can an electric guitar pickup "fail"?

Zwiebelchen said:
Have you tried probing the pickup connector "blades" and the output jack?
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How do I do that? Just test the pickup itself without it being plugged in to anything would give a reading?

I really know nothing about actual electronics!!
 
Chris@AxeFxTutorials said:
How do I do that? Just test the pickup itself without it being plugged in to anything would give a reading?

I really know nothing about actual electronics!!
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current will flow through the pickup output wires when you strum the strings

you can also measure the resistance to see if the windings are intact (I'm guessing unless the pickup was removed, mishandled or the guitar took a severe jolt, the pickup and windings are okay and it something else in the circuit that is "open".)
 
laughyouraxeoff said:
A friend of mine who lives in Seattle will only take his guitars to Mike Lull, and I can Confirm from the years he's talked about Mike on how good he is. What pisses me off is I live close to Chicago, and I can't find a damn Legendary Luthier to the stars, if anyone knows of one please share, I don't mind paying extra. Just hate being in situations like Chris where we have to get the guitar perfect the first time or were basically shit out of luck, not a cool feeling. I hope you get it worked out Chris!!!!
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Check out Tim Schroeder. He makes all the amps for Wilco, the DB7, and has been doing a lot of touring pros guitars for years. He was in a shop by Make N Music on Hubbard in Chicago. Looks line he moved to Northbrook. Stellar work, refret on friends Strat was amazing. He's not cheap, and usually very busy. Worth checking out if you want the best in the area.
http://schroederamplification.com/p/repair-and-modification


Sent from my iPhone
 
Most of the times it's the switch. Parts that don't move and don't have to handle high voltage don't break, why should they. Sometimes you can prove the switch by moving it sidewards a bit or touch the switch here and there while you are playing.

To check pups in an active guitar a pro would desolder someone parts, so he can messure the resistance. As long as a pup is connected to the circuit, you can not messure the pup alone, you would get the resistance of the pup and the circuit alltogether and that's not gonna tell you something.
 
Guitar arrived, and they did fix all of the issues that it had prior to going in. WHen I was checking over the guitar It did have some buzzing issues, I adjust the Truss rod "as the neck was flat" and put some relief in the neck. So the open string buzzed stopped. Cali is much warmer than here so One would expect the neck to shift. Several hours later the Buzzing has reduced to a manageable level on fretted notes too haha.

If you can get Ernie Ball to help you with your's Chris you will be happy as they at least were able to deal with the list of issues that effect it to begin with.
 
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I am pretty sure that the Majesty uses the same switching system as the Reflex which means that it's an electronic switching system and the signal is not routed through the switch, but through the board. You can see where the two pickups are feeding the board in the picture. I would figure out which set of leads is coming from the pickup in question, desolder it and measure each coil individually. Actually I'd probably resolder those joints first to see if it is a bad solder joint and then desolder and measure if it didn't fix it.

The switch would be completely non-functional if it went bad.
 
i've been so busy lately with back to back gigs and computer consultations. i finally got some real sleep and have not much to do today.

that clarity of time gave me a great idea! since the pickups have quick-clips or whatever for installation... why don't i just swap the bridge and neck pickups!! DUH!

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so i did that and the low volume problem stayed with the Bridge pickup when it was placed in the Neck position. this HAS to mean the problem is in the pickup itself.

but seriously... if all guitars and pickups were designed like this i would buy so many pickups and try them out!

anyway, does my theory sound right guys?
 
Yeah it's definitely the pickup then. Which is weird. I never heard of faulty pickups before. The connector thingies are awesome, though. I agree with you that this should be the standard of future guitars.

So yeah, don't bother with support (since you bought it second hand anyway) and just get a new pickup.

Chris@AxeFxTutorials said:
How do I do that? Just test the pickup itself without it being plugged in to anything would give a reading?
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Just for my inner OCD, here's the reply to that even though you already found the problem:

Some multimeters have a continuity check, resulting in a loud beep if two things are electrically connected. This is helpful if, for instance, you are building a circuit and connecting wires or soldering; the beep indicates everything is connected and nothing has come loose. You can also use it to make sure two things are not connected, to help prevent short circuits. So yeah, if you use one probe on the pickup connection and one on the output jack, it should make a beep. If it doesn't, there's a loose contact.
 
Or you could just use the OHM setting and check the terminals like Zwiebelzen said if you don't have a continuity test, and if there's a connection the value will be zero ... I've tested tons of wires that way with a $10 multimeter ..

:)

good luck man ..

for future reference and maintenance I highly recommend " Dan Erlewines Guitar Repair Book "
Guitar Player Repair Guide | stewmac.com

it's a bible !! no guitarplayer should be without one

not affiliated ..

good luck Chris
and have a good one
 
Dumb question, is there any difference if you run in stereo mode vs mono mode?

The block wiring diagram on the Music Man site shows both neck and bridge pickups running to pickup switch then to tone control then to the mag volume & active preamp block then to the mode switch mixed with the piezo volume and active preamp. I don't see how anything downstream of the pickup switch would affect just one pickup but you never know. I would start with the pickup switch and then the pickup itself.

Btw, just because the joints all look solid doesn't mean it's a good joint. A couple of years ago I had a guitar where the pickup just went dead out of nowhere. I checked all the joints and everything looked okay. I took it to my local tech and he checked everything and couldn't find anything obvious. He ended up re soldering all the joints and all was good. I asked him about this (he's been a tech and custom builder for 30 some years) and just shrugged and said sometimes solder joints, if they're not done right will work for a while and then just fail due to temperature, humidity, age, getting bumped or other cosmic circumstances. His solution was always it's easier to re solder everything rather than try to track down the one joint that's a problem, and it always worked. Mind you that's for a guitar with a lot simpler wiring than this has. Man, I can't believe the amount of wiring in there.

If you can get to the selector switch, somewhere in that mass of wiring, I would try re soldering those first. If that doesn't work I would disconnect the pickup and check the impedance which will tell you if it's okay or not.

Sorry if I'm repeating suggestions or stating the obvious. Just trying to help as I can sympathize with your frustrations.

Hope you find a quick and easy solution.
 
Glad you got it sorted out Chris. :encouragement: Unusual for a PU to go in a relatively newer guitar.
 
i forgot to add:

so the bridge pickup died at that certain gig. i was going through my axe-fx ii, x32 mixer, then to the house mixer, etc. just like always.

my duo partner actually had his NECK PICKUP GO OUT after playing that gig! wtf?! he had his own pedal board with its own setup out to the house mixer, also just like always. he has a custom built strat SSS setup...

what are the fkn chances that my bridge pickup dies and his neck pickup dies during/after the same gig...?

crazy man. crazy.
 
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Chris@AxeFxTutorials said:
i forgot to add:

so the bridge pickup died at that certain gig. i was going through my axe-fx ii, x32 mixer, then to the house mixer, etc. just like always.

my duo partner actually had his NECK PICKUP GO OUT after playing that gig! wtf?! he had his own pedal board with its own setup out to the house mixer, also just like always. he has a custom built strat SSS setup...

what are the fkn chances that my bridge pickup dies and his neck pickup dies during/after the same gig...?

crazy man. crazy.
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That is nuts man, I would say the odds are even higher than winning the lottery!!!! Never have I seen or heard of both going out yikes.
 
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