Franz neck pickup problem?

ave del noche

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Looking for some advice from the Franz experts here. The neck position Franz is VERY muffled/dark sounding. More than I would expect even in this position. The bridge is fine, however. Does this sound like a cap has been coupled to roll of the highs or that there's something wrong with this particular pickup? I was guessing the latter just because the bridge position is ok. Output level is fine for both.
 

teleharmonium

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It's not likely to be something wrong with the pickup (unless it was poorly rewound by somebody). Much more likely to be something going on with the pots, tone caps, or wiring inside the guitar. I would start by inspecting the pickup and measuring the DC resistance just to be sure something isn't out of whack there; I would expect to see somewhere in the range of 7 to 8 k on a Franz/Fransch pickup. If it isn't, it is possible you have a rewound pickup, or some shorted turns on the coil (but if it made a big tonal difference, it would also have noticeably low output), or the alnico magnet has started to lose magnetism maybe. While you are at it, you can see if you notice a different type of wire from the neck pickup to the switch.

If you still don't find a problem, it's time to use a light and mirror to check out the tone caps and pots to look for evidence of past modifications or an incorrect value.
 

ave del noche

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Thanks for the tips...I'll check the resistance. I think it will be similar to the bridge, however, as the output is fine. I also remember when I had the pickup off the guitar the first time that it looked completely original and both pickups were wired the same (on their end, at least). The green jacketed wire was connected to the braided shield (ground) and the other wire was connected to the center conductor. It looked like the pickups had never been taken off the guitar before. They definitely don't look like they've been rewound.

Is it possible that the neck pickup has a cap connected down at the pots while the bridge doesn't? This is a 55 X-175 so it only has one vol one tone
 

teleharmonium

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I'm sure they vary, but the pickups in my untouched, time capsule condition '60 T100 are well over 7K measured through the output jack with the volume and tone full up and the switch set to each pickup alone, which slightly skews the results (but not much).

As far as having a cap across the hot lead from the neck pickup, I won't say it's not possible, but it sounds weird to me. Maybe Hans, or someone else that's worked on a bunch of the old ones can post about that. You can most likely check it visually without pulling the harness with the dentists' mirror method.
 

Walter Broes

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It's possible it has a cap, I know X350's had them on some of the switch positions.

The neck pickup on my '62 X175 barely measures 4K, but it's LOUD and clear.
 

ave del noche

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Thanks to all for the advice. I've got some things to check out next string change.
 

billydlight

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Theres a cap hidden in there somewhere. I have found them in a bunch of mid 50's Guilds.
 
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