Neck Pickup significantly quieter than bridge

[thatirishguy99]

Noticed that the neck pickup on my 92 american standard telecaster was significantly lower in volume compared to the bridge. Checked the resistance of each pickup and the neck is measuring around 3k ohms whilst the bridge is around 7k.
Is this normal? if not, how can I troubleshoot it?

 

[thatirishguy99]

This is the wiring, not sure what to look for.

 

[mandoloony]

The resistance of the pickups by itself tells you very little. Are they original to the guitar? Did you measure them at the leads or somewhere else? And what's with the stacked pot?

 

[thatirishguy99]

The resistance of the pickups by itself tells you very little. Are they original to the guitar? Did you measure them at the leads or somewhere else? And what's with the stacked pot?

Everything is original apart from the pickguard, measured the resistance at the lead and the stacked pot is the original tbx pot

 

[mandoloony]

3K is on the low side for a Tele pickup, and while there's usually some discrepancy between neck and bridge, 3:7 is quite a big one. It's possible there's a short in the neck coil, which would explain both the low volume and low resistance. Or, they could just have been wound that way deliberately. I don't know Fender pickups well enough to say.

I assume you've tried to balance them by adjusting the heights?

 

[Boreas]

Welcome aboard!

Is this a new development?

I always start by cleaning the switch with contact cleaner. Then I inspect everything for loose/cold solder joints - including at the pickup. Then re-test. If the reading on the neck pickup stays consistently low, it is likely faulty.

 

[thatirishguy99]

3K is on the low side for a Tele pickup, and while there's usually some discrepancy between neck and bridge, 3:7 is quite a big one. It's possible there's a short in the neck coil, which would explain both the low volume and low resistance. Or, they could just have been wound that way deliberately. I don't know Fender pickups well enough to say.

I assume you've tried to balance them by adjusting the heights?

Welcome aboard!

Is this a new development?

I always start by cleaning the switch with contact cleaner. Then I inspect everything for loose/cold solder joints - including at the pickup. Then re-test. If the reading on the neck pickup stays consistently low, it is likely faulty.

Strangest thing happened, didn't touch anything, just rescrewed the plate back in and now it's reading at 7k ohms.
This is wild

 

[red57strat]

Strangest thing happened, didn't touch anything, just rescrewed the plate back in and now it's reading at 7k ohms.
This is wild

Some of those solder connections look pretty bad- especially the large blob of solder on the neck pickup connection on the switch. The ground for the neck pickup doesn't look great either. I'd improve those joints then wiggle wires around while you have a meter on the pickup and improve any olther bad solder joints.

 

[thatirishguy99]

Some of those solder connections look pretty bad- especially the large blob of solder on the neck pickup connection on the switch. The ground for the neck pickup doesn't look great either. I'd improve those joints then wiggle wires around while you have a meter on the pickup and improve any olther bad solder joints.

Thanks for the advice, will definitely do that. Wasn't sure what to be looking for when it comes to the wires!

 

[Boreas]

Thanks for the advice, will definitely do that. Wasn't sure what to be looking for when it comes to the wires!

Clean the switch as well!

 

[Korken]

I was a couple of years without playing my Tele AVRI 52 (dealing with my strato and a new toy, a G&L ASAT S, ) and this week I wanted its sound for an arrangement I am working on. With consternation I realized that the neck pick up now sounds very quiet and sound almost disappears when the tone knob is rolled into the dark tone. I cleaned the pots and switch with contact cleaner, without success.

Now I think I will check the soldering and resistance. I will post any news here if I find something new. Maybe it can help others with same problem.

 

[Korken]

(Sorry, edited this duplicated post).

 

[Supertwang]

Noticed that the neck pickup on my 92 american standard telecaster was significantly lower in volume compared to the bridge. Checked the resistance of each pickup and the neck is measuring around 3k ohms whilst the bridge is around 7k.
Is this normal? if not, how can I troubleshoot it?

Hey hey hey,...Fender had a whole bunch of faulty neck pickups in the '90's. Nineties Teles are kinda known for their weak neck pickups. I have an example too. I think it was caused by bad wire insulation in the pickups coil.

 

[Trenchant63]

New pots, new switch - resolder and try again. Dimarzio and others sell pre-wired control plates.

 

[Antoon]

3k is probably with the two pickups parallel ( switch in middle position). Otherwise there is probably a short somewhere. If the bridge pu is 7k awg 42 wire and the neck is 7k awg 43, the bridge pu would be a good deal hotter/louder.

 

[Korken]

3k is probably with the two pickups parallel ( switch in middle position).

Please do consider that this thread is one year old and maybe OP already solved his problem. I posted here because my issue is the same or very similar and wanted to add any news if I find the solution. Today I didn’t try, because I was calibrating a guitar for a friend (by the way Ibanez AZES31 strat, nice guitar I must say).

 

[yegbert]

Start a new thread, to avoid zombie threads with someone suggesting how to fix someone else’s dated problem. Some of us read from the list of new replies, not noticing the date of the earlier part of the thread, and end up posting yet another follow up to a zombie before we notice that the original post was old.

 

[Korken]

Start a new thread, to avoid zombie threads with someone suggesting how to fix someone else’s dated problem…

OK. I thought is was better to use a thread with very similar issue, to keep things documented together. But if it is better to start a new thread, I will do it when I find solution to my issue.

Have a good Sunday!