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Tech: Setup, Repairs and Mods Guitar workbench discussion such as setup, repairs, mods, installing new parts and more.

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  #1  
Old 10-30-2009, 05:18 AM
8 Big Tubes  is offline
 
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How often do you guys change your pickups?


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?
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Old 10-30-2009, 05:32 AM
brothersnowgone  is offline
 
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Re: How often do you guys change your pickups?


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.
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Old 10-30-2009, 06:25 AM
8 Big Tubes  is offline
 
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Re: How often do you guys change your pickups?


Unpotted?

Are DiMarzio pickups unpotted?
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Old 10-30-2009, 06:55 AM
Vim Fuego  is offline
 
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Re: How often do you guys change your pickups?


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
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Old 10-30-2009, 06:55 AM
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here.choo  is offline
 
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Re: How often do you guys change your pickups?


Until its broken.
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Old 10-30-2009, 08:52 AM
8 Big Tubes  is offline
 
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Re: How often do you guys change your pickups?


Thanks guys.

I guess I am just being paranoid.
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Old 10-30-2009, 09:07 AM
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IbanezFreak777  is offline
 
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Re: How often do you guys change your pickups?


Ummm I could have sworn I have read that Pickups can loose some of their oomph over time...
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Old 10-30-2009, 09:45 AM
DEADTUNES666  is offline
 
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Red face

Re: How often do you guys change your pickups?


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...
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Old 10-30-2009, 09:54 AM
toneboy  is offline
 
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Re: How often do you guys change your pickups?


Quote:
Originally Posted by IbanezFreak777 View Post
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.
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Old 10-31-2009, 08:52 AM
HeavyMetal4Ever  is offline
 
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Re: How often do you guys change your pickups?


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!
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  #11  
Old 10-31-2009, 12:49 PM
MarkE  is offline
 
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Re: How often do you guys change your pickups?


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.
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