Diagnosing a dead pickup

Well, I used to love my Squier CV 50. Today I plugged 'er in to check out some tunes I'm working on and the bridge pickup is silent in both the middle and rear switch positions. What's the best set of steps for hunting down the problem? Should I be thinking pickup? Switch? Neutrino bombardment? Somebody done put a spell on me, maybe?

(Had to replace the bridge pickup on the CV thinline already, as it was running about 1/2 volume, but at least it wasn't entirely dead...)

You could lift the control plate up and just jumper the bridge lead to the output ( wire on the vol. pot.) and see what happens. May be the switch. Do you have a meter to take a DC resistance reading ??


Which CV 50 is it.

Well, I used to love my Squier CV 50. Today I plugged 'er in to check out some tunes I'm working on and the bridge pickup is silent in both the middle and rear switch positions. What's the best set of steps for hunting down the problem? Should I be thinking pickup? Switch? Neutrino bombardment? Somebody done put a spell on me, maybe?

(Had to replace the bridge pickup on the CV thinline already, as it was running about 1/2 volume, but at least it wasn't entirely dead...)

If you've checked out all of the connections like sjtalon suggests it may be that you have a broken coil. The 1/2 volume problem you had on the bridge pickup of your TL I had with the neck pickup on my CVC. That was caused by a broken coil wire.

It's tough to get Fender to admit it but they have had some periodic problems with those pickups. You're not the only one who has posted about this issue. Does the CV 50's have the same Alnico V's as the TL?

You could lift the control plate up and just jumper the bridge lead to the output ( wire on the vol. pot.) and see what happens. May be the switch. Do you have a meter to take a DC resistance reading ??


Which CV 50 is it.

It's a "Blonde." Yes, I have a multimeter that I use (rarely, nowadays) for work, to check voltages on motherboards.

I'll get a wiring diagram and try hotwiring the bridge--> output wire as you suggest. I've never gone further into the electronics on a guitar than replacing a pickup, so this is all new to me.

Thank you muchly for your suggestions!

If you've checked out all of the connections like sjtalon suggests it may be that you have a broken coil. The 1/2 volume problem you had on the bridge pickup of your TL I had with the neck pickup on my CVC. That was caused by a broken coil wire.

It's tough to get Fender to admit it but they have had some periodic problems with those pickups. You're not the only one who has posted about this issue. Does the CV 50's have the same Alnico V's as the TL?

They're Alnico III's. The BSB model comes with V's, as did the Thinline I replaced the bridge pickup on. I'm really tempted to just replace all the electronics and wiring at this point. This is what I get for going the inexpensive route, I guess-- I have to mod and/or replace everything but the body and neck to make them decent guitars. :oops:

They're Alnico III's. The BSB model comes with V's, as did the Thinline I replaced the bridge pickup on. I'm really tempted to just replace all the electronics and wiring at this point. This is what I get for going the inexpensive route, I guess-- I have to mod and/or replace everything but the body and neck to make them decent guitars. :oops:

I have done that but just remember your going to add about $200-250 to the cost of the guitar that you will not recoup in the near future. If you aren't going to sell it then who cares, make it like you like. I did

unscrew the control plate, flip over, unsolder both bridge pup leads (the hot lead to the switch and the ground lead on the back of one of the pots).

turn on an amp, plug in a cord and with the fingers of one hand just hold the pup's ground lead to make contact with the shaft of the plug whilst touching the pup's hot lead to the tip of the plug.

noise should occur. if it doesn't, there's a open in the pickup, most likely the coil. it can be rewound or replaced.

by and large, this is a good guitar that's worthy of new electronics - IF need be. easy to swap out, not at all expensive, and surely not rocket science.

this topic post is better suited to the pickup forum.

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""This is what I get for going the inexpensive route, I guess""

That had nothing to do with it. I had the same thing happen to my Highway 1 Strat(alnico 3s). The pickup went to half volume. I just changed the pickup, as everything else checked out OK.

the material market value of any guitar has nothing to do with its absolute, subjective functional value.

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