Easy pickup changing solution

[Supra]

Wonder why do pickup manufacturers not haste to really simplify the process of pickups changing? I mean some solutions that make changing process really fast and easy "plug-n-play". Just as easy as to change a battery in those panasonic cordless phones. Some cassette principle like putting pickup into holder:?:

 

[harmonix1234]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

Yeah. Agreed.
When David Gilmour was working with Fender to choose the pickups for his signature black strat model, they used a guitar with the side cut out so they could just slide a prewired scratchplate in and out and test various configurations easily.
I thought, why don't they do that at the larger music shops, have a 'seymour stand' with a whole bunch of pickups and a test guitar which you could quickly try, and then order the one you like. It's taken me 20 years and hundreds and hundreds of $ and man hours through trial and error to find my tone. Something like your idea above would have saved me so much time and money.
Also, I do a lot of stuff in the studio and need several guitars to get my different sounds.
I'd much prefer to have one guitar and a toolbox full of interchangeable pickups for studio work. Great idea.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

Not going to happen. PU makers aren't going to standardize plugs, because it lets people easily try other manufacturer's PU's. They can lose sales. Using a soldering iron is easy, and if you look around here you learn how to tweak set ups and PU's, and electronics to dial in PU's to your guitar.

You don't need to try a bunch of PU's in a guitar. Adjusting PU and pole piece heights, & swapping magnets and pots all can often make a PU sound just the way you want it to.

It's already easy to change PU's.

 

[Gibson 1964]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

I wire in molex connectors on my guitars. I can change pickups in my guitars very rapidly. Also, I don't burn out pots since I just plug a connector in after installing connectors on the pots once.

 

[Swyse]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

The Dan Armstrong designed Ampegs had Bill Lawrence designed interchangeable pickups.

Gibson's Push tone Les Paul also had fast swappable pickups.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

Because changing pickups is not an event like plugging in a new pedal or trying a new amp. There is a deal of other work that has to be done in the process of changing pickups that makes the simple matter of two solder joints (30 seconds at most) by far the least time consuming of all.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

Pots and caps don't generally have to be changed each time a pickup is swapped. At most, removing the strings would be the time-eater, unless you're using a double-locking trem (and why would you not?)

I suggested molex connectors years ago and was met with some hysteria about the tone suffering due to solder joints being so superior to metal-on-metal plug connections.
Yet the Liberator gets raves. Go figure.

 

[Gibson 1964]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

I use molex connectors. No tone loss.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

Not going to happen. PU makers aren't going to standardize plugs, because it lets people easily try other manufacturer's PU's. They can lose sales. Using a soldering iron is easy, and if you look around here you learn how to tweak set ups and PU's, and electronics to dial in PU's to your guitar.

You don't need to try a bunch of PU's in a guitar. Adjusting PU and pole piece heights, & swapping magnets and pots all can often make a PU sound just the way you want it to.

It's already easy to change PU's.

On the flip side, a company could standardize plugs so to say "Go ahead, try the completion, you'll like ours better." It would be a bold move of course.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

Pickup makers understand they can't please everyone, and every maker has their own tonal characteristics, so agreeing on a standardized quick-connect system would not hurt anyone's sales any more than agreeing on a standardized color combo and wiring scheme for 4-conductor pickups.

For me, DiMarzios always sounded like they wanted to be run through an amp in a live setting, while Duncans were better suited to direct/studio work. DiMzos sound a bit more raw and unrefined, whereas Duncans sound smoother and easily controlled. Listening to Van Halen's entire Roth-era catalog back to back, you can hear his Duncans; the tone is not as raw as previous albums. I doubt the production style and newer mixing gear changed Ed's tone that drastically in the board, so it's gotta be the pickup.

That said, I've not met a DiMarzio pickup I liked, especially through my rack gear.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

Because changing pickups is not an event like plugging in a new pedal or trying a new amp. There is a deal of other work that has to be done in the process of changing pickups that makes the simple matter of two solder joints (30 seconds at most) by far the least time consuming of all.

Really? What? Other than deciding that you want a different sound? Am I missing something?

 

[AlexR]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

Not sure what you getting on about here, but my point is that you might do the sporadic bit of changing here and there, but its not a daily occurrence like plugging into your amp or swapping between guitars (where common connectors are actually useful). I do a lot of pickup swapping, but once the guitar has its 'best' set in there you don't touch it for perhaps years......and I'd bet that over 90% of people would swap even less than I would.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

^^
It's not a daily occurrence because it has yet to be designed to be so. I can't wait to be seen what can be done with those Fluence pickups using an advanced microswitch.

 

[dukebox]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

What I think it is is that new guitarists who are starting out figure there's a good reason why things are the way they are, and once we know what we're doing, we're too invested in what we've come to know to want to change anything.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

Why would you change pickups every day?!? No logic behind it at all in my eyes......unless you are in the business of testing pickups for an article.

This topic has been brought up many times. It is extremely impractical for a good 3/4 of the guitars out there that have access drillings barely big enough for the stripped wire.
That in itself makes it a bad idea from a widespread production point of view.

But plug-in connectors can be easily applied to a pickup....then you can plug away. But its amazing how many people suddenly don't want to make even the simplest little bit of extra effort.


But thats what this thread is all about really.....a plug-in life.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

I think the biggest reason you don't see an abundance of quick-change solution for pickups is that, generally, the average player doesn't spend a lot of time or energy swapping different pickups in and out of their guitars. They tend to find the ones they like in a guitar and leave them there, at least for a while. Quick-change connectors, copper contacts, etc. are always going to be failure points when compared to something more permanent like a soldered connection. Contacts can corrode, require pressure from springs or bent pieces of metal that can fatigue, etc.

Folks here forget that the SDUGF (easily the most pickup-conscious and active community anywhere) makes up only a very small portion of any pickup manufacturer's sales (even ours). While the good folks who decide what to make absolutely pay attention to and value this community's input and ideas on new products, the focus is always going to be a lot less about "how can I facilitate frequent changes in my guitar's electronic components?" and a whole lot more about "how can I take this guitar and make it sound better, so that I am happy and inspired by playing it?"

The R&D and tooling required to roll out the kind of product you see in the OP would (in my own very singular and humble opinion) take forever to pay off on profits from the sales of such a product. So while it's certainly a super cool idea for someone like you and me, it's definitely not something I'd ever hold my breath waiting for.

Now if someone wanted to design a 3rd-party baseplate solution that could be slapped onto pickups to enable these kind of quick changes, I'll be putting in my order.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

Why would you change pickups every day?!? No logic behind it at all in my eyes......unless you are in the business of testing pickups for an article.

...or if you work in music, play regularly, weekly, in cover bands where you are constantly trying to match the tone of famous recordings.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

...or if you work in music, play regularly, weekly, in cover bands where you are constantly trying to match the tone of famous recordings.

No one swaps pups constantly to try and cop the tone of famous recordings. Ive seen atleast a dozen cover bands play "sweet child o mine" on a strat with single coils.

Sorry but this is a lame excuse especially considering how small of a role the pickup plays in the over all tone. Swapping amps would make more sense than swapping pups.

Cover bands work 1 of 2 ways. Either they cover only 1 band and so they mimic the gear of that band or they cover lots of bands so they make a set up that can cover a range of tones.

Not a single person in a bar has ever said "wow crazy train sounded good but would have sounded better if it had been played on a T-top"

 

[harmonix1234]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

No one swaps pups constantly to try and cop the tone of famous recordings. Ive seen atleast a dozen cover bands play "sweet child o mine" on a strat with single coils.

Sorry but this is a lame excuse especially considering how small of a role the pickup plays in the over all tone. Swapping amps would make more sense than swapping pups.

Cover bands work 1 of 2 ways. Either they cover only 1 band and so they mimic the gear of that band or they cover lots of bands so they make a set up that can cover a range of tones.

Not a single person in a bar has ever said "wow crazy train sounded good but would have sounded better if it had been played on a T-top"

I disagree about the pickup playing a small part in the overall tone. Aside from the amp, I feel that the pickup has the most influence.
Compare an active Humbucker to a vintage single coil in the same guitar.
they will sound like completely different instrument.
I honestly believe the pickup is a huge part of the tone equation.
As for swapping pickups regularly, I have owned a dozen guitars, all with several pickup changes over relatively short periods.
Yes, I am unusual in that I spend so much time and money trying pickups, but I am definitely not alone. Not the majority, but not alone.
No 'excuse' needed for wanting a different system. Change is demand driven. Demand is low, but I am one of the ones that create the demand.
I know it will never take off, but it doesn't mean I want it any less.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Easy pickup changing solution

I disagree about the pickup playing a small part in the overall tone. Aside from the amp, I feel that the pickup has the most influence.
Compare an active Humbucker to a vintage single coil in the same guitar.
they will sound like completely different instrument.
I honestly believe the pickup is a huge part of the tone equation.
As for swapping pickups regularly, I have owned a dozen guitars, all with several pickup changes over relatively short periods.
Yes, I am unusual in that I spend so much time and money trying pickups, but I am definitely not alone. Not the majority, but not alone.
No 'excuse' needed for wanting a different system. Change is demand driven. Demand is low, but I am one of the ones that create the demand.
I know it will never take off, but it doesn't mean I want it any less.

Negative.. these guys arent talking about making huge sweeping changes in pups... from an active to a vintage single they are talking about swapping from a JB to Custom... changes of that magnitude are very very small. If pickups could make that big of a change then it would be possible to identify models just by listening. Hell many people can barely identify type let alone the exact model.

Even then i was replying to his assertion that people in cover bands did this... They dont.

If you want a quick swap system you can easily make your own out of molex connectors. You dont have to wait around for SD to do it. Which will never happen for 1 reason. If they do it everyone would have to agree otherwise you create more problems when people want to swap brands of pickups. No way would you get manufacturers to agree on a standard.

So buy a liberator and a few molex and be happy