How often do you guys change your pickups?

8 Big Tubes · #1 10-30-2009, 05:18 AM

Pickups don't die or weaken over time do they?

Do they lose some of their output over a period of say 6 years?

Or should all pickups be changed every 3 years or so?

brothersnowgone · #2 10-30-2009, 05:32 AM

Pickups won't really change much overtime. Not enough to notice anyway. If they're some kind of unpotted pickups, then maybe the tone will change overtime because there is no wax or epoxy to lock the pick-ups windings in place permanently.

8 Big Tubes · #3 10-30-2009, 06:25 AM

Unpotted?

Are DiMarzio pickups unpotted?

Vim Fuego · #4 10-30-2009, 06:55 AM

Most quality pickups are potted to reduce unwanted vibration.
This means dipping the wound pickup in molten wax so that the wax holds the windings in place when it solidifies.
The exceptions tend to be models that are trying to reproduce the sound a classic un-potted pickup e.g. http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/ZH-pgblues.html
Jim

here.choo · #5 10-30-2009, 06:55 AM

Until its broken.

8 Big Tubes · #6 10-30-2009, 08:52 AM

Thanks guys.

I guess I am just being paranoid.

IbanezFreak777 · #7 10-30-2009, 09:07 AM

Ummm I could have sworn I have read that Pickups can loose some of their oomph over time...

DEADTUNES666 · #8 10-30-2009, 09:45 AM

I think a lot of it has to do with the changing taste of the player over time...

I swore it would never happen to me, but my tastes have definitely changed. Therefore the sound of the pickup I want to hear is vastly different...

toneboy · #9 10-30-2009, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IbanezFreak777

Ummm I could have sworn I have read that Pickups can loose some of their oomph over time...

While "oomph" is subjective, science is not:

Will magnets lose their power over time?

Modern magnet materials do lose a very small fraction of their magnetism over time. For Samarium Cobalt materials, for example, this has been shown to be less that 1% over a period of ten years.

In other words, it takes decades to loose a measurable amount but even then, it may not be perceived and it's nothing to be concerned about.

HeavyMetal4Ever · #10 10-31-2009, 08:52 AM

I've only had one pickup crap out on me. It was the stock bridge pickup in a late 80's Charvel.

I plugged it in one day after a long period of non use, and discovered it had lost alot of clarity and output, so I took the pickup out and found the wax had gone crumbly.

I assume that our extreme Aussie weather had a hand in the damage, but on the bright side, I got to try some new pickups.

Rock on!

MarkE · #11 10-31-2009, 12:49 PM

I just bought a 1989 540S and the pickups are spot on - still powerful when you want them to be and quiet when you don't. There's no way pickups should die after only a few years.

How often do you guys change your pickups?

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