Pickup Rewind

[SuperSeagull]

The bridge pickup on my Flea Jazz has gone, first time 47 years of playing I've had a pickup fail. Ideally I'd replace with another American Vintage 64 but they don't seem to be available now so plan on getting it rewound. Other than Kent Armstrong, any recommendations as to who to speak to?

[PaulThePlug]

Maida Vale pickups via Faceache...

 

Check for a broken wire... do you get any Ohmage reading or is it OC?

Edited October 29, 2024 by PaulThePlug

[stevie]

I agree with @PaulThePlug The usual place for  coil to go open circuit is on one of the leadout wires to the bobbin. If the wire is broken on one of the windings on the outside of the coil or, more commonly, on the leadout of the outside wire to the bobbin, it's fixable. So, it's worth checking where the break is. It will need a rewind, however, if the break is on the leadout wire from the inside of the coil.

[SuperSeagull]

1 hour ago, PaulThePlug said:

Maida Vale pickups via Faceache...

 

Check for a broken wire... do you get any Ohmage reading or is it OC?

Had it checked by my local guitar shop. 

[SuperSeagull]

39 minutes ago, stevie said:

I agree with @PaulThePlug The usual place for  coil to go open circuit is on one of the leadout wires to the bobbin. If the wire is broken on one of the windings on the outside of the coil or, more commonly, on the leadout of the outside wire to the bobbin, it's fixable. So, it's worth checking where the break is. It will need a rewind, however, if the break is on the leadout wire from the inside of the coil.

Thanks. My local guitar shop have had it on their bench and concluded it needs a rewind. 

[bloke_zero]

Monty's do good work: https://www.montysguitars.com/pages/rewinds

[Obrienp]

Tony Edwards Guitars does rewinds: https://tonyedwardsguitars.co.uk.

[stevie]

23 hours ago, SuperSeagull said:

Thanks. My local guitar shop have had it on their bench and concluded it needs a rewind. 

Who do they recommend?

[SuperSeagull]

14 minutes ago, stevie said:

Who do they recommend?

They said Kent Armstrong. Exchanged some emails with Aaron Armstrong and I think I'll be sending it off to him later today. Thanks for the other suggestions and input - always appreciated. 

[SuperSeagull]

Just to conclude this, I received my rewound pickup back in very quick time from Aaron and at a cost £48 which I think is very reasonable. Back in the bass and works but I just need to recover the pickup screws left on the repair bench at Badlands in Brighton (doh!) to complete the job. 

[NancyJohnson]

Can I ask a question on rewinding, what is the actual point?

 

If you simply like what it sounded like, replace it with a like for like unit, if you like the way the pickup looks (patina) then replace it with a like for like unit and swap the cover.

 

While I'm of the belief that all pickups sound more or less the same, any of the tonal nuances that you believe were there from the original unit, rewinding will effectively remove those; you're effectively creating a new pickup.

 

I suppose £50 is a decent price to save a bit of hardware like a pickup, but you could have picked up a like for like replacement for a tenner more.

[SuperSeagull]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

Can I ask a question on rewinding, what is the actual point?

 

If you simply like what it sounded like, replace it with a like for like unit, if you like the way the pickup looks (patina) then replace it with a like for like unit and swap the cover.

 

While I'm of the belief that all pickups sound more or less the same, any of the tonal nuances that you believe were there from the original unit, rewinding will effectively remove those; you're effectively creating a new pickup.

 

I suppose £50 is a decent price to save a bit of hardware like a pickup, but you could have picked up a like for like replacement for a tenner more.

Its choice I guess. The pickups on this bass are generally considered to be excellent, they are no longer available to purchase from Fender and even if they were they would come in pairs at considerably more than a rewind. Aaron wanted to know the spec for the pickup before he rewound it. I'd rather fix the original than throw it away.