[Jerryman]

I have a set of the first Strat  vintage replica yickups made by Dimarzio in the 1970's, called the 'VS-1'.  The DC resitance readings on these that I have are; One is 5.98. One is 5.79, and one is Dead. The Dead  was just working fine in the guitar, but i guess something snapped.

 I also have a set of  the next issue Dimarzio Strat vintage replica pickups after the Vs-1's, called the 'Class of '55's'. They are supposed to all be 5.75 as advertised when they were manufactured; One is 5.75, one is 5.79, and one 5.94. Crazy!; is there supposed to be that much variance, and why?

As you can see, like old vintage Fenders, there is considerable variance in the DC resistance measurements  on these old pickups.

 Is there also  that much variance in readings of modern cnc wound  pickups, or are the DC resistance readings all the same now?

[Matt_B]

In the case of the Class of 55s pickups your worst case is +3.3% and the average, based upon your sample size is 1.33% over spec. To me that's a negligible difference that I would bet is inaudible. Consider that the pots we wire into the circuit typically have a 10% tolerance.

I understand your curiosity but 3 pickups is an incredibly small sample size to worth with.  I'd bet that Dimarzio does a QC check on coil resistance so they make sure nothing horrifically wrong leaves the factory.

[darkbluemurder]

Indeed the variance is small and could relate to things which are beyond reasonable control of the manufacturer, such as the wire thickness in a given spool of wire which can vary. The larger the production run the more difficult it gets to control these things.

Cheers Stephan

[DarthPhineas]

some manufacturers allow for a 10% variance.  5% in each direction, unless I'm mistaken or I've misunderstood what I've read and been told.  even at that, there is really only one pickup design that I've heard of that is going to be consistent from one to another.  even so, what difference is about 1%?  someone like Eric Johnson might be able to hear that.  I don't think I could.

who knows what is the basis for the specs that are officially posted.  a random production model?  a prototype?  I don't think it matters.  while an important spec, resistance doesn't reveal quite as much as we have been led to believe it means in the big scheme of things.

a bit of difference can be allowed for things beyond the manufacturer's control...such as temperature or any possible difference between one multimeter to another.  and yes, the wire specs can come in to play...as in many cases a coil is wound to a certain # of turns and not to a certain DCR.  and the same wire spec comes in to play when considering the source of the wire.... as not all builders are going to be using the same wire from the same source from 35+ years ago.  even if they do, random elements come in to play.

many older pickups back in the day were just wound for a certain amount of time and were made with whatever materials were on-hand.  that's why specs are all over the place on those old PAFs and many of the other classic pickups.