PG impedance question

shredhed

shredhed

New member
My bargain Pearly Gates came today that I got off of the bay. It's the one I snagged for $50 shipped - hoowaah

On the SD site it's supposed to read 8.35 ohms but only reads about 5.5.

It's a PGBL1 so my understanding from that madel number is that it's about 10 years old or more. Is that correct?

So I'm wondering why it reads so low.

He shipped it in the original box that says it is a bridge pup. So I'm wondering what gives


Thanks
 
Re: PG impedance question

it your meter is reading that correctly then something is wrong. a pgb should read 8k+ a neck should be 7k+ thats way to low. have you listened to it yet?

four conductor?
 
Re: PG impedance question

jeremy said:
it your meter is reading that correctly then something is wrong. a pgb should read 8k+ a neck should be 7k+ thats way to low. have you listened to it yet?

four conductor?
Click to expand...

It's 4 conductor. I haven't installed it yet.
 
Re: PG impedance question

That reading is eaither really high or really low. Please walk us through how you're getting that reading; step by step.
 
Re: PG impedance question

Benjy_26 said:
That reading is eaither really high or really low. Please walk us through how you're getting that reading; step by step.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks Benjy.

Well I have an analogue type meter (with the dial). It has 2 settings for resistance. 1) RX10k and 2) RX1k.

I have to use the RX1k to be able to read pickups b/c the values are so low that they dont register on the 10k setting.

I tested the pickup both ways:
In series - ie red and white joined, and using the green and black wires to test.
And also each coil individually.

I've tested pups before. For instance my TB4 reads in the 16k range using the RX1k setting on my meter. I don't know a lot about electronics (just enough to get me in trouble - lol) But I can tell this pup is low in the output department.

Thanks for the help guys:)
 
Re: PG impedance question

Is your PG HB covered or open bobbin? If covered, does the solder that fastens the cover to the baseplate look original (tidy, smooth) or bodged up (ugly, like bad cake frosting)?

I'm just wondering whether the pickup has suffered some physical damage at the hands of a previous owner? Another possibility is that only the baseplate and the packaging are genuine SD. :(
 
Re: PG impedance question

Impedance? Sounds like you are talking resistance.

Photo?

Might be a PG sticker moved to a stinker...
 
Re: PG impedance question

Funkfingers said:
Is your PG HB covered or open bobbin? If covered, does the solder that fastens the cover to the baseplate look original (tidy, smooth) or bodged up (ugly, like bad cake frosting)?

I'm just wondering whether the pickup has suffered some physical damage at the hands of a previous owner? Another possibility is that only the baseplate and the packaging are genuine SD. :(
Click to expand...

I hadn't thought of that.

It's open and I did look at the cloth tape around in. It looks to be original, but I hadn't thought about the possibility of a fake
 
Re: PG impedance question

uOpt said:
Impedance? Sounds like you are talking resistance.

Photo?

Might be a PG sticker moved to a stinker...
Click to expand...

It's an SD plate, but I agree it could be either a fake (like mentioned above) or a stinker
 
Re: PG impedance question

If the HB is open bobbin, it is possible that it has experienced string through the windings damage. (Like the accident that got SD himself started.) Any repair would, by definition, involve removing some of the coil from one or other of the bobbins and renewing the connection to one of the output conductor wires.

You said earlier that you have taken DC resistance readings from the individual coils. How closely did these match each other?
 
Re: PG impedance question

It would be very unusual for damage to reduce resistance but not disable the pickup.

A broken lead or a minimal shortcut from stray wire is more likely, as is a bogus multimeter.

Is it 4 or 2 conductor?
 
Re: PG impedance question

^
Agreed.

I'm going to cut to the chase.

Here are four possible explanations in order of unlikeliness:
1) Damaged but skilfully repaired genuine SD HB. (So skilfully repaired that the tech went to the trouble of balancing the DC resistance value of both coils to the same figure.) Easily thirty bucks worth of tech's time. Strange, then, to sell the repaired PU so cheaply.
2) Damaged, genuine SD PG with short that still manages to function almost in spite of itself.
3) Honest error. Vendor assumed PU found in box to match description on packaging.
4) Dishonest error. Blatant attempt to deceive.
 
Re: PG impedance question

It's a 4 conductor.

I checked the mounting screws in the plate. They still have wax in them and look untampered with.

The plate is a real SD stamed plate.

As to the DC resistance on the separate coils. The one is around 2.2k and the other is around 3k.

That's what doesn't make sense. I could see one coil being bad - but both at the same time?

I put it in a guitar tonite. It sounds like a bag of a:censored:holes. Real trebly and no mids. It has a good bottom end though - but that's the only part that sounds good.
 
Re: PG impedance question

Okay. Forget the "skilfully repaired" explanation.

I am hard-pressed to think of any commercial HB with an individual coil resistance value as low a 3k, let alone 2.2. Such a pickup would need enormous magnets (or a built-in pre-amp) to generate any worthwhile signal.

That leaves explanations 2, 3 and 4.

IMO, any of these would be grounds for contacting the vendor. The item is either not as described or unfit for purpose. Give the vendor a chance to explain. If appropriate, threaten to use the online selling site's complaints procedure.

I strongly suspect that the pickup you have purchased is a stinker. The only question in my mind now is whether the vendor is an equally unwitting victim or the original perpetrator?
 
Re: PG impedance question

I found my problem. I feel like a total idiot.

Something got me thinking earlier when someone suggested a bad meter.......

Well, I have a TB-4 that I got a couple months ago that tested at around 16k. (this is what is odd - my meter worked last time I used it) So I knew that value already. I tested it with my tester and it read at 14. SO I'm thinkin, is my meter off? So I popped the control cover off of my DK2M and the TB-4 in it also read way less than 16 - around 14.

So I'm thinkin the meter is off by 2k

So I test the PG again and now it reads 6.75. If I'm off by 2k then that would put me over 8k

I go to Walmart and buy a new digital meter and now my TB4s all read in the 16k range and the best part - the Pearly Gates comes in at 8.03k.

Now I just have to figure out why it sounds so crappy in the guitar I put it in.
 
Re: PG impedance question

"I put it in a guitar tonite. It sounds like a bag of aholes. Real trebly and no mids. It has a good bottom end though - but that's the only part that sounds good."

When I first got my PGn, that was my experience as well. I guess I was just used to very muddy, middy PUs in my guitar. Then I got a P-90b, re-EQed my amp, and wowee...nice full, rich, wonderfull tone. Plus my P-90 (Mean 90 from GFS) sounds just awesome too.
 
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