Unsoldering a Gibson pickup cover

[dissonance Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dissonance]

I took out my bridge but my 30 watt soldering iron barely even melts the solder that's attaching the cover. How are people taking covers off their Gibson pickups? I'm starting to think it'd be easier to just buy a new cover.

[STRATDELUXER97 Stratoblaster Tone Meister Find all posts View Profile Close STRATDELUXER97]

I always use a dremel tool with a small metal cutting wheel on it and cut right through the solder...It's the safest and fastest way I've found to do this...Click on the link and look through my tutorial and you'll see how I do it...

http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/barmagswap.htm

John

[Robert S. Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Robert S.]

Thats the best way i have found to do it as well. If you are hoping to get gibby covers onto SD pickups, I don't believe they fit.

[STRATDELUXER97 Stratoblaster Tone Meister Find all posts View Profile Close STRATDELUXER97]

Originally posted by Robert S.
Thats the best way i have found to do it as well. If you are hoping to get gibby covers onto SD pickups, I don't believe they fit.

They don't.The Duncans have a closer towards center spacing on both "E" poles..Been there,done that... A Dimarzio Nickel cover will fit over the Duncan though if you can't get a Duncan cover...

www.gtrheaven.com sells Duncan covers...

John

[Fusion1 Mojo's Minions Find all posts View Profile Close Fusion1]

I haven't seen this asked before, but do F-spaced (Dimarzio) and Trem spaced (Seymour Duncan) have specialized covers for those types?

[STRATDELUXER97 Stratoblaster Tone Meister Find all posts View Profile Close STRATDELUXER97]

Originally posted by Fusion1
I haven't seen this asked before, but do F-spaced (Dimarzio) and Trem spaced (Seymour Duncan) have specialized covers for those types?

I've never seen a cover on any F spaced or tremspaced humbuckers...

John

[Tony_H Ultimate Tone Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tony_H]

Originally posted by STRATDELUXER97
I've never seen a cover on any F spaced or tremspaced humbuckers...

John

I haven't either, and I think they wouldn't fit each other. I think while the polepiece spread on F-Spaced and Trembucker may be the same (MAY BE - I never compared it myself), SD pups definitely have larger bobbins because the amount of plastic in the rounded bobbin ends is the same as on the bobbin edges in the straight section, while F-spaced DiMarzios have the same size of bobbin for both neck and bridge positions, which means that the rounded edge of the bobbin is narrower than elsewhere on the bobbin. (Geez that's complicated ... but I think I'm right on this ...

[Tony_H Ultimate Tone Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tony_H]

Re: Unsoldering a Gibson pickup cover

Originally posted by dissonance
I took out my bridge but my 30 watt soldering iron barely even melts the solder that's attaching the cover. How are people taking covers off their Gibson pickups? I'm starting to think it'd be easier to just buy a new cover.

It's not easy but I can do it. I always heat the solder joint while prying the cover off the pup baseplate with a screwdriver. But this is not the safest way, and you have to be very careful or once the solder blob gets loose and the pup cover gives way, the screwdriver may suddenly run inside the pickup and break the windings and destroy the pup and what not. I am very careful and have never harmed any part of the pup though.

[psychodave Tone Member Find all posts View Profile Close psychodave]

Re: Re: Unsoldering a Gibson pickup cover

Originally posted by Tony_H
It's not easy but I can do it. I always heat the solder joint while prying the cover off the pup baseplate with a screwdriver. But this is not the safest way, and you have to be very careful or once the solder blob gets loose and the pup cover gives way, the screwdriver may suddenly run inside the pickup and break the windings and destroy the pup and what not. I am very careful and have never harmed any part of the pup though.

This is how I do it. I dont actually melt all of the solder. The pressure from the screwdriver "pops" the solder joint apart.

[STRATDELUXER97 Stratoblaster Tone Meister Find all posts View Profile Close STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Re: Re: Unsoldering a Gibson pickup cover

Originally posted by psychodave
This is how I do it. I dont actually melt all of the solder. The pressure from the screwdriver "pops" the solder joint apart.

I don't like doing it with a soldering iron though because it melts the wax up....The dremel tool is quick and easy,but either way works..

John

[psychodave Tone Member Find all posts View Profile Close psychodave]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Unsoldering a Gibson pickup cover

Originally posted by STRATDELUXER97
I don't like doing it with a soldering iron though because it melts the wax up....The dremel tool is quick and easy,but either way works..

John

The dremel works the best...but my dremel broke and I am too cheap to get a new one

[STRATDELUXER97 Stratoblaster Tone Meister Find all posts View Profile Close STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Unsoldering a Gibson pickup cover

Originally posted by psychodave
The dremel works the best...but my dremel broke and I am too cheap to get a new one

Come on over and borrow mine,ya cheapskate!

John

[Gearjoneser Gear Ho Find all posts View Profile Close Gearjoneser]

I need a dremel tool. I use a small piece of a metal saw blade.
and saw it away from the pickup. The advantage of sawing the solder with a blade or dremel blade, is that you can easily reassemble the pickup by re-melting the existing solder points.

[STRATDELUXER97 Stratoblaster Tone Meister Find all posts View Profile Close STRATDELUXER97]

Originally posted by Gearjoneser
I need a dremel tool. I use a small piece of a metal saw blade.
and saw it away from the pickup. The advantage of sawing the solder with a blade or dremel blade, is that you can easily reassemble the pickup by re-melting the existing solder points.

True....I just use some new solder,but the old solder just sitting there always works fine also..While soldering,I always tip the side I'm soldering so I can get the solder to flow towards the edges of the cover and into the crevice and onto the plate..I Let gravity help do it's thing...

John