Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

[Zado]

Hi everyone, so yesterday I though about "opening" the JB I had in my HSS superstrat and see how things are done in there, everything without touching the wires tho. It was definitely a stupid idea, but let's see if it can be fixed before getting another humb right?

Pickup is a splittable JB.

So took off the small screws that keep the bobbins in place, took of the tape covering the bobbins and the inner wires, extracted the magnet and by that I freed the bobbins from the metal basement. There were loads of wax, so I cleaned the thing. AFAIK none of the wires coming from the bobbins were touched, so I put things back together. After the things was one piece again, I tried playin the pickup, with the result that the single coils had MUCH more volume than the humbucker, and weird enough the tone control now acts as a volume control for the humbucker. What is the thing that I phucked the most? Can it be fixed somehow?

Thanks in advance for the patience, have a loud laugh for me!

 

[dpaterson]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

Not gonna laugh at you. But cannot help either i.e. I was advised by the experts around here to NOT open a pickup (in my case to change a baseplate simply because the pickup mounting screws were the wrong color) and for once I actually listened!!! LOL!!! And based on your current predicament: glad I did!!! LOL!!!

Keen to hear what the problem is and how to fix it though (as I'm sure at some point in the future I will open a pickup because curiosity got the better of me).

 

[Zado]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

Not gonna laugh at you. But cannot help either i.e. I was advised by the experts around here to NOT open a pickup (in my case to change a baseplate simply because the pickup mounting screws were the wrong color) and for once I actually listened!!! LOL!!! And based on your current predicament: glad I did!!! LOL!!!

Keen to hear what the problem is and how to fix it though (as I'm sure at some point in the future I will open a pickup because curiosity got the better of me).

Eh you know, curiosity killed the cat, but sometimes I can't help putting my fingers where I shouldn't:lmao:
Now, I'm no pickup expert by any means, I've only played loads of them and know what I like and what I don't but when it comes to the insides it's not my thing. That said, this one doesnt look "broken" to me, the wires are still there, it's just the wax that has gone away, and the pickup that sounds surprisingly weak (I wanted to swap the magnet for an alnico II or III anyway so no big deal).
It's the tone pot acting like a volume that sounds funky!

 

[Mincer]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

Do you have a meter? You can test the pickup to make sure both coils are working. The wires connecting the coils are very fragile, and it is easy to mess those up.
you can also try tapping on the individual coils of the pickup when plugged in. Use a screwdriver to do this. You will hear if there is a coil that isn't working. Pickups can be repaired, however. You can always contact SD for that service.

 

[devastone]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

Yep, best start is measuring the coils, but the tone control acting like a volume makes me wonder if the problem is in the re-installation of the pickup, not the pickup itself.

@dpaterson - do you mean the polepieces were the wrong color? I'm confused on what you were trying to do. As with anything, changing a baseplate isn't that hard, if you take your time and work carefully, but not sure what a baseplate has to do with mounting screws, or polepieces for that matter.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

I've experienced a tone acting like a volume control with a humbucker that had a dead coil. Chances are that you somehow broke one of the coil connections.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

 

[Zado]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

Do you have a meter? You can test the pickup to make sure both coils are working. The wires connecting the coils are very fragile, and it is easy to mess those up.
you can also try tapping on the individual coils of the pickup when plugged in. Use a screwdriver to do this. You will hear if there is a coil that isn't working. Pickups can be repaired, however. You can always contact SD for that service.

I used to have a meter, not sure if it still works, but I'll give a chance. Yesterday I tried touching the poles with a metallic object tho, and both produced sound...being the pickup pushpull, I also tried tickling the poles in full and tapped mode, and with the latter the slug poles emitted a quieter sound, so I guess it is still working afterall?

Yep, best start is measuring the coils, but the tone control acting like a volume makes me wonder if the problem is in the re-installation of the pickup, not the pickup itself.

That's what I thought, but I really didn't touch any wires, just unscrewed the pickup from the pickguard:15:

I've experienced a tone acting like a volume control with a humbucker that had a dead coil. Chances are that you somehow broke one of the coil connections.

Well that'd be a lil pain. But wiit wouldn't split in that case, or at least that's my idea....right?



Btw I know duncan can solve the thing easily, but if it's gone it's gone, I'd proly spend a lot lett by purchasing a brand new one, as I live in Europe and even the Duncan CS does not ship here.



The weird thing is: the magnet has almost no magnetic attraction now...yesterday I heated the magnet (it was degaussed already) to melt the wax which was allover the place. I read somewhere that certain magnets lose their streight under heat conditions....maybe the problem is that the magnet is SO weak now that killing the high frequencies with the tone pot makes it almost inaudible? Just saying...

 

[Demanic]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

That could be too.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

 

[devastone]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

Diganosing over the internet is tough, but based on your tap tests, it sounds like the coils are working(?). So, maybe the magnet got degaussed, but when you say you heated it to melt the wax, are we talking a hair dryer or a heat gun? I don't think a hair dryer could damage it, a heat gun on the other hand, maybe, but I would think the plastic would start melting if it got hot enough to damage the magnet. Are you sure the magnet was making good connection with the pole pieces when you put everything back together?

 

[dpaterson]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

@dpaterson - do you mean the polepieces were the wrong color?

Nah. If you cast your mind back I was being pedantic is all. Both DM and SD pickups are supplied with chrome adjustment screws and they are thinner in diameter than stock Jackson (black) adjustment screws is all (so swapping the DM or SD baseplates with the stock Jackson pickup baseplates was a plan at the time is all).

 

[devastone]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

My memory ain't so good now days, not sure if it is age or too much info from too many places, or both... Wouldn't the easy solution be to buy black screws that fit the pickups, granted, 3-48 screws might be a little harder to find in your neck of the woods, but StewMac sells them - https://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Parts/Screws_and_Springs/Pickup_Height_Screw_for_Humbucker.html

Sorry if I an circling back to an old topic that has been well covered.

 

[dpaterson]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

My memory ain't so good now days, not sure if it is age or too much info from too many places, or both... Wouldn't the easy solution be to buy black screws that fit the pickups, granted, 3-48 screws might be a little harder to find in your neck of the woods, but StewMac sells them - https://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Parts/Screws_and_Springs/Pickup_Height_Screw_for_Humbucker.html

Sorry if I an circling back to an old topic that has been well covered.

LOL!!! That was the point i.e. I was (correctly) advised, possibly even by you at the time, to just order replacement black screws rather than run the risk of mucking up a new pickup by attempting to swap the baseplates for such an arbitrary reason.

 

[devastone]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

Yeah, this memory thing, sorry to go back around... I'm starting to worry myself, not so much on forums but in everyday life. If I start telling the same joke 3 times in a row...

 

[dpaterson]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

Yeah, this memory thing, sorry to go back around... I'm starting to worry myself, not so much on forums but in everyday life. If I start telling the same joke 3 times in a row...

Funny you should mention this i.e. very same problem with me of late!!! LOL!!! Used to only repeat myself when I was pis*ed. Now it just comes natural!!! LOL!!!

 

[Zado]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

Diganosing over the internet is tough, but based on your tap tests, it sounds like the coils are working(?). So, maybe the magnet got degaussed, but when you say you heated it to melt the wax, are we talking a hair dryer or a heat gun? I don't think a hair dryer could damage it, a heat gun on the other hand, maybe, but I would think the plastic would start melting if it got hot enough to damage the magnet. Are you sure the magnet was making good connection with the pole pieces when you put everything back together?

The magnet was extracted from the structure, and the heated with....well a lighter just for an handful of seconds, but maybe it was even too much. I though "hey, metal wont melt with a lighter, no matter what", but it surely can degauss an awful lot, since the magnet can hardly attract and keep attacked a small screw now...not sure how strong an alnico magnet usually is, but this one really was.
About the connection, eh, that might be another reason as well!

 

[dpaterson]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

So you did this just to see “how things are done in there”. And then you used a lighter??? No sympathy!!! LOL!!!

 

[Zado]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

So you did this just to see “how things are done in there”. And then you used a lighter??? No sympathy!!! LOL!!!

It was a very small lighter tho :lmao:

 

[dpaterson]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

It was a very small lighter tho :lmao:

Well that’s alright then I guess!!! LOL!!!

On a serious note: am surprised that heat could degauss a magnet??? I have a thread somewhere around where I wanted to know if there was a correct way to store pickups i.e. not to store them close to each other and stuff like that. Was told that pickup magnets would stay magnetized for hundreds of years so nothing to worry about. Also on that thread are details of a SD pickup that’s been submerged in water for a few years and it still works just fine to date. But in just a few minutes and with a VERY SMALL cigarette lighter you have managed to defy physics and derail years of research!!! LOL!!! Am joking again but am keen to know if it was indeed the heat that caused this. Is it not possible that the heat melted the coating on the wire used for the windings (assuming that such wire is indeed coated) and a winding has now shorted out (as opposed to the magnet having lost its “juice”)???

 

[Jacew]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

The magnet was extracted from the structure, and the heated with....well a lighter just for an handful of seconds, but maybe it was even too much. I though "hey, metal wont melt with a lighter, no matter what", but it surely can degauss an awful lot, since the magnet can hardly attract and keep attacked a small screw now...not sure how strong an alnico magnet usually is, but this one really was.
About the connection, eh, that might be another reason as well!

Advice for how to degauss thread...

 

[dpaterson]

Re: Messed up with a pickup: can in be saved?

Never mind. Just Google “heating a magnet”!!! LOL!!!

Learned something new again today!!!