Hey all,

I'm having a real problem with my fender american stratocaster bridge pickup. It's been an issue for a while now but it finally got to the point where it is unusable.

I'll try and put as much information out as possible to help isolate the problem. My bridge pickup has had a really low output for a while now. I could in the past just adjust the pickup cover a little bit and it would work properly again. But now this method has no avail. The output is so low such that it goes under the noise reduction filter. I took it into a small guitar shop but the worker couldn't get it working.

Some things I would like to note when hovering a steel screwdrive over the other pickups they hum normally, but over the bridge pickup there is minimal output. But when I touch the pickup with my finger it has a full output where the other outputs have no output when I do this. Does this indicate anything?

I'm trying to troubleshoot what is actually the issue at this point whether it be just standard wiring or the pickup is actually broken in some way. Here's a picture of the wiring.

Any troubleshooting advice to find the root of the problem is greatly greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your time.

I've never dropped the guitar or anything like that, and the guitar is only about 5 hours old.

Shifty

http://i44.tinypic.com/muk6md.jpg here's the image

Sounds like one of two problems -- either an open or intermittently-open coil (possible but unlikely), or a wiring problem at the switch (cold solder joints seem to be very common of late).

HTH

Arjay

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"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

+1

If you are lucky, the problem is just a cold solder joint. Are you handy with a multimeter and a soldering iron?

Even if you locate the problem to the pickup, you can easily reflow the solder at the eyelets (where the thin coil wire gets "connected" to the lead wire). Just be careful around that thin coil wire.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Is the pickup the one that came in it or has it been replaced? The symptoms sound like you have a bad coil in the pup. if it's still under warranty I would see if it's covered, then take it to an authorized repair shop. My bet would be a weak connection where the shielded wire meets the coil winding.

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TOO MANY GUITARS, TOO LITTLE TIME!

Current Stable:
Fender Stratocaster MIM 07
Squire II Stratocaster MIK 89?
ESP LTD MH-100QM
Jackson KE3 Kelly MIJ

It's the pickup that came with the guitar. I'm pretty sure it is no longer under warranty. I've used a multimeter and soldering iron, I had a few electrical engineering classes in college, but it's been a while. What do you recommend in troubleshooting the problem to make sure I have the correct problem found?

Thank you guys so much for the help

Disconnect the suspect pickup and check it with an ohmmeter. You should read somewhere in the neighborhood of 6.75K to 7.5K ohms.

Arjay

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"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

What does a resistance of about 12.5K ohms indicate? Is there any way to repair or should I purchase a new pickup?

Did you disconnect one lead of the pickup? (yellow lead at the switch would be my choice, purely for ease).
Those pickups (American Standard I presume) shouldn't read any higher than 9/10K. That is a high reading, more like you're measuring in circuit with the volume pot turned down a good bit.

For what it's worth (not a great deal) I don't think you have a cold solder. It's no real way to check, but looking at the picture you shared. And zooming in a lot. The soldering in that guitar looks fine. It coluld still be cold(fractured) underneath but unlikely.

You may want to check the switch. I've had one go bad in certain positions before now. It's rare but does happen.
Set the meter to continuity test, where it beeps when the circuit has no resistance. With the switch in the bridge pickup only position. Place one probe on the switch at the yellow wire, one at the volume pot's 3rd tab (where the white wire comes from the switch to the volume pot).
Should get a nice clear beep if the switch is ok

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No no and no

I completely disconnected the pickup and 11 k ohms was the reading I got (tried it again and that was the consistent reading). The other two gave a reading of almost exactly 6 k ohms I even went as far as disconnecting another pickup and attaching it to the "bad pickups" switch location and it still functioned fine so I'm pretty confident that is not the issue.

I have no idea how a pickup would develop so much resistance. But the increased resistance does make sense for the problem that has developed. I'd imagine that the increased resistance would cause the sound output to be less because less current is passing by at a given moment reducing the amount the pickup gets. Do you think I should just buy a new pickup?

Also I really liked the sound of this pickup. Where can I buy an exact replacement if I can't get this one repaired?

As has been stated, be it internally or at one of the pickup's lead eyelets, the coil winding has a short. If it is at an eyelet (which I highly suspect), it is a simple fix for one who is used to dealing with such things. If one is not, destruction to one of the coil's leads is inevitable. Having said this, NEVER presume a "pro" tech has experience with such things unless (s)he has a known reputation for same. From what I've seen, most "pro" techs out there are not all that knowledgeable, let alone dexterous when it comes to pickup coil lead issues. The vast majority will simply write off the pickup as irreparable. Unfortunately and in the final analysis, the easiest and cheapest way for you to deal with this problem is to simply replace the pickup for even though you may find a genuinely knowledgeable tech, the bench time would cost more than if you went out and bought a replacement pickup and soldered it in yourself.

FWIW, if you want an exact replacement, they are plentiful on e-Bay and crop up all the time on other guitar related websites which have a section for buying and selling guitar parts.

As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

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You dig?

Hey I took apart the pickup and am the following are pictures. I'm wondering if the repair guy screwed up and broke something. There is a lot of wax residue around the base Either way I'm planning on buying a new pickup. I want to get the exact same one because I really liked the output sound. The bottom of this one had the number 016730. Is this helpful? The guitar is a fender american standard. All of the other pickups in the guitar have the same number, how do I make sure to get the exact same one? It's the bridge pickup. Or is this number pretty arbitrary? Here's some pictures of the pickup. Can I contact someone at fender to locate a replacement? Thank you guys so much for your help in my whole endeavor I really appreciate it.

http://i41.tinypic.com/292sfhz.jpg http://i40.tinypic.com/2llzslx.jpg http://i41.tinypic.com/2h7o0lc.jpg

I found the p/n from a schematics number and its 0050665000 - Pickup, Hot Bridge, Strat.
Is this generic for any fender guitar or can I call someone and order this? Where do I order it from?