Basically there are two types of volt-ohm meters that can be used for measuring guitar and bass pickups. I use both analog and digital meters for measuring the DC resistance of pickups. The analog meter is one that has a movable pointer and the digital meters which are more popular now gives you the precise numerical reading.
You have two connecting wires with pointers or clips and the black wire is plugged into to the ground or common terminal and the red wire is plugged into the volt-ohm terminal. Pickups can generally run from 2.5 K to 20 K DC resistance on average. I use a fluke multimeter and set my meter to DC and to the 20 K range. It will measure DC resistance up to 20 K or 20 thousand ohms. Look at the meter carefully and make sure all the settings are set to DC before measuring the circuit in an instrument.
Measure pickups and switches with the instrument unplugged from the amplifier. Touch or clip the black or ground wire from the meter to the ground connection in the circuit. The red wire from the meter can now test between contacts and connections to measure the DC resistance of the pickups or to check out contacts in a switch. When measuring pickups and connections, make sure the volume control is turned all the way up or disconnected from the circuit so it doesn't interfere with the accuracy of your DC resistance.
Also determine the position of your lever or toggle switches when measuring the DC resistance of pickups when they are in the instrument. The switch can put two pickups in parallel or series and effect the reading of each pickup. This can happen with a 5 way lever switch in the 2 and 4 position and a Gibson style toggle switch in the middle position of a Les Paul or other two or three pickup instrument.
WRITTEN ON JUNE 12, 2015, BY