Troubleshooting: Output

[JCN1218]

Hi everyone. I recently got my first pair of BKPs, a Miracle Man bridge and Cold Sweat neck. I've had them installed for about a week now, and the reason I haven't posted a review yet is because I have a few concerns. I replaced all of the components besides the pickups as well, and rewired the entire thing myself, which is pretty much the reason I have any doubts in the first place, but here are my worries:

1) I'm getting some microphonic feedback, it's not bad though, only when I'm right in front of the amp. Is that normal for high output pickups, or might there be something wrong with them or with the wiring? I should also note that both pickups are feeding back like this.

2) The output seems low. These are some of the hotter pickups offered by BKP, but when I compare it to my other guitars it just doesn't seem to stack up. It feels lower powered than my SG's stock pickups and my Duncan 59. I feel like this really shouldn't be, so you can understand my concern that I may have done something wrong.

I was reading a post the other day that was saying how the quality of his soldering really affected the tone of his pickups in a similarly rewired guitar, but when he had put it in another guitar where just the pickups were replaced it sounded great.

I already played with their heights and I feel like I found the sweet spots, but I still can't shake the feeling that something's off. I was hoping someone on here might be able to help me out. I'll probably just end up taking it to a tech to check out and possibly rewire it, but I figured I'd post it here first so if I'm just doing something really stupid someone might be able to let me know.

I posted a picture of my wiring (which may or may not help at all, but you never know), as well as the wiring diagram I followed.

I would really appreciate any help anyone could give me.

[BigB]

It's indeed hard to tell from your picture - or at least I can't spot any obvious error  :?

Coming from much more compressed hot/mid-hot pickups, BKPs can at first feel like they are a bit less loud, specially on hi-gain settings (my experience with the ABomb replacing a JB), but it's still not a huge difference, and trying them on a clean amp immediatly clears that first impression (still my own experience), and it's nothing like going from a hi output pup to a vintage one.

If you have a multimeter (if you don't, get one - even the cheapest ones are good enough for troubleshooting a guitar or pedal), check if your pups DC rating match the one written on your card. If they do then check your pots etc...

If you don't have a multimeter and are willing to spent more time than you should doing soldering jobs, just bypass all the electronic and wire your pickups directly to the guitar output (but not both together xD).

 

[FELINEGUITARS]

What value and make of pot are you using?

I have occasionally also found that the wax potting that BKP use doesn't always stand up to being stood directly in front of a very high gain amp.

When this occurs I confess that I repot the ones I use (a facility that I have)

Sometimes the stock pickups that Gibson use are pretty loud , although sometimes lacking tonally, so the BKPs can actually sound a bit quiet , but the tone is better.

[JCN1218]

I appreciate the advice everyone. To answer your questions, I'm using Bourns model 95 premium 500K pots. And I do, luckily, have a multimeter, I just have to get it from my drummer's house. I'll definitely be checking everything out, and I'm also glad that the feedback isn't a big problem. I guess it makes sense that a more compressed pickup would be a bit quieter, I'm starting to feel a bit better :D I'm thinking I might just have to get used to the BKPs, which I'm completely fine with, because despite the few problems I've been having, I think they sound incredible.