Testing Passive Pickups
Testing Passive Pickups
Easy way to test if they work is just to switch on an amp, pick up the plug, place the pickup hot lead onto the tip and the braided wire on the sleeve, strum the strings of a nearby guitar and hover the pickup over the strings. (If the pickup is 4-conductor, one needs to twist together the serial link first)
Measuring DC resistance doesn't really tell much about output, so one would need to measure AC current from the end of the instrument cord to find out the output voltage.. Would need to install the pickup anyway.
Easy way to test if they work is just to switch on an amp, pick up the plug, place the pickup hot lead onto the tip and the braided wire on the sleeve, strum the strings of a nearby guitar and hover the pickup over the strings. (If the pickup is 4-conductor, one needs to twist together the serial link first)
Measuring DC resistance doesn't really tell much about output, so one would need to measure AC current from the end of the instrument cord to find out the output voltage.. Would need to install the pickup anyway.
Do you want to test them to see if they still work or do you want to see if they sound good ?
If it's to listen how well they sound the answer is nope. and even if you could it would'n sound the same as if it was set in a guitar.