It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:22 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 27 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Go to page 1, 2  Next
Author Message
Post subject: Bridge pickup died after a string change. Why?
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 11:34 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2018 11:31 am
Posts: 9
As the title says, I'm not sure how to fix this. I opened up the pickguard and all the connections look secure. The neck and middle pickups work, and positions 2-5 work fine as well (not too sure about position 2). Any idea how to fix this or what's wrong?


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Bridge pickup died after a string change. Why?
Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 10:48 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:53 am
Posts: 4240
I wouldn't think the string change as such has anything to do with the no sound from bridge pickup issue.

There may be a cold/broken solder joint somewhere, and just to throw in a wild guess for fun: the switch. Position 2 working may be the mid pup alone.
But to rule out a faulty pickup, start by testing the bridge pickup with a multimeter.
BTW, which Strat model, and is it original or with a modded wiring?


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Bridge pickup died after a string change. Why?
Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 1:09 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2018 11:31 am
Posts: 9
jmattis wrote:
I wouldn't think the string change as such has anything to do with the no sound from bridge pickup issue.

There may be a cold/broken solder joint somewhere, and just to throw in a wild guess for fun: the switch. Position 2 working may be the mid pup alone.
But to rule out a faulty pickup, start by testing the bridge pickup with a multimeter.
BTW, which Strat model, and is it original or with a modded wiring?


Yea I wouldn't think that a string change would have done it. It's just that it happened literally after I changed the strings. Plugged it in, and when I switched to the bridge position, no sound. I'm kind of a noob when it comes to electronics, but what exactly should I test for with my multimeter?

I'm using an '06 Fender American Stratocaster all original.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Bridge pickup died after a string change. Why?
Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 7:15 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 6:56 am
Posts: 1677
Location: Coastal Bend, Tx.
You need to measure the pickup, check the pup wires to the switch, check the ground and check the switch.
On the bottom of the pickup there are two solder points side by side in the middle, test in the ohms range.
From the solder points, the HOT wire is connected and ran to the selector switch and soldered to the LEFT input side third lug.
While keeping one test meter lead on the hot wire solder point on the pup, put the other lead on the switch lug left side 3rd lug(test for continuity).
The GROUND should be soldered to the casing of the volume pot (some schematics vary). Continuity can also be checked to the pup.

Check the switch left side 3rd lug to right side 2nd lug with the switch in the bridge only position for continuity.
Check the common lug: left 4th and right 1st w/ the switch in the bridge only position for continuity.

Did you have the volume turned to 10, should have been my 1st question?
Because its totally weird as !@#$ for this to occur.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Bridge pickup died after a string change. Why?
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2018 5:47 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2018 11:31 am
Posts: 9
sfceric64 wrote:
You need to measure the pickup, check the pup wires to the switch, check the ground and check the switch.
On the bottom of the pickup there are two solder points side by side in the middle, test in the ohms range.
From the solder points, the HOT wire is connected and ran to the selector switch and soldered to the LEFT input side third lug.
While keeping one test meter lead on the hot wire solder point on the pup, put the other lead on the switch lug left side 3rd lug(test for continuity).
The GROUND should be soldered to the casing of the volume pot (some schematics vary). Continuity can also be checked to the pup.

Check the switch left side 3rd lug to right side 2nd lug with the switch in the bridge only position for continuity.
Check the common lug: left 4th and right 1st w/ the switch in the bridge only position for continuity.

Did you have the volume turned to 10, should have been my 1st question?
Because its totally weird as !@#$ for this to occur.


I know super late, busy with other things, hopefully someone can still help me out.

So following the suggestion above, there was NO continuity when checking the 3rd lug on the left side with the 2nd lug on the right side while the selector was on the bridge position. When checking the 4th lug on the left side with the 1st lug on the right side with the selector on the bridge position, there was continuity. When checking the resistance of the neck pickup I got a reading of 6.28 kOhm. I got the same result on the middle pickup. When checking the bridge pickup, I got a resistance of 260 kOhm. I tested it on all volume levels.

When I plugged it in to my amp, the neck and middle pickups work fine and interact with the volume and tone knobs normally. However, I noticed that on the bridge position, the guitar was producing sound, but at a very low volume. It was low enough that I believe that it is not an issue with pickup height (seeing as how the bridge pickup worked fine at its current height before the string change that "may" have caused this).


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Bridge pickup died after a string change. Why?
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2018 5:59 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26415
Location: Tombstone Territory
Low output is one hallmark of a partially-open coil.

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Bridge pickup died after a string change. Why?
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2018 8:52 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 6:56 am
Posts: 1677
Location: Coastal Bend, Tx.
What Arjay said...
"When checking the bridge pickup, I got a resistance of 260 kOhm."
You could stop there, with a reading that is unexpectedly very high.
Replace the pickup or have it re-wound to you specifications.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Bridge pickup died after a string change. Why?
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2018 9:35 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2010 2:39 pm
Posts: 1339
Yep probably dealing with a dud coil.
The 260kohm you are getting could be the resistance of the volume pot which is in parallel with the pickup.

To double check remove the pickup and measure it. If it is in the meg ohm range check the eyelets and ensure the pickup coil connects to these.
You could try unwrapping the coil until you find the break since sometimes it is close to the outer.
Hope that helps. :D


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Bridge pickup died after a string change. Why?
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 10:34 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 6:56 am
Posts: 1677
Location: Coastal Bend, Tx.
Quote:
So following the suggestion above, there was NO continuity when checking the 3rd lug on the left side with the 2nd lug on the right side while the selector was on the bridge position.
Sorry, missed this in your last reply...So with a 260k ohm reading and no continuity between these two points, you should probably de-solder the hot wire from the bridge pickup and retest the ohm reading and ground continuity of the bridge pickup(removed from circuit). If the pup still reads 260k ohms or more than 10k it is probably bad.
You should have had continuity between the 3rd left and 2nd right posts of the selector switch. May be a bad switch.
I would de-solder the middle pup hot wire and solder the bridge pup hot wire in its place and retest the output of the bridge pup(temp. installed in the neck pup slot of the switch position 3) for a final determination of the pup working or not. If it works in the mid position, replace the switch.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Bridge pickup died after a string change. Why?
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 2:57 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2010 2:39 pm
Posts: 1339
I think we need to clarify left right and 1, 2 and 3.
Traditionally left 3 down from top of switch looking from rear of pickguard with the neck pickup top most is the neck pickup connection.
Right switch 2nd lug down from top is the tone ctl for the bridge. I don't think there should be a connection between the two or am I missing something

This of course depends on perspective and assumes a std wiring config both of which may not be the case so anything is possible.
Please take my comment only to try to shed some clarification on the subject rather than any criticism.

Pull the pickup and check it. :D


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Bridge pickup died after a string change. Why?
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 6:08 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 6:56 am
Posts: 1677
Location: Coastal Bend, Tx.
yeah my bad JJ. I had it reversed left side.
It should be this way from your perspective for an 06 sss Am Std strat,

L1 bridge R1 common
L2 mid R2 tone 2-bridge & mid jump wire
L3 neck R3 tone 2-mid
L4 common R4 tone 1-neck

So continuity should be L1 to R2 for bridge tone pot 2.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Bridge pickup died after a string change. Why?
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 8:34 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:28 pm
Posts: 1594
Location: SoCal, US
Since we are chasing an open, rather than a short, we can do a fair amount of narrowing down without unsoldering anything.
We know that our resistance is high at the output jack, but everything works with the other pickups.
That tells us that the volume pot, jack, and wiring to the switch are good.
Regardless of whether it has the Delta, Greasebucket, or conventional tone circuits, the only thing a failure could do there is create a short, not an open.

That narrows it down to the pickup or the input lug of the 5-way switch... again, we know the output side is good because the other pickups work.
So the next step is to measure from the input connection on the switch (trace the wire from the bridge p/u, circled connection below) to ground with the switch all the way in the bridge #1 position. If the measurement is ~7k, then the pickup is good and the switch is likely bad.
If this measurement is still high, then the pickup is *likely* open. To confirm, move the switch to the #2 position and the reading should drop to ~7k, since you're adding the middle pickup in parallel... If the reading drops, that confirms the switch is good and the problem is definitely in the pickup.

Image

_________________
-- Rich


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Bridge pickup died after a string change. Why?
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 2:32 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2018 11:31 am
Posts: 9
So first of all thank you to everyone that helped out with this problem.

I opened up my guitar today and started to work on the suggestions given by everyone. Tested the bridge pickup and for some reason it was reading at 7k ohms instead of the 250k ohms that it was reading previously. How or why that was happened I'm not sure. So then I decided to test to see if the pickup was working through my amp and when I flipped the pickguard around to put it back into place, I noticed one of the ground (black) wires slipped out of the cavity that it was running into (it looked like a wire connecting the pots to ground). I'm not sure if that was something that happened at the moment or maybe it was something that happened earlier and I didn't realize it since it hadn't popped out yet. Anyways I soldered that loose wire to what I assumed was ground (some kind of piece of metal being secured by a screw inside the guitar cavity).

I put the pickguard back on, put a single string on there, and tested and voila! Normal volume level from my bridge pickup. The guitar is working normally now! So I'm not sure what even was going on, but thanks again guys for the help and information.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Bridge pickup died after a string change. Why?
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 3:48 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:28 pm
Posts: 1594
Location: SoCal, US
Interesting.
That is the body cavity shield ground. Originally, as shown on the diagram, Strats had only grounds going to the pickups, output jack, and bridge. The tone controls grounded through the pickguard shield, which was unreliable when Fender transitioned to foil PG shielding.
In the late 70s, Fender added shielding paint to the body cavity and added a 5th ground wire to the volume pot.

But that being lifted should not cause the pickup to read open. Keep an eye on it, there may be an intermittent connection that was "corrected" but not repaired by handling the pickguard.

_________________
-- Rich


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Bridge pickup died after a string change. Why?
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 4:37 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26415
Location: Tombstone Territory
CB91710 wrote:
The tone controls grounded through the pickguard shield, which was unreliable when Fender transitioned to foil PG shielding.

Further evidence that Leo got it *RIGHT THE FIRST TIME* and all subsequent "improvements" to the Stratocaster are nothing more than blasphemous bullshit!

:lol:
Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 27 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Go to page 1, 2  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: