It sounds easy enough, sure... It's just the thought of handling that baby-fine wire that's daunting... But I really don't have anything to lose, the pickup's already messed up... I doubt I could mess it up more than it already is, and even if I do, I can always send it off to Lindy...
The real challenge is gonna be stripping off the insulation without completely cutting through the wire.. I'm pretty sure my wire stripper doesn't go that small... Any tips on technique?
Bridge Pickup - Anomalous resistance reading
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
Re: Bridge Pickup - Anomalous resistance reading
Well, I went ahead and started unwinding... Unfortunately, the messed up bit of wire isn't very close to the end of the coil... I'm afraid I'll have to take off too many windings to get to it... I guess I'm back to having it re-wound.
Re: Bridge Pickup - Anomalous resistance reading
Ed, the resistance of the coil is about 11.4k ohms. You could remove a hundred turns and not affect the reading more than 30 or 40 ohms, out of the 11,400 ohms. As for scraping, I just use a dull knife, lay the wire on the desk, and lightly scrape it. You could also just wrap it around the black wire's tinned area and see if the heat of the soldering melts the insulation.Mossman wrote:Well, I went ahead and started unwinding... Unfortunately, the messed up bit of wire isn't very close to the end of the coil... I'm afraid I'll have to take off too many windings to get to it... I guess I'm back to having it re-wound.
If you really get stuck, I could look at it for you. Saves a rewind.
Re: Bridge Pickup - Anomalous resistance reading
Ok, I'll keep going, then... I was starting to think the resistance would be down to 5k Ohms by the time I got to the bad spot... I think the last time I got a good reading off the bridge pickup, it was 12k.. The neck is a solid 11.5k.
Thanks for all your advice, and your offer to take a look at the pickup, John. I'll let you know what happens.
Thanks for all your advice, and your offer to take a look at the pickup, John. I'll let you know what happens.
Re: Bridge Pickup - Anomalous resistance reading
Ok John... it turned out that the pickup coil had more than one break in it... I unwound it to the first break, and soldered the coil wire back onto the lead, but it was still giving the same reading... It was only under a magnifying glass, that you could see the tiniest bit of wire sticking out, and It looked like it was much deeper in the coil than the first break, so I sent it off to be re-wound... I also had them do a RWRP while they were at it... Just got it back today (great turn-around!) installed it this afternoon, and it sounds great! Quiet as a church mouse too... Why don't these pups come reversed from the factory?? It doesn't affect the tone one bit, and it's pretty much the standard industry procedure...
I highly recommend this guy (http://www.brandonwoundpickups.com) He did a great job and shipped the pickup back to me the day after he received it... And it only cost me $30!
There was one thing that I thought was kind of odd, though... I know that when both pickups are are turned all the way up, the output will be lower than either pickup by itself, due to the fact that they're wired in parallel, but I never noticed that rolling either pot back a tiny bit (like going from '10' to '9') will cause a noticeable increase in the volume of the other pickup. The same is true with my Fender Jazz, but audibly, it's much more subtle... You can barely hear it... I'm not saying it's a drastic jump on the Rick, just more noticeable, especially for such a small reduction in one of the pickups. I never noticed this before, probably because I usually play with both pickups dimed... I also noticed that this doesn't happen when the vintage tone circuit is engaged.. In fact, when both pickups are all the way up it sounds louder with the VTC on, than without it... Even though the .0047 cap cuts the volume of the bridge pup when used by itself....
Am I making any sense? Or have I got you completely confused?
I highly recommend this guy (http://www.brandonwoundpickups.com) He did a great job and shipped the pickup back to me the day after he received it... And it only cost me $30!
There was one thing that I thought was kind of odd, though... I know that when both pickups are are turned all the way up, the output will be lower than either pickup by itself, due to the fact that they're wired in parallel, but I never noticed that rolling either pot back a tiny bit (like going from '10' to '9') will cause a noticeable increase in the volume of the other pickup. The same is true with my Fender Jazz, but audibly, it's much more subtle... You can barely hear it... I'm not saying it's a drastic jump on the Rick, just more noticeable, especially for such a small reduction in one of the pickups. I never noticed this before, probably because I usually play with both pickups dimed... I also noticed that this doesn't happen when the vintage tone circuit is engaged.. In fact, when both pickups are all the way up it sounds louder with the VTC on, than without it... Even though the .0047 cap cuts the volume of the bridge pup when used by itself....
Am I making any sense? Or have I got you completely confused?
Re: Bridge Pickup - Anomalous resistance reading
Ed makes perfect sense as that is how all mine work that don't have the .0047uF cap in series with the bridge pickup. You back off the neck like you say and you get not only more volume but a nice growl. Backing off the bridge brings a bit louder and darker tone to the bass. Yup, as they should be working.
You are right, nice price, and great service. I'll check out his site.
You are right, nice price, and great service. I'll check out his site.
Re: Bridge Pickup - Anomalous resistance reading
Yeah, I really like the added growl! I had no idea what I was missing, by playing with both pickups at full volume all this time... Which is standard operating procedure with my jazz bass, mostly for noise cancellation... I still do it, even though I have dual coil Bartolinis in it now... Old habits...
You can't go wrong with Jared Brandon... Some of the quotes I was getting from the "big guys" were almost as high as the cost of a new pickup (with a 6-8 week turn-around!) Lindy Fralin was the cheapest at $60, (or so I'm assuming; his re-wind guy never returned my calls) I had my reservations at first, mostly due to the low price, but he has a 100% guarantee, and a lot of good reviews, so I figured I had nothing to lose... I also liked the fact that you can call him up, and he actually answers the phone... I've got a couple of cheap guitars here that I've been meaning to upgrade the pickups on... I'll definitely give him my business again.
You can't go wrong with Jared Brandon... Some of the quotes I was getting from the "big guys" were almost as high as the cost of a new pickup (with a 6-8 week turn-around!) Lindy Fralin was the cheapest at $60, (or so I'm assuming; his re-wind guy never returned my calls) I had my reservations at first, mostly due to the low price, but he has a 100% guarantee, and a lot of good reviews, so I figured I had nothing to lose... I also liked the fact that you can call him up, and he actually answers the phone... I've got a couple of cheap guitars here that I've been meaning to upgrade the pickups on... I'll definitely give him my business again.