So what exactly does reverse-phasing do to guitar pickups?

[PermaNoobie]

In reading the suggested steps, I do not find them to be particularly burdensome (ie overkill). They are explicit and so appear rather lengthy, this is often a function of description rather than inherent in complexity of the operation (as an exercise, try verbally describing tying one's shoe or folding a paper airplane)

Many of these steps become integrated with practice and may occur implicitly to one experienced in the field), but the procedure appears sound. There do appear to be a few potential redundancies, however, since the operation has moved from simple assembly to failure analysis, this is warranted.

 

It does concern me that the technician working on the unit has not mentioned any readings from a test instrument (multimeter, etc) which could indicate incomplete analysis of the situation (which can complicate the fix) and is not atypical of a less experienced technician.

 

While I do suspect there is nothing wrong with the pickup (nor do the suggested steps necessarily assume that), the test procedure will lead to better familiarity and verification that the components are fully understood.

Note : the test procedure outlines the use of test leads, so this check procedure should only take a few minutes. I would estimate it would take me less than 2 minutes (on a unit with "strings on" access to the electronics) to run through the whole procedure if I were to write down the results.

 

I urge the technician to heed the advise of more experienced members even if the advice seems overly burdensome, as a less experienced technician, you may be making assumptions that aren't entirely true.

[DaveGrima]

Lol. Thanks for that.

 

Ok what is a test lead? Im not a technician, Im a guitar player. If I knew what I was doing I probably wouldn't be on this forum asking for help. I do have a multimeter. What should I measure with it? ABout the only thing i know how to do is test the resistance of the pickup.

[PermaNoobie]

In this situation you are a de facto technician (you are performing technical modifications, not playing, the instrument) - you may not be a professional (or highly experienced) technician, but you are acting as technician on this project.

 

The DC resistance is an appropriate measurement for the outlined steps.

 

Since you are less familiar with these concepts I would suggest measuring the resistance of each coil, the resistance of the entire pickup in series configuration, and the resistance in parallel configuration as a baseline reference. This will allow you to more easily identify what is happening when the pickup is connected to the switch (a more experienced technician may be able to omit these steps, being more familiar with the operations)

 

A test lead is simply a lead (a piece of wire) often 8-12 inches in length, with quick connect clips ("alligator" clips or similar, designs vary) on each end. This allows a technician to make a temporary connection for testing purposes without the time cost and thermal stress associated with soldering. There is no need to solder the connections until the system is working correctly

[fatusstratus]

 

In this situation you are a de facto technician

 

 

Tru 'dat!

 

Dave, welcome to Techville, population you! Really, this is how it starts. Weather you want to keep doing it or not, the path you are on is pretty much how people get started.

 

the problems you are facing are par for the course too. It's really common for debugging to take longer than initial assembly. It happens all the time -- 'simple' jobs can turn into these frustrating "Why isn't it working?!? It should be working!!!!!" puzzles

 

Don't make it harder on yourself by soldering and desoldering and all that. Slow down, draw out your plan, try to understand what's happening electrically, make sure the components are OK and that you are wiring it according to your plan (check along the way with your meter...are the contacts on the switch doing what you think they are supposed to do? does that red lead really go to Coil A?)

[fatusstratus]

How's that project coming?

 

We'll get ya up and running

[DaveGrima]

Im taking a break from it. Ill get to it later no doubt. Ill keep you updated. Thanks for taking an interst in my problem. Ive waited 4 days for a response here before.

[MahaloVision]

You might want to get a copy of Melvyn Hiscock's book "Make Your Own Electric Guitar", Erlewine's "Guitar Player Repair Guide", or Brosnac's "Guitar Electronics for Musicians". They cover the basics pretty well, have some diagrams, etc. I refer to the Erlewine book from time to time.

[Alan Roberts]

All great choices for someone starting out - I've still got copies of those, too.

Speaking of books, I see you have one in your sig. What gives? Can you discuss what's in it here?

[MahaloVision]

 

All great choices for someone starting out - I've still got copies of those, too. Speaking of books, I see you have one in your sig. What gives? Can you discuss what's in it here?

 

 

I suppose I could, but I'm hesitant to spam the forum too much. The moderators are kind enough to let me post it in the SPAM sections and in my sig. The canned description pretty much sums it up, and you can download sample content from it. It originated out of some mentoring I've done with high school students, and I decided to expand on it as an introduction to electric guitar design. I'm not entirely happy with the formatting on the various versions, but those are getting fixed in the next edition. Hopefully. The publishing tools don't do what they say they do, so it's frustrating.

[DaveGrima]

I have had Guitar Player Repair Guide and Electronics for Musicians for years.