Has anyone ever blown up an amp with a bad pickup?

[misterwhizzy]

What happen? Problems with your amp, or the grounding issues? How did you fix?

You seriously didn't realize it was a joke where I blew something up with C4? You didn't pick that up when I said changing my pickup fixed the amp?

Your theory is ridiculous, and I think your sarcasm detector may be faulty. Not once in history has a pickup blown up a properly designed amp.

[copperheadroads]

I just bought a new 35th anniversary JB, since I put it in I have blown up 3 amps and a headphone amp, I have checked and double checked the wiring and everything seems right. I'm scared to plug it into anything else. HELP Please!

My pickup shorted out & took out 2 city blocks power

[flamike]

You seriously didn't realize it was a joke where I blew something up with C4? You didn't pick that up when I said changing my pickup fixed the amp?

Your theory is ridiculous, and I think your sarcasm detector may be faulty. Not once in history has a pickup blown up a properly designed amp.

You people are ridiculous!!!!!!! God get a life loser!!!! I am hear trying to figure out was has happen to my stuff and get an idea of how to fix it and jerks like you don't help anyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOD

[flamike]

My pickup shorted out & took out 2 city blocks power

no that was you mothers vibrator

[Condemned soul]

Two statements that deserve mention:

1. Why did you bother to write anything if you weren't going to be helpful? Are you **board?**

2. People like you are the reason I think this forum sucks. I thought this forum was here to help people who are having problems, not to go to when you are **board** and want someone to put down, so you can feel superior.

With all due respect, why do you keep insisting the problem is a JB pickup?

Is your opinion like a board, a stiff material that cant not easily be bent? You came here asking for help.

Lastly, I am a lurker amd have no status here, however, I have learned a great deal here. Please give us a chance.

[PonyKiller]

It is barely noticeable when I am actually holding the brass ring but when I touch it to the string ball and touch the strings it doesn't seem to do much.

Then the problem must be somewhere else. A bad solder point maybe? A properly wired and grounded guitar with humbuckers should be really quiet when you are touching the strings. Not dead quiet like with the EMG actives but really quiet.

Ok, just to get the JB out of the equation. You have a neck pickup, right? Does the problem persist while using the neck pickup as well?

If the noise gets worse when you ground the strings and touch them then maybe the problem is at the output jack. The leads may be reversed there. Check if the ground wire is going to the sleeve tab of the output jack and not to the tip.
You said you kept the output jack from the EMG wiring, right? That should be a stereo jack with 3 solder points. For the passives a mono jack is sufficient so you should only use 2 points of that jack. Maybe something got mixed up there. Better redo that part to be sure it's right.

[ParameterMan]

I'd like to answer the original question - there's no way a pickup(or any of the wiring in a guitar) could harm a guitar amp.

The only thing you could possibly harm is the input stage, and that only with far more power than any guitar could muster.

If the input voltage is high enough, the first stage will start clipping, limiting the levels that reach the subsequent stages, and in fact, boost pedals are available to to exactly that. If you were to drive the input voltage a lot higher(maybe hundreds of volts), you would(eventually) probably fry the input resistor. Many amps are built with components that have voltage ratings many orders of magnitude greater than necessary(at least for some parts of the circuit) simply because of the handiness of stocking only one component of that value.

Speaking of which, guitar amps have such a high input resistance that you could likely plug the output from a high-wattage power amp into them without harming anything. Not that I would recommend that, but I've seen some hair-raisingly idiotic things(that actually worked, for some definitions of "work").

[LtKojak]

You people are ridiculous!!!!!!! God get a life loser!!!! I am hear trying to figure out was has happen to my stuff and get an idea of how to fix it and jerks like you don't help anyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOD

no that was you mothers vibrator

Well, looks like the Troll finally reared his ugly head.

[Mr 9finger]

I think you should put an A8 mag in your JB. It'll fix all your amps and they'll start reproducing and you'll have a litter of little amps.


Seriously though, as stated multiple times already, even if wired improperly there's no way a pickup can damage an amplifier. They just don't create enough voltage. If you're noticing similarities among different amps, swap the pickup back out for something else. I don't think your amps are damaged, the pickup however, might be faulty. Best thing to do is call Duncan's tech support.

[Edgecrusher]

Well this turned out good.

I think its pretty safe to say it was a troll. But if it wasnt Ill bet a half stack that the pickup isnt faulty its just wired wrong and the amps all died from other causes.

[richard parker]

I once installed a pickup incorrectly resulting in major solar flare activity and the dead walking the earth. Best not to play around with forces you don't understand.

[copperheadroads]

no that was you mothers vibrator

C'mon now ,theres's no need for that & here's proof
"My pickup shorted out & took out 2 city blocks power"

[Edgecrusher]

man that had to hurt to break a telephone pole like that... dayuuum

[Jocelyn]

There is absolutely no way any pickup can blow up an amp.It just generates mil volts Seymour has a 15 day return policy . If you don't like it, or think it is defective return it back . I am sure they would replace a pickup that bad. But I doubt it is that bad they have great quality control.

[Jocelyn]

So JB has a new nickname now: Tube Blaster. I have no idea either this will be a good advertisement or not.

I like that "TUBE Blaster". Sounds Coool.

[Stratman]

People like you are the reason I think this forum sucks. I thought this forum was here to help people who are having problems, not to go to when you are board and want someone to put down, so you can feel superior. If you don't have anything constructive or helpful to say and you don't want to pay for the tech, then keep you comments to yourself!!!!!!!! Especially when all the tech's I have talked to already have no idea what the problem is.

True must hurt your feelings, what wit 30 post, you have an opinion…

This forum is more than just information.

What I clearly stated is that if someone doesn’t know guitar electronics as evident in the questionable post and photographs, then they should enlist the help of a qualified tech.

So what else is your dysfunctional problem?

[flamike]

C'mon now ,theres's no need for that & here's proof
"My pickup shorted out & took out 2 city blocks power"

Sorry I was just sick of the unhelpful smartass comments and thought you were making another one

[flamike]

True must hurt your feelings, what wit 30 post, you have an opinion…

This forum is more than just information.

What I clearly stated is that if someone doesn’t know guitar electronics as evident in the questionable post and photographs, then they should enlist the help of a qualified tech.

So what else is your dysfunctional problem?

I HAVE!! They couldn't figure out what was wrong, this is why I came here.

[flamike]

Well, looks like the Troll finally reared his ugly head.

I am new to this so I don't know what a troll is, but if you are going to quote me then include the whole thing, not just my responses to the smartass comments.

[flamike]

I'd like to answer the original question - there's no way a pickup(or any of the wiring in a guitar) could harm a guitar amp.

The only thing you could possibly harm is the input stage, and that only with far more power than any guitar could muster.

If the input voltage is high enough, the first stage will start clipping, limiting the levels that reach the subsequent stages, and in fact, boost pedals are available to to exactly that. If you were to drive the input voltage a lot higher(maybe hundreds of volts), you would(eventually) probably fry the input resistor. Many amps are built with components that have voltage ratings many orders of magnitude greater than necessary(at least for some parts of the circuit) simply because of the handiness of stocking only one component of that value.

Speaking of which, guitar amps have such a high input resistance that you could likely plug the output from a high-wattage power amp into them without harming anything. Not that I would recommend that, but I've seen some hair-raisingly idiotic things(that actually worked, for some definitions of "work").

From what the tech that I took my fender to said, the problem is in the preamp section.