Can a Dimarzio Rail Pickup be fixed....

steven.marks · September 2023

Evening all, I very foolishing forced a non dimarzio pickup cover onto a Dimarzio Chopper rail. I didn't think I was applying that much pressure but clearly it was too much. One audible "crack" later and the pickup is poorly.

I've put the multimeter on it and touching red with black/white gives me around 4k so there is some life in it seemingly. However, anything involving the green wire gives me nothing.

If I apply some pressure to one end of the pickup ie pressing the green base and coils firmly together I get some action on the green and red options wires in line with both north and south coils in series. Sooooooooo, anyone done anything as silly as this and have any insights into if I can get it fixed or fix it myself?

It feels like where the wires go into the green base, there is a solder joint on the understand for each wire. I suspect that one is no longer connected to the solder. I was thinking of removing the solder and seeing what the wire situation was like. On inspection the coil wires all seem intact and head into the green base.

Kittyfrisk · September 2023

Calling @OilCityPickups & @Alegree

steven.marks · September 2023

https://imgur.com/a/rrkcftK

Picture hopefully brings to life some of my words!!

Funkfingers · September 2023

Is the output cable of your pickup hard wired to the PCB or the more recent five-pin Solderless™ block connector.

The former type might be repairable with a touch of a soldering iron. Depends were the break has occurred.

Rewinding narrow dual coil pickups is possible but it is such a PITA that many repairers would decline the task.

steven.marks · September 2023

It's the 5 pin quick connector. Looking at the very simple PCB the 5 pin is joined to the four points on the base plate as per the picture. Given how it become broken I suspect that one corners connection is the issue rather than a break overall but I'm obviously guessing. I wonder if I could test the wires as they enter the PCB. Would that be valid to test? It seems like if that worked then I knew the break was why the wire was soldered to the PCB. Fiddly :-)

ICBM · September 2023

It sounds like you may have snapped the coil wire where it goes through the thickness of the board - probably right at the back of the solder pad - it will be at either the green or white terminal. If so, it may be repairable if you carefully desolder the joints to expose the hole through the board and the end of the coil wire. Then get a very fine wire down into the hole and solder it to the end of the wire. Then - this is the tricky bit - resolder it to the pad without undoing the joint you've just made...

Funkfingers · September 2023

Test for continuity between the coil start/finish soldering pads and the respective pins on the block connector. If you have continuity there, the issue is on the coil side of the PCB.

I don't know what makers such as Ash and Alex charge for rewinding services BUT that plus postage both ways is likely to exceed the price of an unmolested, pre-owned DiMarzio The Chopper.

steven.marks · September 2023

ICBM said:

It sounds like you may have snapped the coil wire where it goes through the thickness of the board - probably right at the back of the solder pad - it will be at either the green or white terminal. If so, it may be repairable if you carefully desolder the joints to expose the hole through the board and the end of the coil wire. Then get a very fine wire down into the hole and solder it to the end of the wire. Then - this is the tricky bit - resolder it to the pad without undoing the joint you've just made...

This is kind of what I was thinking. They are not the most expensive items in the world but the quick connectors are more tricky to get hold of and all of my Charvels need the flangeless pickups. I guess removing the existing solder should give me a steer. It feels like I've not got too much to lose and plenty to gain.

steven.marks · September 2023

Funkfingers said:

Test for continuity between the coil start/finish soldering pads and the respective pins on the block connector. If you have continuity there, the issue is on the coil side of the PCB.

I don't know what makers such as Ash and Alex charge for rewinding services BUT that plus postage both ways is likely to exceed the price of an unmolested, pre-owned DiMarzio The Chopper.

Thanks, I do that next!

Funkfingers · September 2023

THINKS: If one coil of rails/track pickup is still operational, it could be relegated to the middle position on a HSH guitar.

Half a DiMarzio Chopper is roughly equivalent to a Cruiser Neck model.

ICBM · September 2023

Funkfingers said:

THINKS: If one coil of rails/track pickup is still operational, it could be relegated to the middle position on a HSH guitar.

Thinks: and with a DC resistance as low as 4K, it will probably achieve the same sort of "sucks all the mids out of the humbuckers and ends up sounding very Strat-like in the 2 and 4 positions" result as the Duncan Vintage Rails in my PRS does. Likewise, the middle position would have to be neck+bridge rather than the middle pickup, since it will sound awful by itself...

Funkfingers · September 2023

THINKS #2: The moribund DiMarzio could be used to fill the middle pickup cut-out in a two pickup guitar that is wired with the DiMarzio/Ibanez five-way HH circuit.

I have a Charvel Model 3 arranged this way. The middle position is a dud Jackson S-100 single coil under a luridly coloured DiMarzio pickup cover.

•

Lookin' for some positive uses of the OP's damaged pickup.

OilCityPickups · September 2023

Funkfingers said:

Test for continuity between the coil start/finish soldering pads and the respective pins on the block connector. If you have continuity there, the issue is on the coil side of the PCB.

I don't know what makers such as Ash and Alex charge for rewinding services BUT that plus postage both ways is likely to exceed the price of an unmolested, pre-owned DiMarzio The Chopper.

Absolutely! The trouble with these 'modern' PCB base material/block connector pickups is that they are designed to be built cheaply and quickly by unskilled workforces. They are basically built not to be repaired. My rewind charges start at £30 a coil for humbuckers, so for a pickup like this they are not really worth it for the customer ... and I must admit that they are such a pain in the arse to do that it's not really worth it economically for me. I could rewind three conventional humbuckers that come apart with screws and use no glue or nasties in their manufacture in the time it takes me to do one of these!

Plus, I wouldn't have to go kick the cat afterwards :-)

steven.marks · September 2023

Funkfingers said:

THINKS #2: The moribund DiMarzio could be used to fill the middle pickup cut-out in a two pickup guitar that wired with the DiMarzio/Ibanez five-way HH circuit.

I have a Charvel Model 3 arranged this way. The middle position is a dud Jackson S-100 single coil under a luridly coloured DiMarzio pickup cover.

•

Lookin' for some positive uses of the OP's damaged pickup.

Another good idea and I love the word moribund... reminds me of Alan Partridge

steven.marks · September 2023

OilCityPickups said:

Funkfingers said:

Test for continuity between the coil start/finish soldering pads and the respective pins on the block connector. If you have continuity there, the issue is on the coil side of the PCB.

I don't know what makers such as Ash and Alex charge for rewinding services BUT that plus postage both ways is likely to exceed the price of an unmolested, pre-owned DiMarzio The Chopper.

Absolutely! The trouble with these 'modern' PCB base material/block connector pickups is that they are designed to be built cheaply and quickly by unskilled workforces. They are basically built not to be repaired. My rewind charges start at £30 a coil for humbuckers, so for a pickup like this they are not really worth it for the customer ... and I must admit that they are such a pain in the arse to do that it's not really worth it economically for me. I could rewind three conventional humbuckers that come apart with screws and use no glue or nasties in their manufacture in the time it takes me to do one of these!

Plus, I wouldn't have to go kick the cat afterwards :-)

Poor old cat - I had the feeling that repair would be uneconomical if a rewind was required. Thanks for confirming

steven.marks · September 2023

@OilCityPickups ; has agreed to take a look at the pickup, no cats will be harmed in this process ;-)

Funkfingers · September 2023

OilCityPickups said:
I wouldn't have to go kick the cat afterwards :-)

Very Zen …

… And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance.

steven.marks said:
I had the feeling that repair would be uneconomical if a rewind was required. Thanks for confirming

OilCityPickups has agreed to take a look at the pickup

This suggests to me that no rewinding will be required. Just the reattaching of some connections. Still, not much fun.

roberty · September 2023

steven.marks said:

@OilCityPickups ; has agreed to take a look at the pickup, no cats will be harmed in this process ;-)

Hope it's an easy fix. For you and the cat

OilCityPickups · September 2023

roberty said:

steven.marks said:

@OilCityPickups ; has agreed to take a look at the pickup, no cats will be harmed in this process ;-)

Hope it's an easy fix. For you and the cat

I'll kick a traffic warden instead ... much more satisfying

ICBM · September 2023

OilCityPickups said:

I'll kick a traffic warden instead ... much more satisfying

I know how you feel. Five years ago I saw a traffic warden writing a ticket, so I ran back to my car to move it before he could finish… tripped over and acquired several more bones in my left elbow than it was intended to have.

I still got in the car and drove off with no ticket though, that showed him! (And now have a metal bit in my arm and was off work for a couple of months due to not being able to drive, so possibly not really a win…)

OilCityPickups · September 2023

ICBM said:

OilCityPickups said:

I'll kick a traffic warden instead ... much more satisfying

I know how you feel. Five years ago I saw a traffic warden writing a ticket, so I ran back to my car to move it before he could finish… tripped over and acquired several more bones in my left elbow than it was intended to have.

I still got in the car and drove off with no ticket though, that showed him! (And now have a metal bit in my arm and was off work for a couple of months due to not being able to drive, so possibly not really a win…)

We have a particularly vindictive bunch who prowl the road outside the Oil City workshops. A customer dropped off a bass a few weeks ago between 1.00 and 2.00 PM when parking is free ... and we watched a parking warden pull up behind my customer's vehicle before 1.45 and stand watching it ... waiting for the free hour to end to pounce!

Gizmo · September 2023

steven.marks said:

Evening all, I very foolishing forced a non dimarzio pickup cover onto a Dimarzio Chopper rail.

Funny i did this the other way around and broke a chinese rail pickup (no great loss it cost £3!)

Also funny that i came across this cover in my parts box this afternoon and was about to throw it up in the payitforward thread....So if you do get this Diz rail fixed and want a cream/off white cover that looks like this

Image: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1n65o_Ihb7VSd7HQ5JDkm5QZwzng_F1Vx

For it fire me a PM.

GL

steven.marks · September 2023

Gizmo said:

steven.marks said:

Evening all, I very foolishing forced a non dimarzio pickup cover onto a Dimarzio Chopper rail.

Funny i did this the other way around and broke a chinese rail pickup (no great loss it cost £3!)

Also funny that i came across this cover in my parts box this afternoon and was about to throw it up in the payitforward thread....So if you do get this Diz rail fixed and want a cream/off white cover that looks like this

For it fire me a PM.

GL

Thanks , I shall see what happens!

OilCityPickups · September 2023

I have the pickup on the bench and am working out a strategy ... issues: the rails are CNC soldered to the baseplate as far as I can see ... and the bobbins are both glued to the baseplate ... and in addition are glued together! The coil wires are taken bare through the baseplate and once again I would say CNC soldered to the tracks on the circuit board with no slack and no 'pigtails'.

Image: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/2WwAAOSw7mdhC75M/s-l1600.jpg

Here you can see some £14.00 Artec 12k hot 'rails' style pickups where you can see a similar design decision but using eyelets rather than a chunk of circuit board material with a connector attached :-)
The chopper at 9.6k will probably be up a wire grade (thickness).
We shall delve deeper ...

OilCityPickups · September 2023

Got yer chopper on my bench ... and removed the damaged coil.
Interestingly, although DiMarzio claim this is a ceramic magnet ... this one appears to be nickel plated bar neodymium. Lots more powerful than ceramic.

OilCityPickups · September 2023

And to to tell the full story

Clearly a plated neodymium rather than ceramic ...you can't plate ceramic! :-)

Holes that had just taken copper wire drilled out to take proper pigtails

core wire broken too short to be viable to solder to.

The blades are actually soldered to fragile tracks on the underside of the baseplate

Anyway I found the slightly thicker copper wire had been pulled loose from the central core when I ....

removed the wire :-)

Then made up a little jig to hold the bobbin ...

Fitted proper pigtails ... so that coil can be repaired if this happens again.

Blades re soldered to base ... wires soldered to end tags ... nasty, cheapo connector re

And done .... please be careful when fitting covers to this sort of DiMarzio ... they are not super strong and repairs are simply awful to do and generally uneconomical. I am going to do this at a special price for @steven.marks as I wanted to show everyone what's entailed.

Oh and DiMarzio can 'do one' with their packaging ... lordy, worse than a Rubik's Cube to replace!

Funkfingers · September 2023

Same goes for the Seymour Duncan SHRT-1N. I have witnessed the PCB being torn away from the coils due to overzealous direct mounting.

TTony · September 2023

I get the feeling that you love a challenge Ash @OilCityPickups ;

OilCityPickups · September 2023

Funkfingers said:

Same goes for the Seymour Duncan SHRT-1N. I have witnessed the PCB being torn away from the coils due to overzealous direct mounting.

One of the issues is that PCB material is both totally unyielding, and also impossible to glue firmly to. This is why folks use screws and standoffs foe circuit boards that need resilience.

TTony said:

I get the feeling that you love a challenge Ash @OilCityPickups ;

'Rise to' lol not 'love' :-)

roberty · September 2023

With you on the Rubik's Cube thing @OilCityPickups boxing them back up is an art in itself

OilCityPickups · September 2023

roberty said:

With you on the Rubik's Cube thing @OilCityPickups boxing them back up is an art in itself

The foam triangles are like the seashells in 'Demolition man'.

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Can a Dimarzio Rail Pickup be fixed....

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