Will new Pups help me?

[TS Anderson]

Re: Will new Pups help me?

Actually, you bring up a good point... my amp. I ended up buying a Tech 21 Trademark 60 amp as my first, simply because I wasn't sure which tube was going to end up being what I want once finally get "there" with my playing ability. It seemed like the Tech 21 would give me a little bit of everything.


I cringe as I write this... but does that change anything in terms of my PuPs and your suggestions in your opinion?

TS

[Luke Duke]

Re: Will new Pups help me?

TS, I love helping folks out so don't mention it! It's all about the tone.

I have never personally tried a Tech 21 but have heard many good things about them. I wouldn't change my pup selection based on my amp unless it has some strange quirk.....say like it has no highs, ever. You should still be fine. When you get a tube amp your pups will then sound that much better to you as well.

Luke

P.S. our playing abilities NEVER get there, we only want new toys!

[TS Anderson]

Re: Will new Pups help me?

Phew!

Once I get around to listen to and purchasing, I'll post my results.

Cross your fingers.

Best,
TS

[Luke Duke]

Re: Will new Pups help me?

Good luck TS, don't be a stranger, there's a plethora of knowledge here.

Luke

[TS Anderson]

Re: Will new Pups help me?

Oh... one other thing. Will I be getting in over my head if I do the installation of new PuPs myself? It seems like the wiring diagram for the guild SF-4 humbuckers is pretty straight forward... one wire goes to ground and one wire heads down the the volume. Is replacing that simple? Will I encounter issues with string-to-string spacing, ect?

[Luke Duke]

Re: Will new Pups help me?

TS, your biggest problem will be getting your pots out of your F-holes. If the guild is constructed like a 335 exactly that will be the only way to replace them. however if you have a backplate it will be a non-issue. Backplates are easy b/c you can see exactly what you are doing and what's going on wire-wise.

Luke

[TS Anderson]

Re: Will new Pups help me?

I don't mean to sound ignorant... but what is a backplate?

[Luke Duke]

Re: Will new Pups help me?

On the back of a Les Paul you know how there are those plastic plates? That's a back plate. Just turn your guitar over and see if there is something screwed onto it. My guess is that there isn't. So what you'll have to do is tie a stringon the pot shaft, unscrew the nut and gently drop the pots down. Next you'll have to move it over to the large part of your F-hole. Then use something to pull it out. From there you'll have to de-solder the the pup lead from the pot. While you have the pot out check the value (500k, 300k, 250k) and if it is not 500k just go on and plan on replacing it. Humbuckers need a 500k pot to breathe correctly (ie have a decent top end). If you plan on doing this all yourself make sure you have LOTS of time because it is very hard and tedious. But with the string attached you can easily pull it back into place.

Take this part with a grain of salt:

I would even go as far as to suggest rewiring your guitar with CTS pots and sprague Orange drop capacitors (caps). It would be an extra 15-20 dollars but the results would be tremendous. Once again all that is saying that Fender (guild) didn't use CTS pots, which they have been doing lately, or they aren't 500k. The cap change might not be so noticeable but it will give you a smoother roll off on your tone control.

Hope this helps man shoot me any more questions you might have.

Luke

[BlueGuitar]

Re: Will new Pups help me?

Oh... one other thing. Will I be getting in over my head if I do the installation of new PuPs myself? It seems like the wiring diagram for the guild SF-4 humbuckers is pretty straight forward... one wire goes to ground and one wire heads down the the volume. Is replacing that simple?

To answer your second question, HELL NO! Working on hollow or semi-hollow guitars can be a real be-yatch... Even experienced professionals cring and hide when confronted with these sunburst devils...

To do it right you would want to pull out both pickups, all 4 pots, the output jack and the selector switch, and work on it outside of the guitar. (For minor rework you can sometimes move one part at a time to the F-hole for access.)

To keep everything from getting mixed up, you can tie dental floss to the shafts of the pots, switch and jack but make sure that it is tied securely. You might want to use a blanket to protect the surface of your guitar from damage.

After going through that a few times with his ES-335 Gil Ayan decided it was easier for him to unsolder the shielded cable from the old pickups and solder it to the new pickups.

It takes a lot of patience to do the work but if you have more time than money you might want to give it a shot, assuming that you have some experience using a soldering iron. (FWIW I have a set of Lindy Fralin humbuckers that I bought for my Heritage H535 a few years ago but I keep coming up with excuses to avoid the job... )

[TS Anderson]

Re: Will new Pups help me?

Okay... on the one hand, I can give it shot and enjoy the end result knowing my own blood and tears got it done. On the other, I can make the 20 min. drive to the local guitar store and pay and extra... I'm guessing $80-100 get get someone else to do it.

I have Dan Erlewine's Guitar Repair books that led me to successfully raise the action, adjust my tail piece, straighten my neck relief and get the intonation spot-on (well... okay... the intonation may not be spot, but it's close). I bought that book because I was tired of paying $45 to get a set-up.

Will this impending pick-ups project trump all of those adjustments?

It sounds like my git. is one of the more complicated to work on... perhaps it is better left up to a professional??????

I couldn't tell from the last post, but were you suggesting just cutting the lines from the old pots and soldering them to the new pick-ups? Are they one-to-one compatable like that?

Also, will it be obvious what kind of pots I have (if I remove one)?


TS

[Luke Duke]

Re: Will new Pups help me?

TS, you could cut the wires and solder to them if you foresaw many pup changes, but that's up to you. There really is not satisfaction like doing it yourself. I have shakey hands and am impatient so I know that this kind of job is not for me. If you have the time and intestinal fortitude I say go for it.

As far as pot brand goes it will say on the top of your pot somewhere around the shaft's threaded collar. The caps will be bright orange and rectangular if they are orange drops. Hovlands (another brand) are yellow and round.

Blueguitar, do you still like your 535 I'd love to pick one up. What kind of options do you have on it?

Luke

[TS Anderson]

Re: Will new Pups help me?

The only markings I can find on my current volume pots is the following:
"38-MD500"... my mirror can't reveal any markings on the tone pots. However, the wiring diagrams available at Guild.com seem to indicate that the volume pots are 500K (the upside-down "U" symbol ) and the tone pots are 200K. Is that good enough to avoid switching everything? If so, can I further assume that the capacitors will be correct, too?

I think I may go ahead and just go for it... why not??? For the most part I can leave the connections (and capacitors) between my volume, tone, jack and selector switch intact... right? The only change will be the leads coming in from the humbuckers. All of this is assuming that the new humbuckers will fit. Has anyone heard of case where the new Pups wouldn't fit (requiring some routing to be done?)? Also, I'm still intrigued about leaving the pots completely intact and just soldering my old lines to the new Pups... any more input on that idea?

At any rate, any input on those thoughts would be appreciated. Also... this is a total newbie question, but is there any functionality to the humbucker nickle covers? Is their only function for looks (i.e. can I just buy the new humbuckers and forego getting the plates??).


Alright, I'm in the process of listening to clips. I'm curious to hear the response to my above thoughts... when I come up with my final decision, I'll be curious to know if the combination I choose draws any negative feedback from you guys.

Best,
TS

[Luke Duke]

Re: Will new Pups help me?

TS, the pots and caps replacement is totally up to you. Like I said I prefer the 500k all the way around, it gives you a better taper to my ears. Chances are the caps are not orange drops but if it works for you that's cool.

As far as making the pups easily changeable it will take cutting off the lead close to the pup's baseplate. (bottom) The pups won't have enough lead left to be sell-able, but if you are just gonna keep em around in a drawer or send them off for a rewind then don't worry about it. From there you'll solder just the hot to the inside conductor and ground to the outside. The only problem I can foresee is if guild uses four conductor pups in which case you'll have to use a meter to make sure you are hooking it up right.

The nickel covers are for protection from the elements and help a little bit in getting rid of extra noise. Some say they attenuate the high end ever so slightly, so if you like the look of open pups by all means get them because tonally there is little to no difference.

Luke