Pickup Rewiring

[vicarious484]

Hi all,

I've got a Dimarzio pickup which has been mistreated somewhat. I have determined that the hot output wire is somehow severed and the coil spliting wires show resistance intermittently when i move the entire lead wire back and forth. I unwrapped the tape around the pickup and noticed there are a few turns of wire. Do you think it is feasible that I could rewire the leads further inside the pickup with new wire, creating a bypass of the possible broken area? If so, what gauge wire could I use? Could I use wire that used to connect pots to switches? Thanks very much,

Glen

[Doeringer]

I unwrapped the tape around the pickup and noticed there are a few turns of wire.

What does this mean?

There are too many variables to what you are asking. The basic answer is yes you can fix the break but if you unwind much of the wire, you will change the characteristics of the pup.

[vicarious484]

I unwrapped the tape around the pickup and noticed there are a few turns of wire.

What does this mean?

There are too many variables to what you are asking. The basic answer is yes you can fix the break but if you unwind much of the wire, you will change the characteristics of the pup.

You're right my post may sound a little confusing. What I meant was that there are a few turns of lead wire (the green, white, black, and red) around the pickup before it leaves the pickup. When I wiggle the lead wires (surrounded by black insulation and outside the pickup) I get mixed readings from a multitester. So, I think there is a break at some point where the lead wires are exiting the baseplate of the pickup. I was curious if it could work if I cut the lead behind the "break" in the lead wires and connect fresh, good wire to lead to the controls. I wouldn't be unwinding the thin copper wire at all. But I think you have given me enough confidence that it will work if that is the culprit. Thanks for your help!

[Southpa]

Intermittant resistance is a good sign that there is a broken winding(s) somewhere. As the winding is bare copper wire there is still some electrical "continuity" but actual current flow through the wire stops at that break. See if you can inspect further by gently pulling the lead wires off the core to look at the coil. If the break really IS in one of the lead wires, ie. under the insulation, then you could cut the culprit and solder it back with a little shrink wrap to cover. Check for continuity on each lead wire from where it leaves the coil to its end. If you get full stable resistance readings then the problem lies in the coil winding itself. The pickup is toast and has to be rewound OR you could strip off the coil down to where its broken and then attach the lead wires again resulting in a functional pickup but with less output potential.

I had the same thing happen to one of my Golden Age overwound hb's, intermittent contact, thought it was the selector switch for a while but finally ruled that out when I tried a different pickup. Pulled off the tape and lo and behold....busted windings.