software

Still checking about that old JB J pickup (:

I'm wondering, how can I examine and check an old pickup for being undamaged and uncorrupted? What things can I look for and test before its fixed on my guitar to find out that its no good?

Use a multimeter to see if each coil gives a DC resistance of around 8kOhms. Tap lightly on the poles of each coil while it's touched to the leads of your cable and plugged into your amp - see if there's noise. Or even get it close to vibrating strings and see if it picks up!

Thanks for the reply Jester.
I'm more concerned about small defects rather than a dead pickup.
Do pickups at all tend to reduce in quality after say 10-15 years after production? Does anything but rusted poles regulary happens to pickups?

and of course I'm talking about Hi-Fi ones.

naa, not noticably man - some prefer aged magnets! the antiquities have pre-aged ones..

and i have a double-cream jazz from before they were called jazzes, it sounds awesome you got nothing to worry about man

tom