SG Custom Prophecy Tone Issues

[naut]

I've had my SG for about 7 months now and I love everything about it, but lately I've noticed the clean tone is getting more and more distorted.

 

I thought it was to do with the fact I had a 3.5mm jack plugged into my amp for my iPod, but I've since unplugged it and tried a different guitar so that rules out any problems on the amp end.

 

I'm figuring it's to do with the 9v battery in the back of the body. I have no idea what the function of this is (forgive me, I know nothing about guitar tech) although somebody mentioned it was for a pre-amp (again, I have no idea).

 

Can anybody point me in the right direction before I go poking about cluelessly? Is it just the battery or do I need to take my guitar into a shop?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

 

Joe

[AlanH]

I've no idea about active pickups, but have you tried changing the battery?

[EpiEric]

For a guitar like yours with active pickups, the pickups will simply cease to work once the battery runs out. They're quite different than passive pickups.

 

If your signal is getting dirtier over time, that's almost a sure sign that the batteries are running down.

 

Like AlanH said, I think changing the battery is the first troubleshooting step. If things don't change after that, you have a bigger problem. But with a guitar with EMGs, I'd expect some weirdness from the pickups as the battery runs down.

[gearhead]

Sounds like a battery for sure!

And make sure you buy a Duracell! It should last a long time, and when you aren't playing your guitar unplug the cord from it.

The battery will continue to drain as long as a cord is plugged into it.