Rewind On A DeArmond Single Coil HELP?

[nickc35]

I've been asked to rewind a dead DeArmond. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on the best way to remove the cover. It appears to be glued on. I was messing with it yesterday and running an exacto blade between the cover and the bobbin from the bottom of the pickup. It was not loosening up at all. Should I try applying a little heat? Of course, not too much heat as I don't want to melt the bobbin. Any other suggestions? Thanks!

[big_teee]

Hopefully Jonson will jump in here, he is good on dearmond pickups.
SonnyW is good on that sort of thing too.
On pickups I've had trouble getting a part, I've put them in a wax pot at 140F for several minutes.
This will soften up everything, especially old glue, tape and the like.
Even if it has not been wax potted, or not going to be when your done.
Once it is all cleaned up and with it is warm you can wipe all the wax off.
T

[jonson]

Got to admit on this one Tel I've never taken one apart but looking at that pic of the underside I see what looks like an amber yellow line under the cover and around the bobbin. My first thopught there is copydex glue as this is how it goes after a few years so if it was me I would take the bull by the horns and with a rag start with alcohol then naptha and a few other type of paint thinner untill in found the one that breaks it down. then introduce some with a sirynge until it pops out. There is not alot of damage you can do to these bobbins as long as acetone doesn't come into it. thats the way I would go and please report back on you findings.

[guitician]

It depends on what the bobbin is made out of. Does it seem like poly? Or maybe Bakelite? Scratch it with a blade and see if it smells like oil. If the bobbin can stand MEK, then that will dissolve the glue easy enough. Stinky stuff though, a heat gun would be my first choice, but then again, there's that poly melt problem. A low heat like an oven may be better. Just under the melt temp of the poly.

[big_teee]

I bet the hot wax would loosen things.
wax will warm all the way through the pickup.
Then once loose, you can just wipe it up with a paper towel.
Try some of all of it.
be careful with the heat gun, some of them are too hot, and hard on plastics.
Good Luck, and as said, please report back with your findings!
T

[jonson]

From the pic of that pickup though I may be wrong it looks like an earlyish Dearmond 2000 rather than the later dynasonics used by Gretsch. If so it's
a good chance it's a fibre bobbin not a plastic one so determine that first.

[nickc35]

From the pic of that pickup though I may be wrong it looks like an earlyish Dearmond 2000 rather than the later dynasonics used by Gretsch. If so it's
a good chance it's a fibre bobbin not a plastic one so determine that first.

Definitely plastic.

[jonson]

Then just be careful as to what you use but a little alcohol or very low heat and you may be able to prise it out.

[nickc35]

Thanks! I think I will try the wax pot
first since that sounds simplest to me.
I'll definitely let you guys know how it
goes.

[SonnyW]

Thanks! I think I will try the wax pot
first since that sounds simplest to me.
I'll definitely let you guys know how it
goes.

Me Neither on taking one of these particular ones apart but I have taken apart lots of other vintage DeArmonds, and my best guess would be to try the heat gun or hair dryer approach. Wax pot might work okay, but IMO the heat gun would be much easier and cleaner, just don't get carried away with it. By the way Harbor Freight has a decent heat gun for not a lot of $. They are priced around between $15 and $30, and I have a couple of them both the Chicago Brand and they both work fine. I think whatever the glue, which it always seems to be something like contact cement, that DeArmond used was, a heat gun seems to make it release if you are patient. I've always tried to stay away from the chemical side of opening things up, so I don't have a lot of info to add on that side of it. But I haven't so far had a DeArmond that a heat gun wouldn't disassemble. Not to say it couldn't happen.

[nickc35]

I'm sorry it took so long to reply here. I eventually was able to remove the ring cover on this pickup. I ended up making a jig to fit the pickup in which the entire ring cover around the pickup is supported by the jig. I put the pickup in hot wax for about 20 minutes and then placed it in the jig and pushed out the bobbin. Unfortunately the top of the bobbin cracked on one end and ripped off. I was however able to repair the cracked bobbin and successfully rewind the pickup. Whew! The glue used to adhere the ring cover to the bobbin was some tough stuff it actually dissolved the bakelite material of the bobbin around the edges. I learned a lot about this pickup during this rewind. When I get another one to rewind, I'm sure it will go much better.