Pickup resistance decaying over time?

[Tor]

I was testing some pickups I had lying around. The neck was rated to 7.4, the bridge 9.0k. I set the ohmeter to 20k, and measured them to 4.81 and 5.14, respectively. How can this be? Are there certain factors that can lead to a decay in resistance? I just found it really strange... I never measured the pickups when they arrived, so the most logical explanation would be that they have been that way, always..

 

[beaubrummels]

Resistance doesn't decay, because that is a measure of the wire on the bobbins. Those measurements are about half. Sounds like you are measuring only one coil, or maybe they are wired in parallel? Only other possibility would be a short or some kind of damage. Unlikely two pickups exactly halfway, however. Somehow I think you're only measuring one coil.

 

[Artie]

^^^ 99% what he said. 1%, check the batteries in your ohmmeter. They don't last forever.

 

[Tor]

Ok, thanks guys!

 

[Chistopher]

For future reference, if a humbucker reads half of what it "should" read you are reading one coil, if it's a quarter of what it should be, you are reading both coils in parallel.