How do pickups die while in storage?

thebingopete

thebingopete

New member
A couple years ago I picked up a set of pups for a project. After I installed them I decided they were too good for what I put them in. They were from some factory clearance deal made for a big brand the seller couldn't name. Great sounding, wound around a 59 PAF spec. They were on point with some of the best tonewise. So I removed them and stored them away in ESD bubble wrap. Now I finally have a project worthy of these pups. Installed them and no signal from the north coil of the neck pup. WTF? Not the first time this has happened to me. Remove a working pickup, store, re-install, fail. Any theories as to how a pup can just die while in storage? Not like I just threw them in the toolbox to get beat up. Going to open it up to check deeper, hoping it's the leads. My wallet says not to because they were cheap. My ears say they're worth the effort. Just haven't opened a covered HB before. I just don't understand how they die stored properly. Same indoor climate as my guitars and none of them have pups that failed.

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Re: How do pickups die while in storage?

Do you have a meter? What are they reading? Could it have possibly been stored near another very strong magnet?
 
Re: How do pickups die while in storage?

No continuity on the North coil measuring from the ends of the leads. South coil is good. Hoping it's just poor insulation or broken lead wire. Have another set I can install meanwhile. Was really looking forward to these. If they didn't sound so good this would be a "you get what you pay for" thread. These really were a good deal to my ears. A Wednesday at the factory, set of cherries with all the week's lemons.

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Re: How do pickups die while in storage?

My question isn't so much as how do I fix it. It's, how did it happen to begin with?

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Re: How do pickups die while in storage?

Unless you yourself can find the precise place/cause of the pickups reading open, then we might as well take wild stabs in the dark as to why it could have happened.
 
Re: How do pickups die while in storage?

Found out what happened here...
The HB mounting screw went into the leads. Have to use a shorter screw. Didn't realize it was that tight. I can fix without removing the cover! Yay! However I've had other pups die in storage too. Still wondering if anyone has any theories as to how.
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Re: How do pickups die while in storage?

This sort of thing just happened to me. I got a call from my repair dude that said the Dimebucker that i wanted installed in a guitar is dead. I think it was demagnetized probably pretty easy since it has that plastic base plate.
 
Re: How do pickups die while in storage?

AlexR said:
Unless you yourself can find the precise place/cause of the pickups reading open, then we might as well take wild stabs in the dark as to why it could have happened.
Click to expand...
That's kinda what I have been doing. Maybe cursed pups. I don't know. How could the coil wire suddenly stop working and go dead. No reading on the meter. Continuity lost. Not high potted, would show continuity. No physical damage visible. Worked before now it doesn't. Today's pup I found out what happened. If not the screw itself, the drilling of the pilot hole. Still have this mystery for another pup.

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Re: How do pickups die while in storage?

This is indeed strange that it happened on both pickups. No breaks on the insulation of the other one, I'm guessing?
 
Re: How do pickups die while in storage?

Mincer said:
This is indeed strange that it happened on both pickups. No breaks on the insulation of the other one, I'm guessing?
Click to expand...
Right. It's a stacked HB. Haven't bothered with it for a while. It's a bridge pup and I never was a fan of the single coil tone at the bridge. Swapped it back a couple times because I was indecisive if I liked it better than the Hotrail type. Then it just didn't work. Leads were good. Can't remember what the meter reading told me. That was not in ESD packaging. Wondering if static discharge could have damaged it.

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