Guitar Repair in London

[JeffM]

I have an old Fender Dual Professional steel and the electrics need sorting out.

Can anyone recommend a tech in London who would be up to the job.

Thanks

[Basil Henriques]

What's the problem ?
BTW be careful where you leave it.

I'm in Essex. I've done guitar (6 string) repairs, and electrics before. Any good to you?
Jason

[JeffM]

What's the problem ?
BTW be careful where you leave it.

There are possibly 2 problems as far as I can tell.

The first is pretty simple (but not for me to do myself!!!) in that the tone and volume controls both work as volume controls and there is an earth hum that goes away when you touch any of the metal parts. There is a very old capacitor in there which is probably the problem with the tone control at least.

The second problem is a bit more difficult I think - the tone is very thin with little bass and the volume is low compared to my T8 Custom. People have said this is a symptom of broken coils on the pickups. I have written to Kent Armstrong (his son, actually, who now runs the business) to see of he would be able to do this, if necessary, but no response so far. Even if did send the pickups to him, I'd need a tech to remove and re-fit the pickups for me.

I know there are a few guys in the States who rewire/re-magnetize these pickups but didn't want to send them there if possible. Kent Armstrong was the only guy this side of the pond I could think of.

Could you not test the resistance of the pickup coil with a multi meter? you'd need to know what it's supposed to be, obviously. Just thinking aloud here. No doubt Basil will correct me if I'm wrong

Found this.

http://www.juststeelguitar.com/pickups.html
Might post to uk, or advise?
Jason

[JeffM]

Found this.

http://www.juststeelguitar.com/pickups.html
Might post to uk, or advise?
Jason

Thanks for that, Jason. Thw wiring diagram in particular might be useful. Looks like they specialise in the Stringmaster pickups which are really just an 8 string version of a regular pickup. These ones are a bit different in that the strings effectively go through the pickyp (the chrome "cover" is actually part of the pickup).

I spoke to Gerry Hogan and he suggested taking it to Chandlers (as did someone else on another forum) which is what I did. The tech who specialises in vintage guitars isn't back till Monday so I should have a prognosis next week with a bit of luck.

I knew about the multimeter thing but don't actually have one but they'll check it out at the repair shop. From everyone I have spoken to, a problem with the coils sounds like the most likely scenario.

I'll keep you posted.

[Basil Henriques]

Hi JeffM, the wiring would have to be sorted out, and this is the correct wiring:-

N.B. Both of those pots are A (Audio Taper) i.e. logarithmic.
Let us know how you get on with the repair.

[Mark]

Baz: The volume pot connection arrangement shown on your schematic, is that correct?

Mark

[Basil Henriques]

Absolutely, that's from the Fender workshop manuals, and I know it's correct because Ron Bennett rebuilt one..Also my student Joerg Schubert in Germany has one and he'll confirm the wiring..
The pot MUST be an "Audio Taper" one I.E. Log, not Linear..As for the capacitor I have a "NOS" one I can send you..

Source:-
http://www.juststeelguitar.com/images/F ... alProf.gif