Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

[cpaggen]

Good day everyone!

I bought a pair of used 59s that came with no stickers or indications anywhere, which means I can't tell the neck vs bridge pickup. I thought I'd test their resistance with an ohm meter and things got .. interesting.

- Pickup A: I connected green and bare together, wire red/white together to link both loops, and use black as hot. When I place the ohm meter between green/bare and black, I read roughly 11 ohms on pickup A. Looks good to me.
- Pickup B: same procedure. Ohm meter says 0 ohms immediately. Now if I use the green wire only and separate it from the bare, and measure between green and black, I read 10 ohms. Bare and black: 0 ohms.

I guess the bare is somehow either shorted to the black inside the pickup, or the shield is damaged somewhere making wires touch each other. I see no visible damage, and upon inspecting the pickup after removing the black cloth-like protection that's around it, I see no damage at all.

What do y'all think? Can I use pickup B if I wrap the bare wire in tape and just use connect green to ground?

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

No pickup should read 10 ohms. More along the lines of 7,000 to 16,000 ohms.

So I have to assume you are measuring them wrong.

What meter are you using, and how do you have it set?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AlexR]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

there is no need to have bare involved at all.

Measure on a greater than 10k setting on the meter.
Measure each coil individually.......so black and white, red and green. Each should have a high 3k to low 4k reading.

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

Be sure to use new battery in your multimeter.

 

[cpaggen]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

It's 10K ohms indeed, no 10 ohms. I just realized the ohm meter's legend says "ohm x 1K".

 

[cpaggen]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

I'm measuring it right, I was just reading ohms where it's really ohms x 1K. I still wonder though why on *that* pickup only I can't short the green and bare. The other 59 doesn't have that problem. I'll install the "problematic" one without the bare at all, I'll make sure it's wrapped in electrical tape.

 

[cpaggen]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

BTW as I can't identify the pickups (they have no label, engraving, or sticker anywhere). They're zebra and have Seymour Duncan written on them. On both of them the pole pieces are on the black side. However, one of them has Seymour Duncan written on the creme side coil while the other has Seymour Duncan written on the black side coil. The forum site won't let me upload a picture (https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=aGYxcWxldG5sSUNwV0VEa09TM3JkUGVGaEVEMXln) - does anybody know what they are, and which one is bridge vs neck?

 

[Discharged]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

does anybody know what they are, and which one is bridge vs neck?

Most probably the neck one is the one with the logo on the black bobbin. You write '59s, but according the only measure taken, it can't be.

Take a picture of the baseplate. It'll help.

/Peter

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

Would you mind posting some pics of the bottoms of the pickups, as well?

I'm concerned these may be counterfeits from the pic you provided. Pretty sure I've come across these before...more pics would help

Generally speaking, the pickup with the 3 mounting holes on each side is a "trembucker" and meant for the bridge. That said, I believe these are likely the latest generation counterfeits judging by the bobbin finish, the logos, the rounded baseplate tabs on the neck pickup and the pole pieces. Couple those with the fact that there are no labels and the DC resistance figures are WAY off and there's a pretty solid case for these being fakes. If so, I was literally just talking about this emerging problem last month.

Where did you get them?

Here's a copy of the pic you linked to, so others can see it:

 

[Discharged]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

these may be counterfeits

Now that I'm looking at the picture on my laptop, I too think they're counterfeits.

/Peter

 

[ToneFiddler]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

yes, those look fake!

 

[cpaggen]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

yes, those look fake!

Oh no :/ I'll take pics on Friday, right now they're mounted in a Les Paul and I need to unsolder them.

I bought them used on Reverb for 110€.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

Link to the listing?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

I am not an expert on fakes, but the logo/mounting tabs doesn't look right. I'd be curious as to the consensus of the people who are really good at spotting this stuff.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

sadly those look like fakes to me, the dcr pretty much confirms they are not any duncan pup, and definitely not a 59 set

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

I'd be curious as to the consensus of the people who are really good at spotting this stuff.

:cool2:

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

59s don’t have the logo. Duncan doesn’t use philips mount screws. Bobbins look strangely rounded along the top edge and the logo printing looks broken up like it was done after total assembly. Need to see the baseplates.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

Well, the fonts, mounting tabs, and what looks like short legs, too. The wire should be a traditional (not 4 conductor) also. How much did you pay? Where did you buy these from? A genuine 59 set wouldn't be too expensive as they are pretty common.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

I'm betting these have very realistic SD logo-stamped base plates, as well. That's how close the fakes are getting to the real thing

 

[cpaggen]

Re: Seymour 59 measuring zero ohm resistance?

Link to the listing?

https://reverb.com/be/item/31750013-seymour-duncan-set-jb-bridge-y-59-neck-zebra