Pickup restoration.

[Artie]

I'm in the process of restoring a somewhat beat-up Duncan Custom, and I'm hoping to chronicle the process on my webpage. I thought, perhaps, folks who haven't seen it before, would like to see what a field-stripped pickup looks like:

 

[beandip]

Re: Pickup restoration.

Why are you restoring it? something happen?

 

[Artie]

Re: Pickup restoration.

Its hard to see in the pic, but lots of rust, corrosion, oxidation, etc.

Here's its sister Duncan Distortion that I'll be doing next:

BTW - In case the person who sold me these see's this, I'm not complaining at all. They're just as they were represented, I got a heckuva price, and they work great.

I just thought it would be fun to try to restore them.

 

[Fusion1]

Re: Pickup restoration.

Artie great idea with the website chronicling the re-building process. I'm sure that will give me the confidence to go ahead and try one of the hybrids. There are a few pickups of mine I bought used with super short leads and it would good to know how to install a new 4 conductor wire to the individual coils.

Knowing me, I'll probably restore all my pickups once I know how... Damn that compulsive-obsessive nature, lol.

 

[Artie]

Re: Pickup restoration.

Now that I've got one taken apart, I can tell you that there's really nothing to it . . . except for one thing. You really need to be "up" on your soldering skills, and have a good clean, precise soldering iron and tip, before you attempt to resolder those tiny little wires back together in close proximity to the coil.

Thats the only thing I can see that might be an obstacle to anyone who wants to attempt this. Of course, I don't actually have it back together and working yet either.

 

[Fusion1]

Re: Pickup restoration.

Artie, yeah it's like one false move and part of the wiring starts smoldering from the iron. If you were good at that game OPERATION where you needed a steady hand, you will be good to go with the close proximity with the soldering iron.

 

[Curly]

Re: Pickup restoration.

Its hard to see in the pic, but lots of rust, corrosion, oxidation, etc.

hey, Artie ...
people pay good money to have stuff corroded like that!

good luck with that project!

 

[Artie]

Re: Pickup restoration.

hey, Artie ...
people pay good money to have stuff corroded like that!

good luck with that project!

Heh-heh . . . maybe I should sell 'em as "relic-ed". :laugh2:

 

[Curly]

Re: Pickup restoration.

uh ... seriously, I think it's partly the price you pay with open coils, and partly the person playing the guitar - their chemical make up, if you will ... the extreme case being Rory Gallagher

 

[beandip]

Re: Pickup restoration.

Actually Artie, now that I think about it, you could've cleaned those up REALLY quick with a soft wire brish for a dremel tool put on 5,000-10,000 RPM's. You'd've been done in about 10 minutes per pickup.

 

[Stratcat]

Re: Pickup restoration.

Why don't you just buy a new pup?

 

[Artie]

Re: Pickup restoration.

Actually Artie, now that I think about it, you could've cleaned those up REALLY quick with a soft wire brish for a dremel tool put on 5,000-10,000 RPM's. You'd've been done in about 10 minutes per pickup.

But that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun. :laugh2:
Besides, I have, left over from my younger days, the urge to tear everything apart and see what makes it "tick".

Why don't you just buy a new pup?

Hmmm . . . when my car gets dirty, I wash it.

 

[Artie]

Re: Pickup restoration.

So far, all the hardware has cleaned up real nice, especially the back plate:

But the two plastic bobbins haven't. They cleaned up ok, and I can polish them to a degree, but they're far from looking new. They still look beat. If I can't figure out some way to bring back their original luster, this project will become moot.

I guess I'll go see what kind of new plastic polishes are out there.

 

[Fusion1]

Re: Pickup restoration.

Artie, one of the mods on the Jackson/Charvel forum recommends using an orbital buffer for the bobbins, but I don't know how well it will resurface the bobbin if there are high or low spots due to wear from picking.

I have used Meguires Scratch X for pick swirls and for that it works fine. Deeper scratches would need buffing though.

 

[butnut]

Re: Pickup restoration.

I've used MicroMesh for plastics metal and some paint finishes...awesome for removing scratches.
http://www.sculpt.com/catalog_98/abrasives/micromesh.htm
It first came out over 10 years ? ago and I got a sample kit with the all the grits, foam pad and microgloss polish....maybe it's till available.
OK, found the site to order kits...the craft/hobby kit is cheap! Up to 12,000 grit! Does'nt even feel like sandpaper at that grit.
MicroMesh kits...

 

[Artie]

Re: Pickup restoration.

Great website, Butnut. Thanks for that link.

All kinds of good stuff there.

 

[butnut]

Re: Pickup restoration.

No problem. Did'nt think kits were still around...I'm gonna order a few too. Amazing how these 'abrasives' can give a high gloss to hard woods with no finish...they work good to give a dull sheen on my relics too.

 

[telepicker]

Re: Pickup restoration.

I'm no expert by any means but read somewhere that if magnet posts had little bumps etc on them and you wanted to get them off with powered brushes (abrasives &/or grinding ?)etc, you had to be careful not to get them hot. Correct me if I'm wrong

 

[Artie]

Re: Pickup restoration.

You're exactly correct. Fortunately, on humbuckers, the pole pieces are just stainless steel - not the magnets.

Except the Stag Mag, I think.