Post Type Archives: SWD

There are many things that can be checked to make sure your pickups perform properly. Some important things are: Make sure potentiometers are clean and the right value and taper. Make sure all switches and contacts are properly soldered and connected to the right connections. Check for dirty or faulty jacks that can oxidize in…

I often see steel wool stuck to pickups after it was used to clean and polish the fingerboard and frets. If a repairman flips the guitar over on a workbench to wire the back cavity, the steel wool hidden in his workbench carpet will be attracted to the magnets and pole pieces. Steel wool is…

Damage to pickups can be caused by so many different things and taking pickups out of an instrument is by far the biggest problem. Normally if they are left untouched they stay pretty reliable. Putting a pickup in a drawer or box is not enough to give protection to the delicate coils and bobbins. If…

Cold or faulty solder joints at connections such as eyelets, switches, potentiometers, jacks, shorting circuits or contacts, improper or faulty insulation’s, hookup wire strands touching ground. Debris such as steel wool or small bits of solder can get lodged inside the potentiometer or other electrical components and cause static.

The majority of broken pickups can be repaired by a qualified repairman. We repair pickups everyday in the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop and we try to restore pickups to their original condition. Pickups that are epoxied have the highest reject repair rate and not much can be done to repair them. Check out the ad’s…

The coil could be damaged or the magnets are degaussed. There could be a bad switch or cold solder joints. The wrong value potentiometers might have been used in place of the original. If a pickup sounds very thin and bright, roll the tone control back and if the sound stops coming through the amplifier,…

Long time use and abuse and the pickups wear out. Careless removal of pickups and using improper tools. Moisture and humidity that can cause the parts to rust or oxidize. The strings to get snagged into the coil or bobbin by picking hard. Removing or replacing covers with ones that don’t fit properly. Using unsuitable…

You need to carefully inspect the pickups to determine the cause of failure and this is what I look for. Here are a few examples: Check for damage to the coil or broken magnet wire. Normally can be repaired without complete rewinding. Check for cold solder joints and broken connections between coil and lead wire….

This is very common when using a vibrato arm and lowering the note making the string very loose and flexible. If the string gets snagged under the lip of the pickup it is most likely that the winding in the coil got damaged and would need to be repaired by a qualified repairman. This is…

Pickups will work for many years if used under normal playing conditions. Pickups start breaking when handled improperly, excessive moisture or humidity, removing covers and dozens of other problems. Please remember if a pickup is non-functional, it doesn’t always mean that it needs to be rewound. There may be other problems that exist so check…