I have a lap steel with a pickup that I think might be bad. I put a multimeter across it and read open (infinite ohms). What does that number tell me? Strangely, though, the pickup still works.
I know it's an old post, but I just saw it and realized no one had replied. (I was doing a search to find the most recent thread or threads about lap steel, and this one popped up.)
If you can't pull the pickup out and measure it without anything else in series between the pup and the meter, you can check it by using the ohmmeter on the end of a cable plugged into the guitar. But be aware that you'll probably also be reading the resistance of the volume control and other components along with that.
Infinite resistance would most likely indicate an "open," no electrical (DC) continuity from measurement point 'A' to point 'B'. That's not good. Guitar pickups are usually upwards of 5,000 ohms (5K Ω).
If you haven't already found out what you needed to know, check out one of the various online tutorials on how to measure pickup resistance.
