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Humbucker Stopped Working


jasonn

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I have nearly finished my first build but my bridge humbucker has stopped working.

Both humbuckers are made by Schaller and have four wires - green, yellow, brown, white. Apparently, for standard humbucker green is hot, white and brown are joined together and yellow is ground.

I tested both humbuckers with a multimeter before putting them in and they were as expected but now the bridge one does not give a reading when using the meter across the green and yellow wires. It does give a reading across the brown and yellow.

Originally, both pickups worked correctly in the guitar which has a 3 way toggle switch, one volume and one tone.

Does anybody have any idea of what I am doing wrong or how I go about fixing the problem?

Many thanks!

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I have nearly finished my first build but my bridge humbucker has stopped working.

Both humbuckers are made by Schaller and have four wires - green, yellow, brown, white. Apparently, for standard humbucker green is hot, white and brown are joined together and yellow is ground.

I tested both humbuckers with a multimeter before putting them in and they were as expected but now the bridge one does not give a reading when using the meter across the green and yellow wires. It does give a reading across the brown and yellow.

Originally, both pickups worked correctly in the guitar which has a 3 way toggle switch, one volume and one tone.

Does anybody have any idea of what I am doing wrong or how I go about fixing the problem?

Many thanks!

Apparently you are not sure about the colour code of your pickup, in order with this I suggest the following.

First try to test each coil separately to be sure if the colours of each coil are right. Begin with the green wire and test this wire with the other ones to determine the other extreme of this coil. In this way you can know the right colour of each coil and if both are working well separately. If this is the case you can join the end of the first coil to the beginning of the other one and test again. If works well the problem isn´t the pickup, perhaps the pot or toggle switch. :D

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Apparently you are not sure about the colour code of your pickup, in order with this I suggest the following.

First try to test each coil separately to be sure if the colours of each coil are right. Begin with the green wire and test this wire with the other ones to determine the other extreme of this coil. In this way you can know the right colour of each coil and if both are working well separately. If this is the case you can join the end of the first coil to the beginning of the other one and test again. If works well the problem isn´t the pickup, perhaps the pot or toggle switch. :D

Thanks. I had not thought of it that way. I have done what you said and green + white is one coil, brown + yellow is the other coil. Both coils work separately for the neck pickup (which makes sense because it is working OK) but only brown + yellow work for the bridge pickup.

I guess this means that there is something wrong with one of the coils on the bridge pickup.

Any suggestions on how I go about fixing that coil?

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Apparently you are not sure about the colour code of your pickup, in order with this I suggest the following.

First try to test each coil separately to be sure if the colours of each coil are right. Begin with the green wire and test this wire with the other ones to determine the other extreme of this coil. In this way you can know the right colour of each coil and if both are working well separately. If this is the case you can join the end of the first coil to the beginning of the other one and test again. If works well the problem isn´t the pickup, perhaps the pot or toggle switch. :D

Thanks. I had not thought of it that way. I have done what you said and green + white is one coil, brown + yellow is the other coil. Both coils work separately for the neck pickup (which makes sense because it is working OK) but only brown + yellow work for the bridge pickup.

I guess this means that there is something wrong with one of the coils on the bridge pickup.

Any suggestions on how I go about fixing that coil?

You can try taking off the tape that protects the coils (please be very careful) and see if one wire is broken in the joint between the coil and the external wire. If the coil is broken inside, the only solution is replace the pickup or re-coil it (not easy for a first time...) :D

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You can try taking off the tape that protects the coils (please be very careful) and see if one wire is broken in the joint between the coil and the external wire. If the coil is broken inside, the only solution is replace the pickup or re-coil it (not easy for a first time...) :D

Thanks. I tried this but made a mess of it by pulling off loads of the thin coil wire with the tape. I guess it is now easier for me to just buy a new pickup.

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Thanks. I tried this but made a mess of it by pulling off loads of the thin coil wire with the tape. I guess it is now easier for me to just buy a new pickup.

Yeah, you probably ruined that pickup. :D

You can get a roll of 42 gauge wire for $30 from Stewmac and you can rewind that pickup or coil. It's a lot cheaper and you'll learn a lot in the process.

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