Do pickups wear out.

1dgbass · #1 07-26-2010, 07:44 PM

Hey,

I was reading an interview with mike dirnt and he said if "his pickups are dying" he'll change them.

Is this possible? In addition to changing strings do you have to change pickups to? I hope I'm wrong.

If you do change pickups, why do bass players do that?

Douglas.

Here's the interview: http://gc.guitarcenter.com/interview/greenday/

It's in like the third paragraph.

jpfbass · #2 07-26-2010, 07:52 PM

I've never heard of that. If it's true, why do people pay thousands more for vintage fenders with original pups then they pay for vintage fenders with replaced pups? Maybe he's talking about he needs to replace a battery in an active circuit or something.

Edit: Looks like I'm completely wrong judging from posts below me haha. Interesting though, I didn't realize pickups can actually degrade. I still wouldn't swap them out though unless they're like 30-40 years old

amosjones · #3 07-26-2010, 07:57 PM

I would imagine like any electronic they degrade over time. and from the sound of it, he is kinda rough on them

GreggBummer · #4 07-26-2010, 08:01 PM

There are no moving parts in a pickup, so I don't think they wear out. However, there is metal in (most) pickups. Metal oxidizes and corrodes. This could cause problems. A pick up that plays as hundreds of gigs of year, inside, outside, in the rain, sweat on and get beat to death... well, they may not work so well after a while... especially if they are not cared for.

I am willing to bet, a competent guitar/bass tech could make a set of pups on tour with Green Day could last indefinitely. I am sure Mike Dirnt can afford a competent guy.

pnut166 · #5 07-26-2010, 08:08 PM

Pickups, as stated, do degrade with age and exposure to the elements. If the winding gets a little corrosion in there someplace, they will lose strength or die completely. As well, some of the magnets used in the older pups will lose their strength with age. The only reason I know this is because I just ran across some 60s vintage pups I had, and posted a thread to help me ID them. Fellow TB`ers schooled me on testing them with an ohmmeter, and indeed one was nearly dead, while the other was still factory - spec.

N.F.A. · #6 07-26-2010, 08:10 PM

Magnets are the only thing I could think of that would weaken over time.

Tommygunn · #7 07-26-2010, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreggBummer

There are no moving parts in a pickup, so I don't think they wear out. However, there is metal in (most) pickups. Metal oxidizes and corrodes. This could cause problems. A pick up that plays as hundreds of gigs of year, inside, outside, in the rain, sweat on and get beat to death... well, they may not work so well after a while... especially if they are not cared for.

I am willing to bet, a competent guitar/bass tech could make a set of pups on tour with Green Day could last indefinitely. I am sure Mike Dirnt can afford a competent guy.

His pups are Fender CS 59

A-Step-Towards · #8 07-26-2010, 08:13 PM

It really sounds like he is talking out of his ass in that interview alot, it was kinda painful to read because there was alot of BS

brotherdoc · #9 07-26-2010, 08:15 PM

Alnico magnets are more likely to demagnetize than ceramic. I've had it happen.

MNAirHead · #10 07-26-2010, 08:22 PM

I've had some quit functioning.

Tim

Muaguana · #11 07-26-2010, 09:57 PM

I'm curious as to how alumitone or neodymium pickups compare with alcino in terms of magnetism loss over time. That would be an interesting study.

M0ses · #12 07-26-2010, 10:26 PM

Pickups only degrade if they are made by women.

(I'm making fun of Mike Dirnt, for those who didn't read the interview)

Stealth · #13 07-27-2010, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Muaguana

I'm curious as to how alumitone or neodymium pickups compare with alcino in terms of magnetism loss over time. That would be an interesting study.

Neo pickups (and magnets, in total) are very resilient in that matter - they apparently keep their magnetic strength for a long, long time, much longer than AlNiCo.

Alumitones use ceramic magnets, which I believe even top Neo magnets, but I'm not sure.

Jim C · #14 07-27-2010, 05:51 AM

Always a bad idea to quote technical information from those that have none.
* Typically the DC resitance of a pup does not change; it's either the same as when it was made or open (dead)
* The windings could loosen if it was scatter wound but I've never seen any documentation that says that is good or bad other than the potential for microphonics
* The magnets could change; 30 years ago I raced very expensive slot cars (they ran 60 real MPH not scale speed); we had to have the magnets re-zapped in order to maintain performance
* I haven't heard of anyone remagnetizing guitar pups but it could be done; have wondered if vintage pups sound good due to some kind magnet aging as opposed to wire / winding voodoo

Maybe a good bass player but:
Microcaverns in dried wood?
Technical genius or talking out his butt?

Stealth · #15 07-27-2010, 06:09 AM

Jim C: You are right, the magnets do change and occasionally they do need to get re-zapped, but I don't think you'd have to do that more than once in 20 or so years. Also, guitar pups do get remagnetized - either to swap polarity in case the polepieces are non-removable or to get them to a proper magnetic field (B). Sometimes, experienced pickup makers even intentionally fully magnetize (saturate) them and then demagnetize them a bit in order to get a desired field - just as they'd get through aging.

NS2A · #16 07-27-2010, 07:06 AM

So knowing very little about pickups, would active pups "wear" any different than passives?

I've had some basses older EMG's and they sounded a bit weaker than the same bass with newer EMG's.

Stealth · #17 07-27-2010, 07:24 AM

Active pickups shouldn't "wear out" any different as far as the "pickup" part is concerned. Any sufficiently old pickup that may have corroded, gotten a bit unwound, lost magnetism or has become microphonic can be considered "worn out" - the only thing is how much it really affects you.

Active pickups do have the added "active" part, though. The electronics in the built-in preamp might also corrode in the sense that the resistors, capacitors etc drift from their original values, making the sound just different, worse or, as it sometimes goes, completely gone, making the pickup as dead as a doornail. Also, EMG might've changed the construction inside the pickups so you should account that, as well.

rumblinbass · #18 07-27-2010, 07:27 AM

I have heard that the magnetic field can weaken over time.

Gord_oh · #19 07-27-2010, 07:30 AM

doesnt the winding get loose and need to be rewound?
its a matter of preference too.
winding will affect tone, so im sure there are people that like differently wound pups.

Gord_oh · #20 07-27-2010, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rumblinbass

I have heard that the magnetic field can weaken over time.

like 200 years.