What does it mean when...

[Phil m]

I just finished winding a humbucker. I can't get an output reading from either coil from my multimeter and no output from both coils connected in series.

Nothing shocking here, it would mean they're dead. However, I attached the pickup to a jack and it works

I couldn't get any reading after winding the first coil so I figured before rewinding it I 'll try it off a jack into my amp, the pickup suspended on top of a bass. It did work so I went on with the second coil. I still couldn't get a reading with the second coil, so I connected them togerther in series.

Now I've got this thing in front of me and I'm wondering if one of the two coils is dead or not.

I can't get a contituity signal either from my multimeter when I touch the leads of each coil independently. Should I get a continuity signal between a start and end wire on a coil?

EDIT: checked another pickup I wound with same multimeter. I can't get a continuity with it but I can read the output no problem with it.

[Phil m]

Oh yeah, and this pickup forum has got a serious shortage of pictures of pickups. No one proud of their pickups here??

Here's the pickup in question. a 9 string bass pickup wound RWRP connected in series. I should get at least 18kOhm out of this thing but can't read anything.

[mkat]

It sounds like a short. If you get a correct reading on another pickup implying your multimeter is ok, then you may want to check this thread which discusses the zero ohms issue if it is a coil issue:

http://music-electronics-forum.com/s...en+coil+patent

Is the issue with the >6 string pickups your working on?

[edit]
Ah, the answer is yes just saw the pic. This will be interesting. I wonder if there are issues with winding such a long and thin coil more so than shorter ones.

[Chris Klein]

Multi-Meter

If you are expecting a reading 18k ohm + Try not using the 20k Ohm setting on the Multi-Meter and use the higher 200k Ohm setting.. If you are using the 20K setting and it is over 20K Ohm It won't read a thing. If you already are doing that???? Damn- out of ideas- Chris KP

[Phil m]

No actually a pickup can have a broken turn somewhere and still get sound out. There is still current being generated in the coil so that one lead that is getting a voltage potential and I don't understand the physics of it, Joe Gwinn could explain it, but you will get some sound. I have personally experienced this in a dead tele bridge pickup, the sound isn't very loud but its there. Maybe at the extreme volumes that EVH uses it still works, but screw that they should fix the damn thing...

Thanks for the link Micheal.

That's exactly whats happening. The output is pretty low. A lot lower than what you'd expect from such a big pickup wired in series. Damn. Will have to start again

[Joe Gwinn]

Thanks for the link Micheal.

That's exactly whats happening. The output is pretty low. A lot lower than what you'd expect from such a big pickup wired in series. Damn. Will have to start again

Here is my posting from earlier this year.

It's the self-capacitance of the coil that allows an open coil to work. Basically, the broken coil acts as if it were a good coil in series with a ~100 picofarad capacitor.

I recall a patent where something like this was done intentionally: The coil was bifilar wound (where a pair of insulated wires twisted together is used to wind the coil), and one wire of the pair goes to ground, the other to hot, and there is no DC connection between the two (infinite ohms). The bifilar winding will have capacitance between wires of the pair in the thousands of picofarads, versus a hundred pF or so. The claim is that this worked quite well.

The patent is 6,476,309, to Gaglio.

[mkat]

Here is my posting from earlier this year.

Yep, that's the thread in the link I posted above. Some really good info in that Joe.