Anti-hum pickup repair recommendations

[BradHK]

In my spare parts box I have two 1960’s anti-hum pickups that need some diagnosis and probably repairs. Both pickups are acting the same. They both work but sound a little thin. The ohms on one is very high and the ohm reading on the other is open acting like there is a break in the coil wire. I would like to send these out to a pickup expert to diagnose and repair. I understand that the epoxy used makes these a little difficult for a rewind. Any recommendations on who has expertise repairing anti-hum pickups?

 

[jp]

Although I don't have experience with Guild rewinds with him, I would suggest Tom Brantley. He worked with Lindy Fralin for years and is the go to guy for a lot of pros. He actually lists Guild minis in his list, so I assume he's had lots of experience with them. The only problem is his wait list can be long.

He's one of the best for Hofner rewinds, and he did a great job on the staple PUs for my '65 Club Bass, but I had to wait two months.

Check him out here.

 

[BradHK]

Thanks! I will reach out and to him and discuss

 

[jp]

Sure thing. I hope it goes well!

 

[BradHK]

I talked to Tom. He has experience with the anti-hums. He rewinds them using all of the original metal parts and magnets but due to the epoxy has to install new bobbins. I think I will ship him one of my bad pickups and see how it turns out. I will report back with results...and photos of course!

 

[BradHK]

Ok, I decided since I was going to send one off to get rewound, I might as well take it apart and test some areas just to see. As I had it apart moving thing’s around I noticed I suddenly got good resistance readings. It would come and go but I was unable to pinpoint the exact cause. It appears that the ground lead coming from the epoxy has seen some excessive heat. That corner of the pickup had a ton of original solder holding the cover on so it could have been over heated when it was originally put together. I put it all back together with the wires not twisted around each other as much to relieve some tension. resoldered the connections at the circuit board just in case, resoldered the cover back on (without soldering the corner near the wires), and it now reads just over 7k. I moved it around, pulled and moved the wires and I still get a good reading. Hopefully this one is fixed and it is still original other than the cover and wire connections at the circuit board being resoldered!

I will disassemble the other pickup just to see. If it can be fixed without a rewind, great, if not I will send off to Tom.

 

[jp]

Excellent work and having the gumption to act on your instincts. I love when things happen that way!