[nizz]

So a trick I learned a long time ago is to put an ohm meter on the end of the guitar cable and go thru the toggle to learn the ohm rating for the pickups with volume maxed out - helpful in troubleshooting etc.  You will see like 17k, 5k, 5k, 5k, 13k on a 5 way with decently hot pickups that auto split in 2 and 4 and a single in middle.

So I have an older guitar HSH with a 5 way and Paf pro, unknown single, paf pro.  When I do the ohm trick, bridge shows 515k, then 4k, 5k, 4k, and then 512k at neck.  What in the world?  I went through all other gutiars and they give PROPER readings, ie, the kohm rating of their installed pickups.

Why would this guitar show 500k+ at neck and bridge, isntead of the 8-10k they should report for PAF's??

[darkbluemurder]

Assuming that the guitar has healthy output in positions 1 and 5, the only reason for such readings would be that a resistance of about 500k or so is in line between the point where the pickup is connected and the tip connection of the cable. Could be resistors or pots - how many volume controls does this guitar have - one master or one for each humbucker?

A high resolution picture of the wiring cavity would also help.

Cheers Stephan

[nizz]

It is just a VOL/TONE setup but the TONE pot is out of the chain.  I ordered a new 5 way CRL USA just to be safe but will look later to see if there is a whacky resistor wired somewhere.  prior owner defiled the electronics and really did some goofy sh*t.

[nizz]

OK I am SERIOUSLY baffled right now.

I have here 2 pink and faded PAF PRO's from my 1998 JEM Floral.

I have removed the pickups from the guitar and have them on my bench. 

I re-cut the leads, nice and clean.  Green/bare soldered together, white/black soldered together and the red lead by itself.

Bridge pickup.  I put my black probe to the green/bare ground and red probe to the red pickup wire. NOTHING ON METER.  Touching black/white series link I get instant meter read of 4.64k ohm.
Neck pickup.  Same as above, touching red pickup wire = NOTHING ON METER.  black/white series link, instant meter reading of 4.38k

I thought, ok maybe my meter is being weird.  I grabbed a second meter, exactly same results.

Then I thought, hmm. let me try a totally different pickup.  Grabbed a random Duncan I had laying about, instant meter read of 16K.

These pickups were working in the guitar, but this all started with the super weird 515K reading that started this thread.  While on the bench I plugged a guitar cable into my crappy bench amp, held each pickup ground to the sleeve and red to tip and tapped the pickups with screwdriver, loud and full sound comes out of each one, like how a full normal pickup would sound when testing.

How are these pickups WORKING but not giving ANY READING other than the series link?  what in the WORLD??

[darkbluemurder]

Assuming that the black/white connection is well soldered (I would check that as well) it seems like one of the coils in each pickup has problems (which is rare btw). Do the following:

Measure between red and black/white. If you get a reading around 5k the coil is fine. If you get no reading, there is the problem.
Repeat the same procedure with black/white and green. Again if you get a reading around 5k the coil is fine. In case you get good readings from both coils, the measurement between red and green should be around 10k.

If you get no reading from a coil when measuring at the end of the cable, it is time to check whether the pickup cable has problems or if a connection at the coils is faulty. Be very careful with the next steps as one wrong move could destroy the pickup so I recommend attempting this only if you feel you do not have anything to lose with the pickups as they are right now (btw I learned a lot by applying this attitude:)).

1. Very carefully remove the black tape around the pickup.
2. Check where the leads coming out of the coils are attached to the pickup cable. Very often you have to remove the tape isolating the connections. Then do the same measurements there and see if you get good readings at the pickup directly. If so, check the connections to the pickup cable and resolder if necessary. If you get good readings at the other end of the pickup cable now, isolate the connections and reassemble everything. If you still get good readings at the pickup but bad readings at the other end of the cable, the cable must be replaced.
3. If you do not get good readings directly at the pickup, the pickup (or at least one of the coils) is faulty. If you have a faulty coil in each pickup you could assemble the two good ones for a fully functioning pickup or get the pickups rewound.

Once again, this operation is not for the faint hearted, and I will not take on any responsibility for anything.

Good luck,
Stephan

[nizz]

Yes, black/white is very well soldered, as is green and bare.  All very, very clean newly stripped back, rosin core solder, flux, all that.  I have soldered maybe 600 pickups in my life so yes, I'm confident they are wired right.  =)

Measuring RED to BLACK AND WHITE goes banana's on meter.  6.5 MEGA OHM reading and climbs up...  super funky.

black/white to green instant read of 4.3k.

measuring between red and green/bare it is in the MEGA OHMS and just keeps climbing up , up , up.

I VERY CAREFULLY with the neck humbucker removed the tape around the coil that the red wire comes from and I can see RED WIRE goes UNDER the bobbin.  the BLACK wire I can actually see the MICRO THIN human hair strand wrapped around the then much thicker white wire which turns into black.  IF it was the BLACK wire that had the issue I'm sure I could fix it, but the RED WIRE going under the bobbin I cannot see the START of that wire as plainal as I can see whre the BLACk wire is.

I have to assume the RED WIRE is what STARTS the wind, going under the bobbin as it is, and then BLACK wire is that same wire that stops the winding?  The red wire giving only this crazy MEGA OHM reading and still working is becasue the wire itself is just making so much contact with all of the wire and wingdings that wrap around that it is still able to produce sound?  Clearly there has to be a break somewhere in there, but yet it is able to produce sound when I take the red lead as hot out so the lead that is the red wire itself is still working but just nto FULLY CONNECTED all the way through its winding?  That is the only thing that makes any sense to me, logically.

100% for certain BOTH of these pickups have OPEN RESISTANCE or an OPEN COIL at the red wire.  As totally impossible as it seems, to have TWO pickups like in this in same guitar, this is absolutely what is going on.  There is no other explanation.

Am I looking at sending these off for a REWIND?  If so, who do you trust and recommend that won't cost me an arm and a leg.  Seeing as used pickups are anywhere int he $30 to $50 range not sure if it makes sense to spend a lot of money on rewinds.  Not like these are 1950's mega rare dealio's.

thanks so much

[darkbluemurder]

Again, your understanding is correct. What sometimes happens is that the wire insulation gets brittle over time, causing shorts in the windings but that would give you a different reading on the meter.

To get at the red wire connection you would have to unscrew the coil and lift it up from the base plate - more scary work. I have never done that to DiMarzios but to Seymour Duncans and other pickups when creating hybrid pickups. With Duncans and any other Gibson style humbuckers unscrewing the coils is fairly easy but sometimes - especially when they were potted aftermarket - they stick to the base plate.

Rewinds in general are not economical at all, unless you have a valuable vintage piece. Buying used or going for a replacement is almost always cheaper.

Cheers Stephan

[nizz]

Stephan - Thanks for the feedback and assistance.  I won't be trying to get at the red wire, it's just in way too compromising of a position.  Had it been the black wire, I am confident I could have unraveled to find break and re-attached, but that red wire being under the bobbin and being the start or the wire with no clear sight into it without even further pickup disassembly - who knows how far into the wind it has gone.  Could even be attached still (has to be since signal comes out) but likely as you say some of the insulation has worn and it is making contact elsewhere or is broken somewhere else deep within the coil and I'm getting sound due to all of the contact of wire, overall.

Truly a mind blowingly baffling situation that BOTH pickups have a red/black coil issue - never seen anything quite like it  I now need to determine $45 per coil rewind is worth it...  They are factory PAF PRO from a 1998 Ibanez in the pink color.