Duncan sh-1 under 7k?

[CarlosG]

Hi!
I bought second hand SH-1 neck. From Duncan's support I know it's original and is Reverse Polarity.
Does this mean a reverse magnet?
Back to the topic, I brought it home and left it for 2 hours to come to room temperature.
I measured it and it is 6.94kohm (one coil 3,45 and 3,49 second coil).
This seems way too little to me, is it broken?

 

[Rex_Rocker]

It's within spec. I believe Duncans have a 10% tolerance, so a '59N could read as low as 6.8-ish.

How does it sound? I've never had a '59N read that low, but I did have a '59B read in the low 7's, and it sounded pretty thin. I suspect I might have gotten a mislabeled '59N myself.

 

[CarlosG]

I didn't put it in the guitar. I suspect that a string could have gotten stuck near the coils when someone was doing dive bombs, which could have shorted the coils.
I used to have a sh-2 that read a bit less dcr and was too weak compared to the sh-4.
I'll return this sh-1 just to be sure.​

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I didn't put it in the guitar. I suspect that a string could have gotten stuck near the coils when someone was doing dive bombs, which could have shorted the coils.
I used to have a sh-2 that read a bit less dcr and was too weak compared to the sh-4.
I'll return this sh-1 just to be sure.​

The SH-2 is kinda weak compared to the SH-4 even if it's 100% working, IME. That's kinda what the set is like by design, and I always complain about that on this forum, LOL. You have to really crank up the SH-2 for them to more or less balance. The SH-1 isn't much hotter than the SH-2 either, if at all.

Yeah, if you're unsure, you can return it. But 6.9-ish seems within tolerance to me, especially since both coils read so close. If you see no signs of physical damage, then I think the pickup is fine. The SH-1 does have the thicker vintage-y tape around the coils that protect it. But if you can return it, and you're in doubt, then you might as well.

 

[GuitarStv]

I have a 7.0k SH-1n and really like it. Great neck pickup, clear and not boomy.

 

[Mincer]

If the coil is broken, you wouldn't get any sound. Also, I couldn't hear a difference of .3 or so. I bet it is fine.

 

[freefrog]

I suspect that a string could have gotten stuck near the coils when someone was doing dive bombs, which could have shorted the coils.

If it was the case, it migth keep working (I've repaired my share of HB's with this problem) BUT any DCR reading would be impossible. As said by Rex_Rocker, the DCR that you mention IS within specs. I've a PG1N on the shelf with the same kind of 6.9k reading and it works normally.


EDIT - and anyway and as implied by GuitarStv, underwound HB's are typically better for neck position because clearer.

 

[hamerfan]

At what temperature did you measure. My single coil measured 5.8 at 17 C and 6.3 at 21C. The whole pickup should warm as 21C as Standard.