Metal Sludge Gossip Board

My LTD EC-1000 has an EMG 81 Bridge Pickup, and it randomly cuts out/dies.....below is what I have done to troubleshoot, any additional ideas would be appreciated:

1. Replaced battery
2. checked solder joints in pickup cavity (visually and wiggled wires to find loose connection)
3. checked solder joints in switch cavity ((visually and wiggled wires to find loose connection)

It doesn’t seem like this type of pickup would randomly fry…..but I don’t know much about them, I personally prefer passive pickups, but I do like to play around with actives here and there.

I purchased a multimeter earlier in the year to re-bias my amp after a tube change, so that is a troubleshooting route, but I have no idea what to look for with the joints I inspected earlier.

Any ideas?

Is the ground wire making contact with anything it’s not supposed to?

VinnieVincentsVag wrote: ↑Sun Dec 15, 2024 4:36 pm Is the ground wire making contact with anything it’s not supposed to?

In my opinion this is the very first thing to check; grounding issues with the pickup or jack.

Silentbutdeadly wrote: ↑Tue Dec 17, 2024 5:22 pm

VinnieVincentsVag wrote: ↑Sun Dec 15, 2024 4:36 pm Is the ground wire making contact with anything it’s not supposed to?

In my opinion this is the very first thing to check; grounding issues with the pickup or jack.

Thanks guys!

Yesterday I had time to mess around with the guitar again and one of the solder points on the ground wire was sketchy looking (wire to wire solder with no shrink wrap or electrical tape) and touching another contact in the 3 way toggle cavity.

After cleaning it up, the pickup has been working for two days solid with no drop outs in sound.

I have had the guitar almost 10 years with no issue, and even had it professionally setup/serviced about 2 years ago....funny they did not spot the sketchy soldering, but I guess if the pick up works, they are not going to investigate too thoroughly.