Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

[kingdiamond]

I bought a used TB-6 Distortion pickup on ebay and I installed it into my Jackson SL2H a couple days ago. I installed the pickup wiring the same way the JB was wired. When I try playing the guitar in the bridge position the sound is really strong in the mids and there seems to be no bass output at all. I have the TB-6 in three other guitars and they do not sound like this. Is there a way to measure the resistance of the pickup to see if it's defective?

If I switch to the neck pickup (SH2N) everything sounds great.

BTW, the guitar has one tone knob, one volume pot, and a three way selector switch.

 

[Diocletian]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

You did solder the red and white wires together, yes?

 

[kingdiamond]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

Yes red/white are soldered together, not connected to anything. The bare/green are soldered together and grounded to the back of a pot. The black wire is soldered to one of the tabs on the 3-way selector switch.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

take a multimeter and check the dc resistance between the green and black. should be 16k+

 

[mrturtle_91]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

Yes red/white are soldered together, not connected to anything. The bare/green are soldered together and grounded to the back of a pot. The black wire is soldered to one of the tabs on the 3-way selector switch.

and you made sure they were taped off so they don't make electrical contact with anything?

 

[kingdiamond]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

Yes they are actually covered with heatshrink tubing. I have installed a lot of pickups in my own guitars and have never experienced a problem before.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

sounds phase reversed
someone may have swapped a magnet

 

[mrturtle_91]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

sounds phase reversed
someone may have swapped a magnet

that would only happen if you had both pickups on at the same time that it would sound out of phase.

 

[kingdiamond]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

Wierd, I'm not getting any resistance reading between the green and black wires. If I check the resistance between the red and black wires it shows 8.62K.

 

[ACH91332]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

You could put the pickup out of phase with its self but yea he said how he wired it so I dont think thats the issue.

Only problems I've had are bad solder joints that ground out the high end and make the pickup overly bassy. Only thing I can think of is that the pickup just slipped through inspection. Definitely do what jeremy said to do.

 

[metalmachine]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

sounds like a coil is not working

 

[mrturtle_91]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

Wierd, I'm not getting any resistance reading between the green and black wires. If I check the resistance between the red and black wires it shows 8.62K.

This means one coil is dead, seems like the only fix would be to get the pickup replaced.

 

[metalspider]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

have you checked the resistance while all wires are not hooked up to anything?
someone at the factory might have gotten mixed up and the color codes would be wrong in that case had a friend with a pickup like that once,so just find the start and finish of the 2 different coils and try out the combinations untill you get the pickup wired in phase correctly with itself.

trying to find the start and finish of each coil will also help you see if one of the coils really has a continuity problem.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

someone at the factory might have gotten mixed up and the color codes would be wrong in that case had a friend with a pickup like that once,so just find the start and finish of the 2 different coils and try out the combinations untill you get the pickup wired in phase correctly with itself.

Thats what I meant in Phase with itself
if one magnet was reversed then it would be out of phase

but that doesnt seem to be the problem

EDIT
you do have a
black
white
red
green
and bare wire
rite?

EDIT of EDIT
Ignore me
I'm an Idiot

 

[kingdiamond]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

I just ordered a new Distortion pickup.

I guess I'm out $40 for this pickup

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

I just ordered a new Distortion pickup.

I guess I'm out $40 for this pickup

say you could read the red/green coil
but not the black/white?

EDIT
saw this at work this week
four conductor shielded cable
copper in one conductor broke but not the insulation
you could see a "band" round the conductor
where the insulation sunk in

just for reference

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Problem with SD Distortion pickup...

I just ordered a new Distortion pickup.

I guess I'm out $40 for this pickup

Thats why I worry about buying used pups on ebay...Ironically, I was just looking at a couple of used distortions the other day but decided to pass..

If they wont refund you, you and grandma can brew up some tea... :friday:

Welcome to the forum BTW