a pickup on my '66 strat died

jimistone

jimistone

long standing member
Last night I go to my studio and get my old '66 strat out, plug it up and the neck pickup volume is extremely low compared to the other 2 pickups. I took the pick guard assembly off and sprayed contact cleaner in the pots (original pots), made sure all my connections were good.
No change.
So, I grabbed a cheapo Mexican strat pup out of my parts drawer and wired it up.....worked perfectly.

I haven't reflowed the solder on the pickup yet. I'm guessing the wire is broken somewhere.

Question:
in a vintage pickup winding which end is on the outside and which in on the inside.
is the black connection outside or the white.
If the wire is broken close to the outside of the winding I could perhaps unwind it enough to find the break and resolder
 
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Greg_L said:
Man, isn't pickup wire like human-hair thin? Can you just unwind one and re-solder? Seems dicey to me.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the main thing would be to not heat it enough to warp or burn the bobbin.
I have a small iron that I'm pretty confident I could make the solder joint with and not damage the bobbin.
That being said, if the wire is compromised deep within the winding it would have to be rewound. If the wire is compromised close to the outside I think I would just resolder the existing wire.

This really sucks because it was very sweet sounding pup. The wire on it is the deep maroon color...not the copper color. I don't know if a pickup winder would be able to get the correct wire.

I will probably get it rewound, but sending it to someone I don't know is dicey in itself.
 
jimistone said:
Last night I go to my studio and get my old '66 strat out, plug it up and the neck pickup volume is extremely low compared to the other 2 pickups. I took the pick guard assembly off and sprayed contact cleaner in the pots (original pots), made sure all my connections were good.
No change.
So, I grabbed a cheapo Mexican strat pup out of my parts drawer and wired it up.....worked perfectly.

I haven't reflowed the solder on the pickup yet. I'm guessing the wire is broken somewhere.

Question:
in a vintage pickup winding which end is on the outside and which in on the inside.
is the black connection outside or the white.
If the wire is broken close to the outside of the winding I could perhaps unwind it enough to find the break and resolder
Click to expand...

I dont know which end is which. I've done this with p 90s but not strats.

However, chances are it isn't broken. Breaks usually occur when a pickup has been fucked with. But if there is a break, it's usually close to the eyelet. You can see it with a good eye or a magnifying glass.

However, a broken wire= no sound and no reading on a meter. Low output is symptom of shorting
More common is the insulation has broken down and windings are shorting together.


In the case of it needing to be rewound, most good winders have the original burgundy wire.

Pretty sure it is 42 guage formvar.

lindy fralin could do this and is highly. Reliable.

Wolfetone pickup s is the same.
 
usually you attach a heat sink on the strand of wire, lite aluminum piece to capture the heat from going down the wire, use low wattage iron with correct solder for low wattage. im no expert, but that much is true.....yeah if you take some hi-powered solder gun you can lift the leads off the cb and turn the wires into a high current=heat load no problem.

on a 66 strat pup I have no experience! on electronic gear an soldering a little bit.
 
Don't even try to wind it yourself. Pickup winding is part science and part art.

It's a vintage strat fer crissake. Have it fixed right.

There's a magic to those old pickups that only a few can replicate.
Watching a video, and maybe even getting one of those stew mac winders ain't gonna cut it

Please, save the pup and have one of the pros do it.
 
RFR said:
Don't even try to wind it yourself. Pickup winding is part science and part art.

It's a vintage strat fer crissake. Have it fixed right.

There's a magic to those old pickups that only a few can replicate.
Watching a video, and maybe even getting one of those stew mac winders ain't gonna cut it

Please, save the pup and have one of the pros do it.
Click to expand...

I wasn't going to try and wind it myself, I was just going to unwind a few turns and it there was a beak just resold the wire.

I have emailed this guy:
TOM BRANTLEY REWINDS
As soon as I hear back from him about what kind of turn around time I'm looking at I will probably let him fix the pickup.
His website lists the price as $40 on most single coils.
very reasonable. I think lindy fralin charges $100 and lindys turn around time is months.
Tom Brantley was Lindys right hand man for a long time and he is endorsed by Getty Lee. from what I can gather on the internet. So, he should be very capable of fixing my vintage pickup
 
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Keep us updated on the Brantley service. The neck pickup on my 72 Tele started losing its volume, so I just threw a hot alnico pickup in, but I'd like to get the original fixed.
Does putting a multimeter on to measure resistance tell you anything when looking at a pickup?
 
mjbphotos said:
Keep us updated on the Brantley service. The neck pickup on my 72 Tele started losing its volume, so I just threw a hot alnico pickup in, but I'd like to get the original fixed.
Does putting a multimeter on to measure resistance tell you anything when looking at a pickup?
Click to expand...
Yeah, you can check a pickup with a multi meter. For me it's easier to just wire a known good pickup in. Check out the link for the Brantley aervice. It says that every effort will be made to repair the pickup and a rewind is the last resort.
I will report back with my dealings with Tom Brantley.
 
I talked to Tom on the phone today. He says to send him the pickup with a check for $52. That covers the rewinding and return shipping. His turnaround time is about 4 weeks he said.
 
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