X175B odd pickup issue

[woodamand]

I think I may just have a pickup going bad, or maybe bad wiring but I thought I would quiz you experts before I take it in - under warranty, thank you.
Here is the deal: the other day, the bridge pup started to sound, uh, odd, and then went dead altogether. I didn't have time to mess with it, and the next time I played it was fine. No problems for the next week.
Then last night, the bridge pup starts to sound, well, hard to describe. I don't know if its microphonic (since it didn't occur to me to try and speak into it) but it was like there was an odd distortion, a kind of smearing of the tone, on this pup.
Anyone have this experience? And are there any diagrams that can show me, if I take apart the pup, exactly what I should do to tightening things up, or its it just totally obvious? I looked thru the Franz thread and didn't see any pix.
One last q: if I had this pickup rewound to get higher volume output, would it still have the same propensity to loosen up (if that is the problem I am having) that these pups have out of the box? And who would you folks suggest to rewind the pup, I am sure there must be more than one good tech out there to do this.
Thanks

 

[Walter Broes]

You want even more output from it? Mine are (still....Groan...) at my tech's to wind them lower, I think they're too loud and a little too dark sounding.

These Newark street Franz-alikes really seem to have a tendency to rattle loose. Take the pickguard off, take the cover off, take the screws holding the pickups to the guitar body out, and gently lift the pickup. If it's anything like the one I've seen, and another one reported on the Gretsch pages, the magnets are loose or coming out. Same friend who came by with his guitar now has the other pickup rattling and howling and grunting.

If you don't know how to put it together, take out the other pickup and look how it's all supposed to fit together. It's a very, very simple assembly.

As for how to permanently fix it, I think I'm going to dip the underside (where the magnets are) of my friends pickup in wax two or three times, until it looks like it won't budge any. I don't think I'll give the whole thing a bath several times, I don't want to pot the coil to death.

 

[woodamand]

Yeah, well the louder output is just for the bridge pickup, I just want it to match the neck pup in volume. More of an annoyance than anything. I have to admit, after looking at this article: http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/how_to_pot_your_own_pickups?page=8 that I am really hesitant to do any waxing - I am a bit paranoid about ruining the pickup, you know? Well, I will take the pup off and see if the stuff is loose or not.
Funny, 30 years ago I would tear apart my guitars, swap pickups and such and not think much about it. Guess I'm gettin' feeble!
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

 

[Walter Broes]

It's not hard at all, I've done it a bunch of times, and I have two left hands. And the only thing you can really destroy is the coil - and you can always have a coil rewound. I get a little more nervous around a vintage pickup, but the NS ones are new, available, and cheap.

I've gotten pretty good balance with my NS 175 by lowering all the neck pickup poles about as low as they will go, and getting the bridge pickup poles up a little.

 

[woodamand]

OK, well, might as well give the potting a shot next week when I have some time. Again, you just coated the bottom of the pickup, that's all, right?
I raised the poles on the bridge pickup but never thought of lowering the poles on the neck - duh! Good thing I don't do guitar repair work for a living.

 

[Walter Broes]

Well, potting is really making sure the parts that vibrate or even come loose can't do that any more, so if the magnets on your pickup are moving, I'd try the bottom of the pickup first, yes. From what I've seen on my own NS175, the pickups are already potted, so there's no use in doing the coil again.

 

[woodamand]

Got it, makes sense. If this keeps up I might just learn something!

 

[swinginblackjacks]

Pheeew! I'm glad it wasn't just mine.

So far, so good since the replacement.

 

[woodamand]

My guitar hasn't acted up at all since the posting, so I have not bothered to do anything to it. Swingingblackjacks, did you replace one of the pups with something else?

 

[woodamand]

So after months my 175 is now really acting up, at least the bridge pickup. I thought it might be the switch, but when I took it into warrany repair, the tech was able to silence the rear pup by mashing down on the wammy bar. I am betting a grounding problem, but I am hoping that they will have to remove the harness, in which case I will have new and better pots and switch installed. Of course, with the new ownership of the Guild brand this may complicate the warranty but I hope not, since Córdoba by rights should stand behind their new line.
If it is the bridge pickup, I suppose I could think about getting some sort of direct replacement that - if at all feasible - could sound a bit darker than the stock, in other words, more like the neck pickup. The saga continues......