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Topic: String End Shorting Out Pickup? |
Chris LeDrew
From:
Canada
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Posted 18 May 2014 10:49 am |
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If this has been addressed before, maybe someone can point me to a past thread. Last night during a gig, the most bizarre thing occurred - something I'd never experienced in all my gigging years on steel. I broke a string, and the ball end of the broken string fell down beside my pickup and shorted the pickup out or something. Totally disabled it. The guitar just stopped giving a signal. At first I thought it was the amp or a cable, but it was the pickup because when I removed the ball end from the side of the pickup, the pickup started working again. But until then it was out cold. Not a murmur from it until I picked out the broken string end.
Has anyone ever experienced this? I'm thinking the leftover string on the ball end got in and somehow touched on the bottom of the pickup. Either way, it's a strange phenomenon and it put me out of commission for the last part of the first set last night. It was disconcerting to say the least. The pickup is the last thing you expect to go south at a gig.
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Jackson Steel Guitars
Web: www.chrisledrew.com |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 18 May 2014 12:42 pm
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If the end touched both wires, it only stands to reason that the guitar would die cold. You shorted the pickup, sending nothing at all down the cable. But that makes you REALLY unlucky. I'd never had it happen.
PS: if that was at the pickup, I think the wires are damaged. You might want a rewind, but only if it recurs. Or Jim's goop idea, cheaper, that.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects
Last edited by Lane Gray on 18 May 2014 12:48 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Jim Smith
From:
Midlothian, TX, USA
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Posted 18 May 2014 12:46 pm
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| I think the only way that could happen is if the live wire is exposed where it comes out of the pickup. It might never happen again but some electrical tape or a little silicone caulk should prevent it from happening again. |
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Eddie Freeman
From:
Natchez Mississippi
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Posted 18 May 2014 1:13 pm Pup grounded
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| If the remains of the string attached to the ball pierced the covering (usually thin tape akin to electricians tape) the windings in the pup,and the ball end was touching metal (aluminum neck?), this could shut you down. |
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Michael Maddex
From:
Northern New Mexico, USA
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Posted 18 May 2014 2:28 pm
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On most pickups the winding terminates at a pair of eyelets crimped into the flatwork. The pickup leads are then soldered to those eyelets. These are often exposed and not necessarily a sign of any other problem. These connections could be easily shorted by a little piece of guitar string. A freak accident for sure for the string piece to land in exactly the right place.
Oh well, as the Bard said, all's well that ends well.
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"For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert." -- Arthur C. Clarke |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 18 May 2014 2:31 pm
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| Just out of curiosity,,,,, how long was the string remnant on the ball end? |
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Steve Hinson
From:
Hendersonville Tn USA
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Posted 18 May 2014 3:16 pm
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Chris,my first LeGrande did this...it just about drove me crazy before I figured it out...brand new guitar!
It had the Emmons humbucking pickups in it,and where the harness connected to the pickup ,the end of a broken 3rd would find its way there and short it out...after I figured it out,any time I broke one I made it my business to find the end before it caused me any trouble...maddening. |
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Chris LeDrew
From:
Canada
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Posted 19 May 2014 11:15 am
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Thanks all for your insight. Steve it's good to know that this has happened to another player. It freaked me out until I realized what may have happened. I too will be sure to make it my business to not let these ends get lost when a string breaks.
John, the string end was about two inches.
_________________
Jackson Steel Guitars
Web: www.chrisledrew.com |
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Willie Sims
From:
PADUCAH, KY, USA
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Posted 19 May 2014 1:21 pm
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| put foam rubber between ball ends of strings ,and end of guitar.it will prevent balls falling in the changer on most guitars .willie sims. |
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Rick Stratton
From:
Tujunga, California, USA
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Posted 19 May 2014 2:28 pm
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Hi Chris,
Do you have the movable pick-ups in your Jackson?
I have a Gremlin in one of mine! I've rewired it twice and thought I'd fixed it both times. Sometimes hitting a knee or AB pedals makes it cut out.
Lately when it happens, I wiggle the lever and work the pedals and it goes away. Makes me nervous during a gig!
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Jackson Pro-IV D-10, Fender Dual-Pro 8, Epiphone Zephyr-6 |
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Charlie Tryon
From:
Glovertown Newfoundland, Canada
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Posted 19 May 2014 2:34 pm Short
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Chris if this was on your Jackson it can happen very easily as the posts the pickup sits on are live..... One side is ground and the other is hot. So you had a 50/50 chance of it shorting out.had it landed on the other side of the pickup you would have been fine.
You can stop this if you take the pickup out and put some tubing over the studs and put the pickup back and it will be good for ever end a day.
Charlie
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My NEW TUBE AMP CWT Amplifiers I build, JACKSON COMMEMORATIVE all wood 3&5, Fender Steel King Amp,Telonics pedal |
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Chris LeDrew
From:
Canada
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Posted 19 May 2014 2:41 pm
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No my pickups aren't moveable, but Charlie what you say explains it all now. I will make this adjustment/mod for sure. I think what's contributing to the heightened possibility of this happening is the fact that the strings enter from the inside of the changer instead of the outside, which makes the pickup susceptible to contact with a broken string end. This, Willie, is why your suggested mod might not apply to the Jackson Pro IV. But thanks nonetheless for your suggestion!
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Jackson Steel Guitars
Web: www.chrisledrew.com |
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