pickup problem?

metalspider

metalspider

New member
i have a SD 59 that's acting funny one coil measures at 3.8K ohm and the other at 10K ohm.it sounds ok most of the time both in series and split but when i use a boost pedal with it (lpb1) the series mode sounds thinner with less gain and the split sounds fine,plenty of boost like i get on other pickups and added fatness.

so what is going on here?
thanks
 
Re: pickup problem?

checked the readings again after taking the pickup out of the guitar and one coil is 3.8k (red and green) and i cant get a reading on the 2nd coil(white and black) even when i set my multimeter to 2M ohm.
strange how it seemed ok untill i started using that booster pedal.
 
Re: pickup problem?

Hey Spider,

Sounds like you've got a broken wire somwhere inside the pickup. Probably the coil, seen as the sound gets thin and weak in the series mode. Could be the booster pedal gives of a voltage at it's input. This could fry your pickup. You could measure if there is a voltage on the booster input by plugging in a cable and measure between tip and ground.
 
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Re: pickup problem?

thanks,just tryed mesuring for a voltage and there's none.

what i dont understand is how this pickup work normally when the booster isnt being used?even though one coil reads as disconnected.i can hear it cancelling hum when i play with distortion and when i split it i get the 60 cycle hum.so the coil is working when it shouldnt be?!
 
Re: pickup problem?

The LPB-1 is a Electro-Harmonix? I have found a lot of EH pedals to be subsandard. Maybe the pickup is in some way too powerfull?????? for the circuitry. Normally this should not be the case. I do a lot of repairs, but have never encountered this kind of problem. Anyone else have a suggestion?
 
Re: pickup problem?

actually i built the lpb myself as my first diy pedal.seems to work fine with all my other guitars and pickups just not this 59.
also the 59,like i said has a coil that seems to read as disconnected so its strange it works at all.
i dont get any reading on that coil by itself or when i wire up the pickup in series even with my ohm meter set all the way up to 2 meg ohm.however the one coil that does read fine is 3.8k ohm.
 
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Re: pickup problem?

If a coil has a broken wire the sound doesn't always go dead (but you get a high to infinite resistance reading). A coil with a broken wire acts as a capacitor. This passes high frequencies, but cuts out lots of bass. A broken wired pickup=small capacitor in series with the input cap of the LPB-1 is an even smaller valued cap (letting none of the audible frequencies through). I think you must have a broken coil.
If you do not use the LPB-1, and split the pickup, do you get more bass than in series ? If so, your coil is broken.
 
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