Lindy Fralin Pickups

[rymac]

I have a new set of Lindy Fralin Blues Special pickups.
I measured the neck pickup with at 5.99K.
The Fralin website states the approximate reading is 6.2K.
Wondering if this new pickup is right or not??

[Steve A.]

I have a new set of Lindy Fralin Blues Special pickups.
I measured the neck pickup with at 5.99K.
The Fralin website states the approximate reading is 6.2K.
Wondering if this new pickup is right or not??

That looks like it might be about 3% too low. Are you measuring this with bare leads or installed in the guitar (since that would lower the readings). If it actually is 3% low I'd contact Lindy Fralin. As I recall the sets I've gotten from him were progressive, with the DC resistance increasing as you move from the neck to the bridge.

With the neck pickup 3% underwound, I think that you would get a slightly cleaner sound than usual from the Blues Specials. Which might be what you want... or not!

Good luck (and I hope that you enjoy your new pickups- I think that they are great!)

Steve Ahola

[rymac]

I've measured my pickups again uninstalled.
Neck 5.96K
Middle 6.07K
Bridge 6.95K

Fralin website for Blues Specials. Approximate Ohm Readings:
Neck - 6.2 K
Reverse Middle - 6.2 K
Bridge - 7.2 K

The site does say approximate readings.
The neck does look to be off.
Opinions??

[Robert M. Martinelli]

Hi,
well, before contacting them I would make myself sure the measuring instrument I use is accurate enough to give precise readings....do you have some high-precision resistors ( 1% tolerance or better ) or reference ones ( 0,25% tolerance or better ) to check if your DMM is ok within the range of your interest?( supposedly under 20KOhms ).

You should also be aware that DC resistance is only a rough indicator of a pickup's character, the main factor being its inductance.

A slightly lower DC resistance ( 3% as per your statement ) would mean inductance is approximately 6% off, the resonant peak would be somewhat higher and the "Q" factor slightly better, making the pickup more focused on the resonant peak ( "thinner" bandwidth ), but these changes are probably too little for the human hearing to be noticed.

Hope this helps

Best regards

Bob

[Steve A.]

I've measured my pickups again uninstalled.
Neck 5.96K
Middle 6.07K
Bridge 6.95K

Fralin website for Blues Specials. Approximate Ohm Readings:
Neck - 6.2 K
Reverse Middle - 6.2 K
Bridge - 7.2 K

The site does say approximate readings.
The neck does look to be off.
Opinions??

That looks about right to me for a calibrated set. When he winds them I believe that there is some variation, and yours may be a little bit on the low side but they should still work fine.

[rymac]

Thanks for the help.
I guess I'll see how it sounds when I get this guitar put together.
Rymac

[David Schwab]

The neck does look to be off.
Opinions??

That looks like a good reading for a neck pickup to me. You don't want them too hot. I have a 5.5K neck in a guitar and it sounds wonderful.

[jack briggs]

What temperature are you taking your reading at? The reading at 72°F will be different than that at 78°F. Copper expands with heat and this affects the reading.


Cheers,

[voodoochild]

Sounds like you might be touching your fingers to the leads while reading the pickup. That will give you a lower reading every time. If you are not already, you should never touch the leads with your fingers to get an accurate reading. Jack is also right about temperature variations as well.

[David Schwab]

Sounds like you might be touching your fingers to the leads while reading the pickup. That will give you a lower reading every time. If you are not already, you should never touch the leads with your fingers to get an accurate reading. Jack is also right about temperature variations as well.

That's a very good point. I use some test clips on the ends on my probes to grab the wire.

[rymac]

I wasn't touching the leads. I have alligator clips on my meter leads.
Good point though.