SCN Bridge Pickup faulty from the factory

[One10]

Hello, can anyone give some advice or help on if it is possible to figure out & fix a brand new pickup, defective from the factory, instead of just throwing it away?

(Fender won't replace it, or refund it, says it has been discontinued even though I purchased it new). They won't provide a diagram showing how the pickup is supposed look assembled, no wiring help, nothing

(1) Bridge pickup, Fender SCN

Actual measurements are:
Inductance = 61.96H
DC Resistance = 11.211k
(12.165k Rp)
Q = .231

Per Manufacturer: it should be about 3.8 Henrys & 11.5K

I cannot find anything on the internet explaining how these types of pickups are made, or exploded views.
I am trying to find out what it means when a pickup measures 16 times more Henrys than it is supposed to. All the wires appear to be connected to various points on the pickup itself.

Thanks.

[the great waldo]

Which meter are you using to check it? DC resistance looks ok. What frequency do you have the meter set to ?

Cheers

Andrew

[One10]

Hello Andrew, I am using a DE-5000 LCR meter using the 120hz setting.

Thanks, GP

[LtKojak]

What exactly do you mean with "faulty from the factory"? Is it dead? If it is, the dealer you bought it from is responsible for the outcome. If it doesn't work, he is pretty much obligated to exchange it for another one, and and if he's not obligated to refund you, he's obligated to give you credit to purchase anything from the same value.

[dodona]

I cannot find anything on the internet explaining how these types of pickups are made, or exploded views.

search Bill Lawrence site, as he 'invented' the SCN's for Fender.
Does the SCN's sound good beside 16 times more Henrys?

[Helmholtz]

Must be a measuring error.
There is no fault condition that could produce such increase of (real) inductance. Was the PU connected to a capacitor during measurement?

http://zerocapcable.com/?page_id=210

[David King]

Really the only things that can happen are a busted wire, a stretched wire, a cold solder joint, leads didn't get stripped or internal shorts in the coil. I suppose an easter bunny named "henry" could have been caught up in the winder and procreated for several generations.

[One10]

What exactly do you mean with "faulty from the factory"? Is it dead? If it is, the dealer you bought it from is responsible for the outcome. If it doesn't work, he is pretty much obligated to exchange it for another one, and and if he's not obligated to refund you, he's obligated to give you credit to purchase anything from the same value.

It doesn't sound like a pickup should and works intermittently. Unfortunately they don't have to, but I will talk to them again about it. Thanks.

search Bill Lawrence site, as he 'invented' the SCN's for Fender.
Does the SCN's sound good beside 16 times more Henrys?

No, it doesn't sound like a pickup, no highs and works intermittently. Bill sure was a genius at pickup design, wasn't he!

Must be a measuring error.
There is no fault condition that could produce such increase of (real) inductance. Was the PU connected to a capacitor during measurement?
http://zerocapcable.com/?page_id=210

No and no, it also is not a measuring 'error'.

Really the only things that can happen are a busted wire, a stretched wire, a cold solder joint, leads didn't get stripped or internal shorts in the coil. I suppose an easter bunny named "henry" could have been caught up in the winder and procreated for several generations.

One or more of those statements are probably true. Still would have liked to know how it is supposed to be wired up, in order to salvage it.

It has been pretty hard to find just a bridge SCN pickup, it's a shame Fender did not at least offer to scrounge one up at their headquarters, even if it was used.

1.) What is also odd, is that two of the pickups have all the pole pieces grounded, while the middle pickup has only the 'A' and 'B' pole pieces grounded, two out of six are grounded.

2.) I also have not seen such poorly wound pickups before in a supposed 'quality' brand. One was wound so poorly, it was coming over the side of the top plate, or plates and the wires were kinked up from when the person pushed the pickup cover over the pickup (the windings did not fit in the prescribed area as designed). I had to gently push them back on to the side of the pickup and then glue them in place or they would have torn off completely when reattaching the pickup cover.


Thanks for the quick replies everyone, I was delayed in my responses due to Uncle Sam getting my complete attention during the 14th. and 15th. of April.

[Helmholtz]

No and no, it also is not a measuring 'error'.

There are PU fault conditions that change DCR, capacitance or decrease L. But I can't think of an effect that increases L by a factor of 4 other than doubling the turns number.

By "measuring error" I included misinterpretation effects of the LCR meter. Try this : Measure a guitar cable in the L range between tip and sleeve. Your meter will probably show a high Henry reading. Of course this is wrong, it's a misinterpretation of the cable capacitance by the meter. I just tried it with a cable having a capacitance of 264pF. In L mode my meter reads 96 Henry though there is zero inductance.

[jop120]

No, it doesn't sound like a pickup, no highs and works intermittently. Bill sure was a genius at pickup design, wasn't he!

I don't delve too deeply into testing pickups with LCR meters and the like, i prefer to do things by ear. Sounds like you're shorted to the ground. When you're getting 'no highs' it's just slightly touching, then no sound when it moves and makes good contact. That's the most common reason for the sound you've described.

[Helmholtz]

Hard to imagine an intermittent problem that doesn't also change the DCR between the leads.

[David King]

Could the small voltage that a meter puts out in a resistance test cause a poor connection to behave differently?

[Helmholtz]

Could the small voltage that a meter puts out in a resistance test cause a poor connection to behave differently?

I don't think so, especially as meter test voltages (several hundred mV) are similar to PU peak voltages.

[One10]

There are PU fault conditions that change DCR, capacitance or decrease L. But I can't think of an effect that increases L by a factor of 4 other than doubling the turns number.

By "measuring error" I included misinterpretation effects of the LCR meter. Try this : Measure a guitar cable in the L range between tip and sleeve. Your meter will probably show a high Henry reading. Of course this is wrong, it's a misinterpretation of the cable capacitance by the meter. I just tried it with a cable having a capacitance of 264pF. In L mode my meter reads 96 Henry though there is zero inductance.

Ok Mr. Helmholtz, I have done that and these are the measurements:

A.) Cable has a capacitance of 345pF.

B.) Tip and sleeve measurement reads 5.179 Henrys in the mode setting as you requested.

GP

[One10]

I don't delve too deeply into testing pickups with LCR meters and the like, i prefer to do things by ear. Sounds like you're shorted to the ground. When you're getting 'no highs' it's just slightly touching, then no sound when it moves and makes good contact. That's the most common reason for the sound you've described.

ok jop120. Could be as you say. I suppose I will keep looking for another bridge SCN pickup as I would lose too much money just getting rid of the other two.

Thanks.