with EMG pickups and they are both very quiet even under heavy overdrive/distortion conditions.

Secondly on my Jackson guitars the back cavities are covered by aluminum plates not plastic - partially aesthetic and partially I suspect a shielding measure - your Floyd rose is setup really weirdly as there are too many springs involved. 

Do you downtune with very heavy strings?  That may be one reason.

The normal pickups are very quiet, I only have the pb when I use the GK...
The back is covered with two plates of aluminium.
I don't downtune at all.
I had never opened my guitar before the photos I took...

[topido]

Bolt on or neck through?  The only thing I would say is based on what I can see it appears that someone has taken an import version of a Dinky or Soloist and modified it to suit your purpose.  Not that this is bad, but there could be numerous problems with this guitar.

Neck through.
Hey, you made me worry a little bit that the guy I bought it from lied to me.

But according to this website, looks good: http://www.jacksoncharvelworld.net/Identify.html
I have a "Made in Usa" on the head, a serial number engraved on the last fret (018448) etc.
A Jacskson ticket was with it (with many infos and handwrited signatures): I sent a mail to Jackson to confim.

I think that it's just a great guitar (US Jackson pro série) that has been messed up inside by the previous owner...

[admin]

I think your guitar is genuine , just sad to see the "state of the art " for guitar electronics from a major US manufacturer has declined so much

(I understand Fender builds the current US Jackson models)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Guitars

I still suggest the noise is from an inadequate edited VG-99 patch as you stated ,

". . just changed the model from Acoustic nylon model to Acoustic steel model  "

Ok, I'll post the patch (it's quite easy, I took the excellent FlashNylon I got here and replaced the nylon guitar by the MA28 model here ). But I'll post it, give me 5 minutes to create it.

I suspect there are additional EQ stages within your specific patch that are contributing to the poor noise floor with the VG-99 MA28 model.  Many folks consider the VG-99 Nylon model weak , and many use specific EQ boosts/cuts to improve the Nylon  sound , but these same EQ boost cut settings are often inappropriate for use with the Acoustic Steel Guitar models - for precisely this reason (introduced poor noise anomalies as your audio sample demonstrates )


Post your VG-99 patch

(How to )
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=64.0

And try some known good VG-99 Acoustic Steel String guitar patches here:
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=29.0

[aliensporebomb]

If it's neckthru and says Made in USA on the headstock and the serial is engraved into the wood on the top fret then it probably is a USA Jackson guitar.

The wiring inside smacks of someones experiment.

Here's a factory EMG pickup wiring job (not a Jackson neckthru, another brand but factory done wiring):



Backplate has shielding since on this guitar it's a polycarbonate piece:



Battery compartment also shielded:



All is not lost with your guitar, it's probably the person installing the EMGs was not completely familiar with them and how they are installed and didn't use the wiring looms supplied with the kit which makes me wonder if they also might have used the non-EMG approved pots.

[admin]

The wild card it's a left handed model, and subject to the rare reverse taper pots ,  so it's far more limited production than the standard model 

[chrish]

I agree that it's a vg99 patch gain or gk3 setup. I had simular noise with my vg99 on steel acoustic models, kind of an after hiss as a chord is decaying. Turning down the amp model gain setting helped.

[topido]

If it's neckthru and says Made in USA on the headstock and the serial is engraved into the wood on the top fret then it probably is a USA Jackson guitar.

The wiring inside smacks of someones experiment.

Here's a factory EMG pickup wiring job (not a Jackson neckthru, another brand but factory done wiring):



Backplate has shielding since on this guitar it's a polycarbonate piece:



Battery compartment also shielded:



All is not lost with your guitar, it's probably the person installing the EMGs was not completely familiar with them and how they are installed and didn't use the wiring looms supplied with the kit which makes me wonder if they also might have used the non-EMG approved pots.

Damn. Looks much better than what I found inside mine

I really like this guitar, I find it very... "playable" (don't know if someone understands ).
Do you think I should go to a luthier? When I use EMG, I get a great sound. Ready to... rock. But I would really like to make it more 'versatile'.

[topido]

The wild card it's a left handed model, and subject to the rare reverse taper pots ,  so it's far more limited production than the standard model

Yep. Being lefty is a damnation

[topido]

I think your guitar is genuine , just sad to see the "state of the art " for guitar electronics from a major US manufacturer has declined so much

(I understand Fender builds the current US Jackson models)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Guitars

I still suggest the noise is from an inadequate edited VG-99 patch as you stated ,

". . just changed the model from Acoustic nylon model to Acoustic steel model  "

I suspect there are additional EQ stages within your specific patch that are contributing to the poor noise floor with the VG-99 MA28 model.  Many folks consider the VG-99 Nylon model weak , and many use specific EQ boosts/cuts to improve the Nylon  sound , but these same EQ boost cut settings are often inappropriate for use with the Acoustic Steel Guitar models - for precisely this reason (introduced poor noise anomalies as your audio sample demonstrates )


Post your VG-99 patch

(How to )
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=64.0

And try some known good VG-99 Acoustic Steel String guitar patches here:
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=29.0

Ok, I made a patch from the init one.
Juste changed the stratocaster to a steel guitar. Noise is still there.
I join the patch, the sample and a sample using nylon instead (and the noise is not there... or so I believe).

Thanks

[topido]

I agree that it's a vg99 patch gain or gk3 setup. I had simular noise with my vg99 on steel acoustic models, kind of an after hiss as a chord is decaying. Turning down the amp model gain setting helped.

I tried on the patch upthere to lower the gain of the amp (set it to 8 out of 100) and... still there

[admin]

Ok, I made a patch from the init one.

"TEST_STEEL.MID"  only loads as a Nylon Guitar here





Read how to share VG-99 patches
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=64.0

[whippinpost91850]

+1, I've been dealing with it for 54 years of playing

[topido]

"TEST_STEEL.MID"  only loads as a Nylon Guitar here





Read how to share VG-99 patches
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=64.0

My mistake.

Here it is.

[admin]

Anything else in the recorded signal chain?

Try monitoring from VG-99 Headphone Output

[topido]

Nothing in the chain. I had a Jamman looper but removed it for the test.
I'll thy with headphones and come back.

[topido]

Tried your test.mid patch.  Nothing in the patch caused any problems with my rig--completely noise free.  From the photograph of your GK pickup, the E and A strings look like they are almost touching the GK yokes.  What is the measured distance between the yokes on the E and A?  You did mention that this problem only occurred on the E and A strings. I would want to rule that out as a cause.

This is a good idea. It's very close and the E and A are nearly touching. That will be my second try after the headphones

[topido]

And once again, thank you all for your help in solving my problem