"Longevity" of pickups
- Thread starter saqib09
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DavidRavenMoon
New member
Re: "Longevity" of pickups
Most pickups should last forever. Old single coils often die because Fender did not insulate the magnets with anything but lacquer. After a while the wire will corrode and brake.
But if the magnets are insulated with tape, or it’s the newer plastic bobbins that won’t happen.
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Most pickups should last forever. Old single coils often die because Fender did not insulate the magnets with anything but lacquer. After a while the wire will corrode and brake.
But if the magnets are insulated with tape, or it’s the newer plastic bobbins that won’t happen.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Re: "Longevity" of pickups
About as long as your usual pickup buyer, +/-
Some die first, some survive their first owner
About as long as your usual pickup buyer, +/-
Some die first, some survive their first owner
PierceOkken
New member
Re: "Longevity" of pickups
Like it has been said. New pickups last as long as you are willing to have them for. Active pickups last as long as their 9-volts..... or as long as their owner is willing to put up with buying more 9-volts.
Like it has been said. New pickups last as long as you are willing to have them for. Active pickups last as long as their 9-volts..... or as long as their owner is willing to put up with buying more 9-volts.
dystrust
New member
Re: "Longevity" of pickups
I recently installed an EMG-P from 1991 in my fretless and it sounds amazing.
I recently installed an EMG-P from 1991 in my fretless and it sounds amazing.
Re: "Longevity" of pickups
Come oooioon, guys, at least use examples that are as old as yourselves.
I got a pickup that's ~13 years older than me that still rocks. And plenty of 80s pups that are great.
If 90s stuff crapped out on me, I'd be pissed...
The only pickup I've ever seen dead was an EMG 81 (quickconnect equipped, but straight lined logo, so probably 90s or '00s...though to be fair, I've seen plenty that were A-OK)... my morally questionable solution was to get an "improvised warranty", involving purchasing a new one from a certain corporation, keeping the new one, shoving the old one in the box, and returning it as DOA defective.
Come oooioon, guys, at least use examples that are as old as yourselves.
I got a pickup that's ~13 years older than me that still rocks. And plenty of 80s pups that are great.
If 90s stuff crapped out on me, I'd be pissed...
The only pickup I've ever seen dead was an EMG 81 (quickconnect equipped, but straight lined logo, so probably 90s or '00s...though to be fair, I've seen plenty that were A-OK)... my morally questionable solution was to get an "improvised warranty", involving purchasing a new one from a certain corporation, keeping the new one, shoving the old one in the box, and returning it as DOA defective.
Gtrjunior
New member
Re: "Longevity" of pickups
Nope.
If I see a cool 90s guitar and see no signal from it, I get it anyway because I assume bad solder joints on switch pots or jack. I'd be beyond shocked if it was the pickups.
PS oh I *did* kill the active pups and/or preamp on a weirdo old japanese Ibanez 5string bass with a routed battery box that didn't have unmistakeable polarity the way a 9v clip does... to my amazement, inserting it backwards fried something. Worse, it was a customer's bass.... had to cough up a pair of Seymour Blackouts for Bass and install em as compensation after trying and failing to fix it by replacing the opamp chips (presumed burnout point) on the preamp board.
Oh well guy was happy, the Seymours slayed the ibby pickups in every way... turned into the most powerful 5-string Ive ever seen.
BUT thats not really pickups, that's active electronics, bad circuit design without a polarity protecting diode, and death by user error
Nope.
If I see a cool 90s guitar and see no signal from it, I get it anyway because I assume bad solder joints on switch pots or jack. I'd be beyond shocked if it was the pickups.
PS oh I *did* kill the active pups and/or preamp on a weirdo old japanese Ibanez 5string bass with a routed battery box that didn't have unmistakeable polarity the way a 9v clip does... to my amazement, inserting it backwards fried something. Worse, it was a customer's bass.... had to cough up a pair of Seymour Blackouts for Bass and install em as compensation after trying and failing to fix it by replacing the opamp chips (presumed burnout point) on the preamp board.
Oh well guy was happy, the Seymours slayed the ibby pickups in every way... turned into the most powerful 5-string Ive ever seen.
BUT thats not really pickups, that's active electronics, bad circuit design without a polarity protecting diode, and death by user error
dazedandconfused001
New member
Dave Locher
New member
Re: "Longevity" of pickups
It's all relative.
I am 51. I have played guitars older than me with original pickups that sound just fine. Even cheapos. Switches and pots corrode but pickups are usually okay.
It's all relative.
I am 51. I have played guitars older than me with original pickups that sound just fine. Even cheapos. Switches and pots corrode but pickups are usually okay.
beaubrummels
Well-known member
Re: "Longevity" of pickups
Yeah man, they expire like fruit. If yours has a date on the back of it, it’s expired. Send it to me and I’ll recycle it for you.
Yeah man, they expire like fruit. If yours has a date on the back of it, it’s expired. Send it to me and I’ll recycle it for you.
Jeff_H
Dean Hardtail Fanologist
Re: "Longevity" of pickups
I jut put a JB in a guitar that was made +/- 1983. Sounds stellar. When you are talking PAF style humbucker built in the generally agreed upon PAF method, some people think they sound BETTER AFTER 25+ years. Most quality pickups will outlast you, given normal care and not egregious abuse.
I jut put a JB in a guitar that was made +/- 1983. Sounds stellar. When you are talking PAF style humbucker built in the generally agreed upon PAF method, some people think they sound BETTER AFTER 25+ years. Most quality pickups will outlast you, given normal care and not egregious abuse.
Dave Locher
New member
Re: "Longevity" of pickups
Which leads me to hijack and derail the entire thread: IS it possible for a pickup to change in sound over time? I have a 1978 Ibanez V-2 (not V2; different pickup) that I swear has gotten harsher sounding over the past 20-30 years? I assume it is my ears that have changed, but maybe some corrosion process could shift eq slightly??
(V-2 = 16k, A5 magnets, hex poles if that matters at all.)
Which leads me to hijack and derail the entire thread: IS it possible for a pickup to change in sound over time? I have a 1978 Ibanez V-2 (not V2; different pickup) that I swear has gotten harsher sounding over the past 20-30 years? I assume it is my ears that have changed, but maybe some corrosion process could shift eq slightly??
(V-2 = 16k, A5 magnets, hex poles if that matters at all.)
Jeff_H
Dean Hardtail Fanologist
Re: "Longevity" of pickups
There can be changes over time, if the pickup is exposed to many rapid hot/cold transitions..... like touring sweaty bars during the winter months for many winters and other harsh conditions. Magnets can grow weaker over time, which is the premise behind Seymour's Antiquity pickups. That may result in a slightly sweeter, mellower tone in PAF style pickups, as well as others.... but you're talking about that happening over 20+ years. As far as I know, this only happens to weaker Alnico magnets and not to ceramic mags.
Other things like exposing pickups to a very strong magnetic field or abusing them physically or by spilling beer or whatever on them. Anything is possible of course and assuming you're not a touring musician for a living putting your pickups through the wringer year after year, I think you're generally safe. The average home or even occasional bar band player will likely never do enough to them to make any difference; other than the passage of many many years.
Not discounting your experience and again, anything is possible. But generally, no.
There can be changes over time, if the pickup is exposed to many rapid hot/cold transitions..... like touring sweaty bars during the winter months for many winters and other harsh conditions. Magnets can grow weaker over time, which is the premise behind Seymour's Antiquity pickups. That may result in a slightly sweeter, mellower tone in PAF style pickups, as well as others.... but you're talking about that happening over 20+ years. As far as I know, this only happens to weaker Alnico magnets and not to ceramic mags.
Other things like exposing pickups to a very strong magnetic field or abusing them physically or by spilling beer or whatever on them. Anything is possible of course and assuming you're not a touring musician for a living putting your pickups through the wringer year after year, I think you're generally safe. The average home or even occasional bar band player will likely never do enough to them to make any difference; other than the passage of many many years.
Not discounting your experience and again, anything is possible. But generally, no.
freefrog
Well-known member
Re: "Longevity" of pickups
Maybe we're not lucky here in Europe (or is it the climate in my area?) but the last decades, I've periodically met humbuckers with inner short cuts. For one of my bandmates (a touring pro whose guitars are often mistreated), I had to repair twice "capacitive short cuts", which made the pickups sound all treble as if they had 4.7nF capacitors in series... just like the bridge SC in "Nancy", the Telecaster used by Roy Buchanan, which had the same issue (and that Buchanan has used to build his trademark tone so it wasn't an issue for him). A few others of those that I've handled had just died without apparent reasons, despite of their wire safely wound around plastic bobbins... In some cases, unwinding the first layers of wire allowed to resurrect the failing coils. In other cases, we had to unwind / rewind whole coils. :-/
Being exposed to a strong external magnetic field is not good either for a guitar PU. See what happened to Andy Summers :
https://books.google.fr/books?id=xM...ummers telecaster pickup demagnetized&f=false
Maybe we're not lucky here in Europe (or is it the climate in my area?) but the last decades, I've periodically met humbuckers with inner short cuts. For one of my bandmates (a touring pro whose guitars are often mistreated), I had to repair twice "capacitive short cuts", which made the pickups sound all treble as if they had 4.7nF capacitors in series... just like the bridge SC in "Nancy", the Telecaster used by Roy Buchanan, which had the same issue (and that Buchanan has used to build his trademark tone so it wasn't an issue for him). A few others of those that I've handled had just died without apparent reasons, despite of their wire safely wound around plastic bobbins... In some cases, unwinding the first layers of wire allowed to resurrect the failing coils. In other cases, we had to unwind / rewind whole coils. :-/
Being exposed to a strong external magnetic field is not good either for a guitar PU. See what happened to Andy Summers :
https://books.google.fr/books?id=xM...ummers telecaster pickup demagnetized&f=false
