Alnico II Pro Help please!

Kevjer

New member
Hi. I just had a pair of Alnico II Pro humbuckers installed into my Les Paul. The bridge pickup sounds great and is quiet. However, there is something wrong with the neck pickup. I get a very loud hum when using the neck pickup, and the neck pickup also sounds thinner with a lot of chime, kind of like a single coil pickup. The hum with the neck pickup is so loud that it isn't useable, and I can't even dial out the hum with my noise gate due to its loud volume. What would cause this? Should I get the pickup re-soldered, or should I try to get a replacement pickup? Thanks!
 
Re: Alnico II Pro Help please!

If you had a tech wire it up, take it back and have him fix it. Otherwise, open up the back and look at the wiring. The red and white wires should be twisted together and taped off, the green and bare wires should be twisted together and soldered to ground (usually the top of a pot) and the black wire should be wired to the lead. Check it out and we can go from there.
 
Re: Alnico II Pro Help please!

Travis said:
If you had a tech wire it up, take it back and have him fix it. Otherwise, open up the back and look at the wiring. The red and white wires should be twisted together and taped off, the green and bare wires should be twisted together and soldered to ground (usually the top of a pot) and the black wire should be wired to the lead. Check it out and we can go from there.

I'm looking at the wiring right now and it is exactly as you describe. The green and bare wires are twisted together and soldered to the top of the pot. The black wire is soldered to the lead of the pot. And the red and white wires are covered with shrink tubing, so I would imagine that they are soldered together under the tubing. Any ideas?
 
Re: Alnico II Pro Help please!

Was it a brand new pickup?

I would check all the solder joints first before anything. If you don't have a meter, take something metal like a screwdriver and gently tap each coil while plugged into the amp. That should give you an idea of whether or not both coils are active.
 
Re: Alnico II Pro Help please!

I have a feeling that it's not in full humbucker mode. Check the solder joint between the red & white wires.
 
Re: Alnico II Pro Help please!

It definately sound like it's either split, or not grounded properly. I've bought dozens of SD pickups, and have never come across a bad one...not to say it never happens though.

I know it's a pain, but take it back to the tech. You paid him to do it, it should be done right. He really should have checked it before he gave it back to you. Shame on him.
 
Re: Alnico II Pro Help please!

Jeff_H said:
He really should have checked it before he gave it back to you. Shame on him.

Its amazing to me how many times we hear of this. I can't imagine working on someone's guitar without plugging it in and trying it afterwards. Or working on anything, and not testing my work, for that matter.
 
Re: Alnico II Pro Help please!

Yes, this is a brand new pickup.

I took a screwdriver and tapped on both coild of the pickup. It sounds like both coils are active, because I get a sound when I tap all of the pole pieces.
 
Re: Alnico II Pro Help please!

ArtieToo said:
Its amazing to me how many times we hear of this. I can't imagine working on someone's guitar without plugging it in and trying it afterwards. Or working on anything, and not testing my work, for that matter.

+1 ... whatever happened to taking pride in your work?
 
Re: Alnico II Pro Help please!

I do have a meter. Where do I place the leads and what values should I bet getting?
 
Re: Alnico II Pro Help please!

With the pickup unsoldered from the pot, put the meters probes on the black and green wires. You should get a resistance reading of circa 7.4k.
 
Re: Alnico II Pro Help please!

ArtieToo said:
Its amazing to me how many times we hear of this. I can't imagine working on someone's guitar without plugging it in and trying it afterwards. Or working on anything, and not testing my work, for that matter.

Hey, you know we're all just human. I had a tech do this one time and I took it back to him. He's always done great work for me before and he was really embarrassed when it happened. Maybe he had a bad day, or too much work on his docket, and couldn't get it all done in time. Needless to say he fixed it for free, as any good tech should.
 
Re: Alnico II Pro Help please!

I took the guitar back to the tech. We checked all the connections and everything is as it should be. So I got a return authorization from Seymour Duncan. In about two weeks I'll get a replacement.
 
Re: Alnico II Pro Help please!

Sounds like one of the leads may have popped loose from the coil. That would be fairly easy to fix but only if you know what you're doing.
 
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