GETWIRED
Peeling Pickups, Pt. 2
COIL WIRE LOOSE END
Last month we presented a couple of scenarios where a pickup’s coil wire was broken,
and where peeling the coil – removing some
of its wraps – could be an easy fix. We covered repairing the first problem, where the
coil wire was broken directly where it attaches to the pickup’s white lead. This month
we’ll address the second scenario, where the
wire is broken somewhere on the coil itself.
Most damage of this type is confined to the
coil’s outer wraps. Typically, something has
come into contact with the coil, like a screwdriver or a pair of pliers, and one or more of
the coil’s outer wraps have been broken. The
first step in repairing this problem involves
removing the white lead from the pickup,
and then removing the coil wire where it
wraps through the eyelet several times.
Finally, remove any remaining solder from
the eyelet so you end up with something like
the first illustration above:
Now, grab the loose end of the coil wire, and
start peeling. You’ll pull the wire straight off
the top of the coil, and as you peel the wire
you’ll see it ripping through the wax coating
on the coil, which will give you a visual indicator of where the wraps are coming off. If
you remove a lot of wraps before you get to
the break, you’ll end up with a sizeable handful of wire. Even though it might seem like a
lot, it’s really only a very small percentage of
the wire that’s on the coil.
You’ll know you’ve reached the break when
the wire comes loose in your hand, free from
the coil. Find the other end of the wire, and
unwrap a couple more turns. This may be a
little tricky – finding the end of the wire can
sometimes be like looking for the end of a
roll of tape. If you find that it’s difficult to
find the end of the wire, you can use a soft
toothbrush to gently brush the wire in the
vicinity of the break. Brush in the direction
that the wire was coming off of the coil – this
will usually allow you to find the wire’s end
without too much trouble.
Don’t assume that there aren’t additional
breaks – you’ll need to confirm that this
is the case. You should have unwrapped a
couple of additional turns of wire in the last
paragraph, so now remove the insulation
at the end of this section of wire by pulling
it between your finger and a piece of fine
sandpaper (something like 600 grit). A few
pulls should remove the insulation, and you
can then use your multimeter to test for
continuity between this wire end and the
pickup’s black lead.
If you read a DC resistance number other
than infinity you should be in good shape. If
you read infinity, that means there are more
breaks. In that case, start peeling, repeating
the steps above until you read a meaningful
DC resistance number between the coil wire
and the black lead, which will be somewhere
between 4.5K and 9K ohms, depending on
the pickup.
Now that you’ve removed the “broken”
wire and have confirmed that there are no
more breaks, continue to peel the coil until
the wire wraps are peeling off next to the
pickup’s bottom flatwork. You’re going to
attach the wire back to the empty eyelet, but
BROKEN COIL WIRE
(GROUND CONNECTION)
you don’t want it coming off of the middle
of the coil, as it will surely be snagged when
you install the pickup’s cover.
Now discard the peeled wire, with the
exception of the last couple of inches, and
remove the insulation from this section. If
you break the wire in the process, peel off
another wrap and try again. Now wrap the
end of the wire through the eyelet several
times, pulling it taut each time, insert the
white pickup lead, and solder it into place.
Voilà! Another pickup rescued from the scrap
heap. See you next month!
George Ellison
Founder, Acme Guitar Works
acmeguitarworks.com
george@acmeguitarworks.com
302-836-5301
