A2 in a 59--does it exist?

[Artie]

Me trying to disassemble pickups:

I'm not beatin' ya up . . . but you don't disassemble a pup to swap/flip a magnet. Half turn on each bottom screw. Then break the "sticktion" with a popsicle stick/tongue-depressor, then push it out one end.

 

[Inflames626]

I'm not beatin' ya up . . . but you don't disassemble a pup to swap/flip a magnet. Half turn on each bottom screw. Then break the "sticktion" with a popsicle stick/tongue-depressor, then push it out one end.

I thought the tape/bobbins etc. had to be disassembled. I certainly didn't want to get anywhere near the coils.

I have learned something today, thank you. Still not feeling brave enough to try, though, especially if the wind isn't optimized for the new A2 magnet, as seemed to be the case in the original design.

I would feel like maybe I'd need to redo the wind as well. The expectation would be a slightly warmer, thicker A2P since it would be based on a 59 and not a Jazz.

Still, it's really just curiosity. I've had great luck with a 57 Classic +/A2P bridge/EMG 60A in 24 volts for producing warm tones in the neck, as well as a Custom 5.

I may try a Custom Custom and Custom/59 hybrid in the neck next to see what happens.

 

[Artie]

What I do is: Half turn on the bottom bobbin screws. Maybe 1 turn. I take a popsicle stick and cut off one round end. Then file the new square edge with a file to make a "soft" wedge. Use that edge to gently pry up one end of the tape. Just a smidgen. Just enough to see the mag. Then gently pry the bobbins up, (by a hair), to break the wax stick-tion. (A word usually used to describe motorcycle front fork action.) Then gently, (I'll use that word a lot), push the magnet out a millimeter or two. Just enough to "flex" the tape on the other end. Then use the stick to lift the edge of the tape, (at the "pushed" end), over the mag. Push the mag out a little more. If you're swapping mags, bring the new mag up against the protruding edge, before you remove it completely. That gets your N/S aligned correctly. Lay the new mag down on the table without losing its orientation. Slide the old mag out the rest of the way, and then pick up the new mag and slide it back in with the same orientation. Use the wood stick to center it. Snug down the screws and use your finger to reset and smooth the tape.

I should probably make a video of this. It's pretty simple. If you're doing a mag flip, it's exactly the same, but when you remove the mag, you flip it and slide it back in.

Edit: Above I said popsicle stick. A tongue depressor is better. But it's hard to buy just one. Ask for one next time you see your Doc.

 

[Mincer]

I'm not beatin' ya up . . . but you don't disassemble a pup to swap/flip a magnet. Half turn on each bottom screw. Then break the "sticktion" with a popsicle stick/tongue-depressor, then push it out one end.

This is what I've always done. I've had some cloth pickup tape handy in case I can't get the stock stuff to stick again.

 

[Artie]

This is what I've always done. I've had some cloth pickup tape handy in case I can't get the stock stuff to stick again.

Yup. I keep a roll around.

 

[beaubrummels]

I lift the tape almost completely off and use the blunt end of a small little wooden skewer to push the mag out. I try not to stretch the tape, I pull it back around snug when I'm done and hold it in my hand and gently give it a squeeze when it's warmed up. Then let it sit for a while. I've never had a problem with wrecking a coil or the tape not going back on firmly or any problems with the pickup performance after modding. I have some StewMac bobbin tape if worse comes to worse, though it never has so far.

 

[marcello252]

Edit: Above I said popsicle stick. A tongue depressor is better. But it's hard to buy just one. Ask for one next time you see your Doc.

I always used a flat screwdriver being very careful, it works anyway unless you try to kill the pickp by stabbing it

anyway, a lot of diy shops have flat wood sticks in the form of tongue depressors, they've been used to make stuff for christmas for example and various adobes or for diorama models, they're cheap and I use them in many things, not neccessarily guitarrelated

 

[jeremy]

i use a chopstick, works fine

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Swapping magnets is easy.

Personally, it's removing and reataching covers that's more of a chore to me. To me, it's happened more than once that the pickup turns slightly microphonic and requires to be repotted when doing this.

 

[GuitarStv]

Swapping magnets is easy.

Personally, it's removing and reataching covers that's more of a chore to me. To me, it's happened more than once that the pickup turns slightly microphonic and requires to be repotted when doing this.

I pop a strip of electrical tape over the slug coil, then use a couple clamps to get the cover on tightly before soldering. No microphonic problems so far or need for potting.

 

[marcello252]

Swapping magnets is easy.

Personally, it's removing and reataching covers that's more of a chore to me. To me, it's happened more than once that the pickup turns slightly microphonic and requires to be repotted when doing this.

the almighty hairdryer comes to your help (just point it at max temperature to the bottom of the pickup until it gets hot enough to soften the wax, then turn a fraction the screws, it works with the magnet, if you want to wax the cover repeat this things on the top of the pickup)

 

[Inflames626]

the almighty hairdryer comes to your help (just point it at max temperature to the bottom of the pickup until it gets hot enough to soften the wax, then turn a fraction the screws, it works with the magnet, if you want to wax the cover repeat this things on the top of the pickup)

Potting is something else I avoid, especially when something as simple as wiring a DPDT phase switch annoys me.

I appreciate you guys' encouragement and saying it's easy, but I don't think it would be for me to do swaps.

 

[ToneFiddler]

oh man, what are you doing if your string breaks?
tech?
potting is super easy like making tea, well ok the wax shouldn't boil

 

[Inflames626]

oh man, what are you doing if your string breaks?
tech?
potting is super easy like making tea, well ok the wax shouldn't boil

I do everything on guitar except:
1) Wood (need special tools)
2) Paint (need a booth for poly)
3) Nut slotting (need special tools and skills)
4) Fretwork (need special tools and skills)
5) Fiddling with the innards of a pickup

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I don't do fretwork either. I just got some nut files, and I don't think you need any other skills other than a sense of sight, LOL. And well, another guitar that plays well/intonates well to compare at what depth the nut slots should be at. It's not hard, really.

At least when "fine tuning" a Graphtech or similar nut. If you're cutting a bone note from scratch, then yeah, probably more involved process.

I hate soldering as well, but if it's something I can do, I'd rather learn to do it myself than pay someone to do it, and then have to wait to have my guitar back.

I think if you learn to do the more simple guitar setup/tech-y things, and invest in some simple tools, not only can you save a lot of money, but get guitars that play and sound better by your own standards.

Again, you don't really have to if you don't want to, but you seem pretty knowledgeable about recording, frequencies, guitars in general. I don't think it's going to be hard for you to learn other more simple skills like dissasembling a pickup and putting it back together. It's just unscrewing some screws and sliding a magnet in.

It does help if you have a compass around to know which side of the magnet is north, though. It's a PITA to put the guitar back together and realize your middle position is out of phase.

But yeah, the pickup thing is not more complicated than actual pickup swaps. The most involved processes are mixing coils and whatnot, but even those are not more complicated than the average pickup swap either. It's MUCH easier than the other tasks you mention not doing yourself.

 

[misterwhizzy]

Rather, it is probably less shielded than a US made pickup, and it probably has two conductors instead of four.

The 59 has two conductors.

 

[Inflames626]

The 59 has two conductors.

I have 4 conductor shielded in the drop down box here:

https://www.seymourduncan.com/single-product/59-model

 

[beaubrummels]

The default used to be 1C and 4C was a shop floor custom order (still is for most other models, I believe?). Now you can order either straightaway.

 

[Clint 55]

There's no option for short leg tho.

 

[Inflames626]

There's no option for short leg tho.

I learned leg length matters in shallow bodied guitars the hard way.