Fantana Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I bought a multimeter today and have had a great time measuring the output of all of my guitars. However the P90s in my Casino measured 11.9k and 12.2k in the neck and bridge respectively, this seems very far off the specs that I've found online, does anyone know if this is correct?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeks Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 In elctronics, 20 percent tolerance is a normal deviation from the marked value in consumer junk electronics. Next, there is 10 percent tolerance. For better made stuff. The top of the line stuff, such as military or space tech electronics would be 1 percent tolerance. So, take your 12K ohm (12000 ohms) and figure out... say 1 percent of the 12000, then do the same for 5 percent and 10 percent. Double the 10 percent and you have 20 percent. Your pickups are well within their nominal rated specs. Also, one must factor in the quality of your multimeter too... some are cheapie junkers with almost useable readings... others are only fair... and the very high priced multimeters are the most precise. So, all in all.... you should sleep well tonight. not to worry. ps - IF your new multimeter is battery operated... which most are... then every time you take a reading... the internal battery is depleted just a tiny bit, add THAT to the reason for differences as well... battery depletion. CHEEKS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i Can Tuna Guitar Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Your readings are substantially higher than the stock spec of 8.8k. Precisely how did you take your readings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeks Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 8.8K spec'd and they are reading 12K area... that IS a rather large difference. If the pots are in the measured circuit, they will affect the readings... measure only the pickups. no other circuitry attached. You will have to disconnect one wire totally from the pickup. The other can remain attached where ever ok. THEN take the resistance reading. also, take at least 3 readings of each. write them down for later reference. make sure all your meter Test Leads are CLEAN and don't have garbage, junk or corrosion on the Test Leads of the meter. I believe you said the meter is brand new. Maybe someone swapped out the pups earlier... and no one knew it... kinda like buying a used car, you don't know what has been swapped out in it.... CHEEKS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i Can Tuna Guitar Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I've gotten reasonably decent readings through the guitar's cable, provided the volume controls were at 10, and the 3-way wasn't in the middle position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantana Posted August 30, 2010 Author Share Posted August 30, 2010 I am measuring the output by plugging a lead into the guitar and placing the prongs on the 2 separate parts on the jack, I know this isn't 100% accurate so i expected maybe a maximum of a 10% variance to allow for this. The readings that I got for both my LPs, my Firebird and my partners Stratocaster all came back within 1.5-2% of the manufacturers specs for those pickups, so I know the readings using my method are particulary accurate. But to have a reading that is between 40-50% higher than the 8.8k that it should be, is rather vexing. Now the pickups are the original ones for the guitar, so it can only be 1 thing.........Epiphone did make a high output P90. So I guess that my real question is, does anyone else have a Casino with high output pickups or does anyone know anything about them? Sorry for not being so clear earlier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrymac Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I bought a multimeter today and have had a great time measuring the output of all of my guitars. However the P90s in my Casino measured 11.9k and 12.2k in the neck and bridge respectively, this seems very far off the specs that I've found online, does anyone know if this is correct?! Yes, a lot a people have complained about the hotness of the standard Casino pups. There were a few discussions about it on the old forum, but I don't know if you can search the old posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeks Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 so, the way it sounds... there were many like yours... but i would be curious to know if when you measured the pickups, whether or not you varied the tone and output knobs with the meter still attached for a reading... If so, what did you observe ? curious... CHEEKS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bynapkinart Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 I have a Standard Casino from 2004 that, prior to modification, had stock Epi P90s measuring 8.9 and 8.5. Keep in mind that all of the extra electronics in a Gibson-style guitar is going to have a huge effect on the PU output measurement the way you're doing it. I would probably check the pickup solo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrymac Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 I bought a multimeter today and have had a great time measuring the output of all of my guitars. However the P90s in my Casino measured 11.9k and 12.2k in the neck and bridge respectively, this seems very far off the specs that I've found online, does anyone know if this is correct?! Yes, a lot a people have complained about the hotness of the standard Casino pups. There were a few discussions about it on the old forum, but I don't know if you can search the old posts. The old forum is Lost in CyberSpace, but I did find one review at Amazon: joseph06's Full Review: Epiphone Casino Electric Guitar Like many people that play an Epiphone Casino, I first got interested in the guitar because of the Beatles. And, like many people who play Casinos, I quickly discovered it can do a lot more than just play the songs off Revolver or Let It Be. I will state up front that the made in Korea Casino is not as good as the Elitist, nor is it as good as the John Lennon models. But it is half the price of the elitist, and a third the price of the Lennon models, and the outstanding quality of those guitars in no way takes away from this one...the standard Casino is good, even very good, those guitars are great. That said, for a casual player that will do a few gigs and informal jams, it's good choice because of not only the value, but the fact that when you bang it up against a mic stand or sweat all over it during a set, you haven't just dented a 1200 dollar guitar. I've played both the Elitist and the Standard side by side, and quite honestly I couldn't call the sound from either one better, just different. The Elitist has an edge in playability, and the hardware is better, but a setup and a few mods can yield you a lot of improvement. I have more or less given up on any guitar being perfect out of the box, no matter how much you spend on it. Consider variances at the factory, temperature and humidity in the warehouse, and however many people play it in the store, and odds are you'll need to set up any guitar. That said, my Casino was well set up out of the box, but it came with lighter strings than I care for (9-42), and I went ahead and got it set up with a heavier set. My preference is for either GHS Nickel Rockers or Gibson Vintage Reissue 11-50 sets. I have known a number of people that own Casinos, and some have had problems, and some have not. I was one of the unlucky ones, within a month of getting my guitar the bridge pickup cover had broken loose from the pickup, giving me a nasty buzz, and I found a couple of the tuners were more or less stripped out. I replaced the tuners with Grovers, the bridge with a Tone Pros, and eventually I swapped out the pickups, and fixed the pickup cover problem in the process. I only really needed to fix the pickup cover and get the screws in the tuners fixed, I chose to replace them more out of want, than necessity. Some of these guitars can also get a really horrible buzz from the wiring harness rattling around against the body (especially if you've modded the electronics and not been careful), but you can easily fix that by using a tie to keep the wiring together and away from the top of the guitar or the little post under the bridge. The stock pickups on the standard Casino seem to be a little hotter than the original P90's. If you're using a solid state amp, you probably won't notice. With a tube rig, like this guitar really deserves, the stock pickups may push the amp a little harder than you want. I personally chose to replace my stock P90's with a set from GFS (you have to modify the chrome covers to get them to work, but you can do it) and I'm very happy with the sound. They are a little lower output...my stock pickups read about 12 ohms, while these are more in the neighborhood of 9 ohms. I find they give me greater clarity with less breakup, and overdrive just as well as the stock pickups. Still, P90s are P90s, and all of them are more alike than different. If you have heard the Revolver album, you know what sort of hot, grungy tone the Casino can produce when pushed through a Vox amp (my personal favorite is "And Your Bird Can Sing" three Casinos on one track!). But with a Fender amp, you can also get a much more traditional blues tone, country twang, and, get a very modern, indy sort sound (the bridge pickup, with a touch of grit in the amp, and little chorus is a very cool sound). If I could only have one electric guitar, I'd pick a Casino, because you can do a little bit of everything on one, with the exception of some really hi-gain styles, which well send you in to howling feedback. But any hollowbody guitar will have that problem. On stage, use a long cable, and don't point the pickups at your amp, and don't try to use some kind of hammer of satan death metal distortion pedal, and you'll be fine. You can also get very musical, controlled feedback with a little practice, if that's what you want. Overall, this is a very cool guitar, that sounds great and is very playable. Honestly, it's probably a bit overpriced because of the Beatles connection, but you could get a whole lot worse for more money. If you can find a factory second, you might save yourself some money and still get a great guitar. You may have to a few modifications to get the kinks worked out, but the end result is definitely worth it. 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Fantana Posted August 31, 2010 Author Share Posted August 31, 2010 Thanks Jerrymac, I knew that you would know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeks Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 i believe i wasted my time here responding. cheeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluelake07 Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 So I guess that my real question is, does anyone else have a Casino with high output pickups or does anyone know anything about them? My 2003 Casino P90 pickups measure similar to yours using the in-circuit method you used. To my knowledge, ohm values for the Korean Casino P90's were not published. Members who have installed Kent Armstrong Casino pickups or had their pickups rewound by Lollar, Novak, Moore and others to "vintage" approx 8K ohms have said there is a noticeable difference in sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiomitch Posted September 1, 2010 Share Posted September 1, 2010 Just checked my Unsung Korea '06 Casino using your method. I got 12.8 on the bridge and 12.46 on the neck. I think it should be the other way around, but there you go. My multimeter is a cheapo digital Radio Shack model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantana Posted September 1, 2010 Author Share Posted September 1, 2010 My 2003 Casino P90 pickups measure similar to yours using the in-circuit method you used. To my knowledge, ohm values for the Korean Casino P90's were not published. Members who have installed Kent Armstrong Casino pickups or had their pickups rewound by Lollar, Novak, Moore and others to "vintage" approx 8K ohms have reported a noticeable difference in sound. Just checked my Unsung Korea '06 Casino using your method. I got 12.8 on the bridge and 12.46 on the neck. I think it should be the other way around, but there you go. My multimeter is a cheapo digital Radio Shack model. I'm suprised that Epi didn't publish the ohms ratings for the pickups, but that does explain why I couldn't find anything, anywhere! So now it's time for the obvious progression in this story, what to upgrade these to?! I love the Gibson P90 and the SD Antiquity P90 but have already encountered trouble finding nickel/chrome covers that will fit............. I'll keep searching for information on t'internet and will post news soon Thnaks guys for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrymac Posted September 1, 2010 Share Posted September 1, 2010 So now it's time for the obvious progression in this story, what to upgrade these to?! I love the Gibson P90 and the SD Antiquity P90 but have already encountered trouble finding nickel/chrome covers that will fit............. I restored an old '80s MIJ Casino with Kent Armstrongs. They were one of the few pickups that were designed specifically for the Casino. Chrome covers, correct heights. You could have the stock pickups rewound, that's another option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjtalon Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 2006 Saein Mine measure: Neck: 11.8 K Bridge 12.07 K combined (parallel) 5.96K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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