T shooting help

[DZfishtech]

Hi, the Middle pickup in my strat is out, but not completely, but there is hardly any sound coming out from this pickup. The bridge and neck Pickups are fine. How do I go about trouble shooting the cause? I've already visually inspected the wiring in the switch and everything appears to be solid. I don't have a volt meter so am I hosed without one? I don't think it is the switch because in pos. 2 and 4 the pickup is nearly non-responsive as well. Any idea's or suggestions on what I need to do to correct this? Thanks, D.Z.

[teefus]

pick up an inexpensive dvm. i see them for less than $25 at sears and other retailers all the time. it could be a broken wire somewhere in the pickup winding if all else at the pots and switch look o.k.

[Sweetfinger]

You probably have an open pickup. Roll down the tone. Does it act like a volume control on the middle pickup? Is the sound is really bright and very weak? If so, your pickup is dead. :( You can check it with a meter. Anything above 30 K in a guitar is dead. .... and you're wondering....It still produces sound through the internal capacitance of the coil.

[Dana Olsen]

For a quick and simple test, use alligator clip jumper wires to jump from the two output wires of the pickup (where they are soldered to the switch) direct to the output jack while the guitar is plugged into an amp (at LOW volume). If the signal gets strong when it's jumped, the problem is probably in the switch.

Switches can go bad and still appear visually to still be working. Pickups rarely just die all of a sudden - usually they have to suffer some trauma, like getting smacked hard, to fail. I'm not saying that pickups never die, just that in my experience it's more likely to be a switch or a pot.

Hope this helps, Dana O.

[walterw]

Hi, the Middle pickup in my strat is out, but not completely, but there is hardly any sound coming out from this pickup.
is it a fender?

sometimes the connection right at the pickup bobbin where the hookup lead meets the coil wire goes bad. carefully re-flowing the solder right there can sometimes rescue the pickup.