Dead Toaster -- options?
Moderator: jingle_jangle
Dead Toaster -- options?
I just recieved a high output era Toaster pickup, and it's dead.
It's twin is reading 12.4K and healthy, but this one isn't giving any output reading whatsoever.
It looks like someone may have left a soldering iron on the "hot" contact point for too long, and it has uprooted itself, as it's not sitting in the plastic at a slight angle, as opposed to straight in.
Is this an easy fix, or complicated? I haven't gone too far into taking Ric pickups apart before, other than soldering them into guitars.
If I needed to have this repaired, where should I send it? I'd love to send it to our pickup guru, Sergio, but with the price and time of overseas shipping.....is there anything stateside?
Thanks!
-Collin
It's twin is reading 12.4K and healthy, but this one isn't giving any output reading whatsoever.
It looks like someone may have left a soldering iron on the "hot" contact point for too long, and it has uprooted itself, as it's not sitting in the plastic at a slight angle, as opposed to straight in.
Is this an easy fix, or complicated? I haven't gone too far into taking Ric pickups apart before, other than soldering them into guitars.
If I needed to have this repaired, where should I send it? I'd love to send it to our pickup guru, Sergio, but with the price and time of overseas shipping.....is there anything stateside?
Thanks!
-Collin
Re: Dead Toaster -- options?
I would send it to Sergio for repairs.
Life, as with music, often requires one to let go of the melody and listen to the rhythm
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Re: Dead Toaster -- options?
+1 It doesn't take a lot of time or money to get a small package like a pickup back and forth. Just a few extra days, maybe, but what the hey ... Sergio's work is a known commodity and well worth it.admin wrote:I would send it to Sergio for repairs.
All I wanna do is rock!
Re: Dead Toaster -- options?
I have fixed one coil like this with the center pin broken loose from the inside of the coil by taking the pin all the way out, scraping the coil winding and getting solder on the open copper, then putting the pin back in and hitting it with a soldering iron. It has held up but it is not an optimum repair. It will lower the number of turns, but not appreciably on a 12.4k coil. Maybe to 12k or more.
Re: Dead Toaster -- options?
Thanks guys, I'm pretty capable of lotsa repairs----but seeing as I'm in unfamiliar territory, I will contact Sergio and have it done right!
- schoolside
- Junior Member
- Posts: 137
- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:54 pm
Re: Dead Toaster -- options?
You can fix it yourself, you can straighten out the slug with heat, ( a little super glue if needed when your done) unwind a turn or two and resolder.
Re: Dead Toaster -- options?
The slug is connected, or more precisely in this case, was connected to the inside of the coil where there is no access to unwind.schoolside wrote:You can fix it yourself, you can straighten out the slug with heat, ( a little super glue if needed when your done) unwind a turn or two and resolder.
- schoolside
- Junior Member
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- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:54 pm
Re: Dead Toaster -- options?
Thanks! Sorry, I forgot that toasters are wired reverse polarity of hi gains. I have the same problem with two new hi gains from a 330 where the ground (center) is open. I'm going to have to unwind them to make repairs. I've got to make a device to hold the pickup for rewinding first.
Re: Dead Toaster -- options?
Uh? Toasters are wired reverse polarity of high-gains?
Hmm... Yes. I find those terminals on toaster pickups to be a bit of a weakness, though I'm well aware that any viable alternative would tend to be more time-consuming on the factory floor.
Almost invariably, a toaster negative terminal that starts acting up requires the pickup to be rewound, period, whilst fixing a defective positive terminal is generally way easier.
Just my 2 cents
Hmm... Yes. I find those terminals on toaster pickups to be a bit of a weakness, though I'm well aware that any viable alternative would tend to be more time-consuming on the factory floor.
Almost invariably, a toaster negative terminal that starts acting up requires the pickup to be rewound, period, whilst fixing a defective positive terminal is generally way easier.
Just my 2 cents
- schoolside
- Junior Member
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- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:54 pm
Re: Dead Toaster -- options?
Double thanks! I guessed right the first time and then changed my answerrickcrazy wrote:Uh? Toasters are wired reverse polarity of high-gains?
- schoolside
- Junior Member
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- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:54 pm
Re: Dead Toaster -- options?
Yes, Call Sergio. That wire is very fine and will break if you look at it cross eyed.
- schoolside
- Junior Member
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- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:54 pm
Re: Dead Toaster -- options?
Hi Sergio, I first tried unwinding, I quit that exercise in futility after two days and a few thousand feet of wire being blown about by the fans in my house.rickcrazy wrote:Eh!
In one final act of desperation, I tried heating and twisting the center screw ground (with the pickup fully disasssembled) and finally made contact with the winding inside. Now I have a 7k and a 12.5k hi-gain as spares. Of the 10 new pickups I have (5 guitars and 5 sets of toasters) made between 07 and 09 Three of mine were bad. JH said:
"I think what you'll find is indeed a cold solder joint where the wire leads join the screws. When the switch was made to lead-free solder last year, solder connections were made to the brass-plated steel screw which tested good but failed after some period of time.
As a result of this experience, in production we've switched the connecting screw to solid brass which makes a more reliable connection with RoHS solder over the long haul."
I envy you for the patience and dexterity you have to work on these things. In the future I'll send it to Sergio
Re: Dead Toaster -- options?
Thanks, Dwight.
I concur with John, of course. Actually I've found the cold solder joint issue on a few F*****-style pickups as well.
There's only one reliable, fast way to (part-) unwind a pickup: using a pickup winder. Unwinding it by hand is, as you so well put it, an exercise in futility.
Cheers!
I concur with John, of course. Actually I've found the cold solder joint issue on a few F*****-style pickups as well.
There's only one reliable, fast way to (part-) unwind a pickup: using a pickup winder. Unwinding it by hand is, as you so well put it, an exercise in futility.
Cheers!
- soundmasterg
- RRF Consultant
- Posts: 1921
- Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2002 1:06 pm
Re: Dead Toaster -- options?
Freaking ROHS *%@^&_%&* solder. I hate the stuff! I'm of the opinion that it was completely unnecessary, and everything made from it will fail in 10 years or less due to solder whiskers. We'll see if it occurs or not....haha.
Greg
Greg