Low Output IBZ Seymour Duncan

[ahmad0410]

Heys!

My IBZ Seymour Duncan bridge pickup is suffering from low output. xD.. Even the single coil is louder than the SD. I found out that the price for repair is $60.

Does anyone know the cause of the low output and whether the price $60 is worth it for the repairs?

Thanks!

-Ahmad

 

[Everdying]

is the pickup height adjusted properly? if not try moving it closer to the strings.

 

[subversion]

which guitar is this?

 

[Ratboy]

was it low output since day one ?
or did it turn low output overnight ?

 

[gjkung]

possibly some faulty wiring, rusty pots etc...

but whoever told you it's 60 bucks either is ripping you off for a simple repair or found something really wrong with teh guitar.

Do post more details/pictures of the wiring cavity maybe? Then we can take a look

 

[ahmad0410]

@everydying : the height is higher than the middle and neck pup..

@subversion : its the Ibanez RG170R

@Ratboy : I think its over a long period of time.

@gjkung : okay.. i'll post it tomorrow. so how much does soldering usually cost if wiring's the case?

 

[relinquish69]

actually when he mentioned repair, my first impression was recoiling the pickup. it might be due to the fact that one of the coils in the humbucker is broken and needs to be coiled back to the original output.

if its $60 for that kinda job, I guess its reasonable. however, I would only repair a spoilt pickup if its costs me like $500 a piece?

use a multimeter to measure the output of the guitar, is it lower than your neck and mid pickup?

if its a wiring issue ( maybe spoilt pots or something ), than I guess $60 would be reasonable if the person replaced all the spoilt electronics and does all the wiring for you.

 

[Ratboy]

guessing only

try to get some contact cleaner
and spray the contacts of your 5 way switch
flip the switch up down a few times
see if it helps

This is a guess only !!

If you try,
remember to use cloth to protect body
( front and back ) while spraying

 

[ahmad0410]

Here's the video of the inside.

<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WejYrrdwuR0"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WejYrrdwuR0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object>

 

[gjkung]

relinquish69: woohoo I never knew there was such a repair XD! Seems crazy but well now that you say it it seems reasonably price if it's a vintage you'd really like to preserve or something.

Are we in agreement in adding 40 bucks and getting a new pair of duncans(assuming you like the duncan collaboration) instead of recoiling? Still gotta repot the pups etc...troublesome

Ahmad, I can't really see anything from the video, it's kinda blurry, so far recoiling is the only repair that'd cost this much it seems...

As for pricing, I only know that Davis does it for 30 when installing new pups for you, probably around the same price for soldering related stuff. This is a good time for a little DIY if you want to gain some experience and spare yourself future expenses.

 

[Marksman]

Get new pickups.

 

[ahmad0410]

wa!! ... get new pickups... easy say ah..

 

[deathism]

why not..juz top up abt 40 bucks more..why not?

 

[live33]

Won't recoiling a pickup change the sound? Part of the reason why pickups sound different from one another is the coiling method, rite?

 

[relinquish69]

^ that is true but some people just want the same output of the original pickup. kinda like say vintage strats, a hell lot of them have spoilt pickups and many people have gotten them recoiled and this makes it easier to sell cos most people buy vintage strats for the output of the pickups. the values are very specific. the recoiled pickups should be worth less than the original pickups but definitely more than any SD or Dimarzio pickups. basically, recoiling pickups is just to retain some vintage value.

untrained eyes cant tell the difference between the original pickups and recoiled ones so yeah, thats where the scamming begins 8O .

anyway, that HP video didnt help one bit to be honest. so blur, how to see? I suspect its a problem with the pickup cos if there is sound coming out from it, that means that there is a high possibility that the wiring is correct. however, the pickup could be installed out-of-phase.

2 possibilities->

1) out-of-phase

or

2) one coil in the pickup is broken.

imo if the pickup is spoilt, just get a new one cos no one is going to buy a spoilt pickup. besides, if you save up slowly, I'm sure you can afford to buy a 2nd hand SD pickup. your decision though.

 

[subversion]

IMO it's worth to get someone else to re-wire your pickups, see if this makes a diff, otherwise, there's seriously something wrong with the circuitry...