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I've had a pair of Seymour Duncan Zephyrs in a draw for about 3 years, finally decided to restore one of them. I picked them up on eBay for less than $100 Aussie each thinking I'd eventually fix and keep them.
So, like many vintage pickups the aim of this restore was to keep as coil intact as possible, cutting the wire off and rewinding it is not an option for me.
It was dead, reading open circuit on my meter, and a quick inspection showed why. It has all of the telltale signs of damage from someone removing tape that had wrapped the coils. Lots of breaks in the coil and lots of residue.
I put it under the digital microscope to locate all the ends. The golden shades on the coils that look like dents is actually a glue residue, and it obscured the wire underneath it.
The first task was to get rid of residue that was causing issues locating all of the loose ends. For this I used an oil based goo remover applied with a q-tip and wiped off immediately.
Once the coil was clean it was easy to identify the ends, many of which resolved themselves by peeling away as a small strand. Of the remaining 3, it was a simple matter of gently removing the insulation from the ends that were going towards the end of the coil.
After a few attempts, the correct end was found and the coil measures 6.12K down a bit on the specs (6.3K) so I've lost about 100 winds or so.
A decent result. I'd encourage everyone to give this method of repair a go and save those coils
Cheers
Steve
So, like many vintage pickups the aim of this restore was to keep as coil intact as possible, cutting the wire off and rewinding it is not an option for me.
It was dead, reading open circuit on my meter, and a quick inspection showed why. It has all of the telltale signs of damage from someone removing tape that had wrapped the coils. Lots of breaks in the coil and lots of residue.
I put it under the digital microscope to locate all the ends. The golden shades on the coils that look like dents is actually a glue residue, and it obscured the wire underneath it.
The first task was to get rid of residue that was causing issues locating all of the loose ends. For this I used an oil based goo remover applied with a q-tip and wiped off immediately.
Once the coil was clean it was easy to identify the ends, many of which resolved themselves by peeling away as a small strand. Of the remaining 3, it was a simple matter of gently removing the insulation from the ends that were going towards the end of the coil.
After a few attempts, the correct end was found and the coil measures 6.12K down a bit on the specs (6.3K) so I've lost about 100 winds or so.
A decent result. I'd encourage everyone to give this method of repair a go and save those coils
Cheers
Steve
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