Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I can't figure this out! I have a Sperry ohmmeter which reads impedance at Rx1, Rx10 and Rx100, but i can't seem to get any readings that make any sense...I'm measuring the resistance between the two terminals on the underside of the pickup, as it says in Ted's write-up; am I using the wrong equipment, or am I just dumb?

Kenny,

First, touch the two meter leads together. The meter will shoot up to about full scale. Is it reading exactly zero? Probably not. There's an adjustment knob somewhere on the meter that you need to move until the meter reads zero when the leads are touching each other. You need to do this everytime you change ranges (Rx1, Rx10...). If you can't get the needle to zero, the battery in the meter needs to be replaced.

OK, did that. Now what?

Well, after you zero the meter, you're ready to measure the resistance.

If you're getting wild changing readings, you're probably measuring the pickup while it's in circuit. You need to remove at least one wire of the pickup from the guitar circuitry first!

If you just want to measure DC resistance, this is easily done with the ohm meter, without disconnecting anything. Find a guitar cord with the nice switchcraft metal knurled covers. Unscrew the knurled housing to expose the two signal leads. Then plug it into the guitar. Set the pickup selector to the pickup you want to measure. Set the volume and mixer knob appropriately (either all open or all closed, I forget which). Now measure the resistance across those signal leads on the jack.

Cool! And I can tell the resistance of my pickups by doing this (as Ric folks are wont to do)?

BTW, should I have my ohmmeter set for Ohms or DC or what?

Thanks for helping me out folks.

Set it for Ohms.