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If you hook up almost any 1/2 decent digital AC voltmeter to pickup in a guitar and give it a good thrash you should get a reading. Hard to catch sometimes on a DVM but many these day have an "analogue" bar and/or reading hold.
Been a while since I did it but I think a Mex Strat with all the taps wide open gave me about 100mV?
BTW. If you have an old Avo or other totally analogue mmeter you can check relative pup phase by a rather cunning stunt with a small screwdriver!
Dave.
1. are the coil/coils okay? In other words is the pickup dead or not? Straight DC resistance will tell you that. Take a look at the original manufacturers spec and make sure the resistance is in the ballpark. With a four conductor pickup out of a guitar, make sure you are measuring the right leads and that the 'serial' link wires are at least twisted together. If you are not sure of the wiring code for your pickup there is a handy chart for all the major manufacturers here Remember, resistance goes up and down with the ambient temperature too!
2. Millivolts is a good measurement for comparative power ... but just strumming is an unreliable way to get a proper comparison. A hardwood spacer and a tuning fork placed on the poles will give a reliable input signal for your multimeter to latch onto.
3. Resistance is a crap means of measuring power as it is dependent on not only the number of turns, but the gauge of wire used ... so comparing a 42awg wound pickup with a 44awg one by resistance is totally futile (get it ... resistance is futile ... oh please yourselves).
Inductance in 'Henries' is also a better indicator of power ... and tone too, but not all multimeters will measure that.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
". A hardwood spacer and a tuning fork placed on the poles will give a reliable input signal for your multimeter to latch onto."
Oooo! Clever! Can you still buy tuning forks??
Dave.
Good idea, sensitive to frequency, but every way of doing this will depend on the frequency response.
I've just realised if you're kitted out with a signal generator and another coil you could map the frequency response. (Yes, there are problems with that too.)