sjaguar13 Posted August 12, 2004 Report Share Posted August 12, 2004 Is there anyway to test a pickup to see if it works other than going through the hassle of wiring it in a guitar? Anything I could do with an Ohm meter or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted August 12, 2004 Report Share Posted August 12, 2004 You can check for continuity - it won't work without it. You could also compare the resistance to the published specs on the pickup. Or you could hook it up to an amp and tap on it with a steel screwdriver to see if it makes noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefm Posted August 12, 2004 Report Share Posted August 12, 2004 There was a guy that had a strat with a swiming pool route and no pickguard....he fit the pickups into fiberglass rings with rubber bands and he had it set up so he could slide the pickups in and out without taking strings off....or even detuning....I forget where I saw it...cool idea though.... ***EDIT Actually....I remember another odd one I saw....the pickup routes went straight through the body and the pickups loaded from the back.... really odd but it's another solution for quick swapping... I don't think it had a pickguard it was screwed through the body pickguard style.... Anyway... again i can't remember where I saw them the second one was a custom model made for use and not testing...I forget who made it and for which artist....but it was meant to be played Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Bell Posted August 12, 2004 Report Share Posted August 12, 2004 I've got a guitar I routed all the way through to test my pickups. Once it is strung up I can change pickups by pushing them up through the back. I use croc clips to wire it up. I use tape to hold the pickup ring still whilst I test it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Jabsco Posted August 12, 2004 Report Share Posted August 12, 2004 A fella on MIMF made a guitar body out of cheapish wood to test pickups positions. He routed out to the correcto depth, all the way from (about an inch awayfrom) the neck, then to the bridge, and left some space for stibility, and set up guide rails, and tested the positions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjaguar13 Posted August 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2004 Or you could hook it up to an amp and tap on it with a steel screwdriver to see if it makes noise. That actually worked. My pickup is good. I would do the whole guitar thing, but I don't have a guitar I can turn into a pickup tester. Plus, it's not very often I have to test pickups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefm Posted August 14, 2004 Report Share Posted August 14, 2004 Yeah the one guy was winding PU's so he had a reason also good for finding sweet spots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPL Posted August 14, 2004 Report Share Posted August 14, 2004 It might be a bit primative but I just wire the pup to a cable and hold it over the strings of a guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted August 14, 2004 Report Share Posted August 14, 2004 It might be a bit primative but I just wire the pup to a cable and hold it over the strings of a guitar. Ditto that. You can do a lot with a set of aligator clips like that. I have a 1/4" jack mounted to a metal plate with some loose wires on it. I use that to clip the output of anything I'm testing (be it a circuit, a pickup, or anything) to something that I can plug a guitar cord into and that runs to the guitar amp. Lovecraft is also right about clipping the leads of the pickup to the ohmmeter and tapping the magnets with a screwdriver. That's really good for checking the phase of the pickup as well. Lovecraft, me, or someone should write up a page on playing with ohm meters and pickups to answer this question. This should go in the FAQ bin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted August 14, 2004 Report Share Posted August 14, 2004 i took an old cable and cut one end. added a couple of alligator clips to attach to the leads then i can do the screwdriver tap or hold it over the strings and get some idea of how it sounds. i've been trying to come up with a way to swap out pickups in different configurations and hadn't thought of routing all the way through. with a couple of plexiglass jigs to hold strat or tele or less paul or whatever you could pop one in and then try all the trick wiring you wanted. great idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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