Pickup Problems

tayball89 · April 2nd, 2005, 02:08 AM

I have a 50th Anniversary '96 American "Deluxe Plus" Tele w/ 3 lace sensor pickups and a mini toggle switch which turns on the bridge pickup when the pickup selector switch is in the first 2 positions

anyway... the middle pickup has not worked at all since i've owned it and I was hoping it was just a wiring problem... but i opened the sucker up and all the wires seem to be connected like they are supposed to (its hard to see the connections on the actual pickup, the wires go up inside the metal cover for the pickup and you can't see where they attach, however, they aren't loose)... the 3 other wires seem to be fine... 1 goes to the pickup selector switch and two go to the main volume pot and all seem to be connected well

could i have a bad pickup here that needs to be replaced? or could there be another problem?..... and if i do need to replace the pickup, where would i find one of these?

it looks about the size of a strat pickup (maybe a little smaller), its bigger than the neck pickup and a tad smaller than the bridge pickup... and the cover on it is completely chrome... is this just a normal strat lace sensor pickup? or is there a special tele one i need to find that fits the deluxe plus?

lenny · April 2nd, 2005, 03:55 AM

if it's under warantee still i'd have it back where i got it lickety split if it wasnt something simple

chickenpicker · April 2nd, 2005, 06:39 AM

Chancs are it's a mechanical problem. I'd remove the toggle switch, and check its resistance with a multimeter. In one position, the resistance should be practically zero ohms; in the other, practically infinite.

If there are other switches, they could be checked at the same time.

tayball89 · April 2nd, 2005, 02:04 PM

Can't take it back to where I got it because I bought the guitar on ebay, but exactly how would i test this thing with a multimeter or whatever its called? i'm not very good with electrical problems and stuff so some of the terminology confuses me

chickenpicker · April 3rd, 2005, 06:03 PM

If in doubt, take the guitar to someone who knows what they're doing.

As for testing pickups, I'm always reluctant to test them with a multimeter, as I don't like the idea of sending a current into the pickup.

If I need to test a pickup, I take it off the guitar, solder its wires direct to a jack socket, then connect to an amp (at a low volume). Then I strike a tuning fork and pass it over the pickup. If the pickup's ok, the sound of the tuning fork will be picked up. If it's dead, no sound.

April 2nd, 2005, 02:08 AM	#1 (permalink)
tayball89 TDPRI Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: nasvhille, tn Posts: 30	Pickup Problems I have a 50th Anniversary '96 American "Deluxe Plus" Tele w/ 3 lace sensor pickups and a mini toggle switch which turns on the bridge pickup when the pickup selector switch is in the first 2 positions anyway... the middle pickup has not worked at all since i've owned it and I was hoping it was just a wiring problem... but i opened the sucker up and all the wires seem to be connected like they are supposed to (its hard to see the connections on the actual pickup, the wires go up inside the metal cover for the pickup and you can't see where they attach, however, they aren't loose)... the 3 other wires seem to be fine... 1 goes to the pickup selector switch and two go to the main volume pot and all seem to be connected well could i have a bad pickup here that needs to be replaced? or could there be another problem?..... and if i do need to replace the pickup, where would i find one of these? it looks about the size of a strat pickup (maybe a little smaller), its bigger than the neck pickup and a tad smaller than the bridge pickup... and the cover on it is completely chrome... is this just a normal strat lace sensor pickup? or is there a special tele one i need to find that fits the deluxe plus? __________________ -Tay

April 2nd, 2005, 02:04 PM	#4 (permalink)
tayball89 TDPRI Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: nasvhille, tn Posts: 30	Can't take it back to where I got it because I bought the guitar on ebay, but exactly how would i test this thing with a multimeter or whatever its called? i'm not very good with electrical problems and stuff so some of the terminology confuses me __________________ -Tay

April 3rd, 2005, 06:03 PM	#5 (permalink)
chickenpicker Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: UK Posts: 3,060 14 Photos	How to test things If in doubt, take the guitar to someone who knows what they're doing. As for testing pickups, I'm always reluctant to test them with a multimeter, as I don't like the idea of sending a current into the pickup. If I need to test a pickup, I take it off the guitar, solder its wires direct to a jack socket, then connect to an amp (at a low volume). Then I strike a tuning fork and pass it over the pickup. If the pickup's ok, the sound of the tuning fork will be picked up. If it's dead, no sound.

April 2nd, 2005, 03:55 AM	#2 (permalink)
lenny Banned Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: New Haven, CT. USA Posts: 3,219	if it's under warantee still i'd have it back where i got it lickety split if it wasnt something simple

April 2nd, 2005, 06:39 AM	#3 (permalink)
chickenpicker Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: UK Posts: 3,060 14 Photos	Chancs are it's a mechanical problem. I'd remove the toggle switch, and check its resistance with a multimeter. In one position, the resistance should be practically zero ohms; in the other, practically infinite. If there are other switches, they could be checked at the same time.