guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

[Edgecrusher]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

At the gig we played on Saturday night there was a 16 year old kid there with a BC Rich, Floyd bridge. He broke a string and didnt know how to change it, had no tools or anything, so I did it for him and he told me he normally pays the local shop £40 to change his STRINGS!!!!

Thats a lot of scratch for a 16 year old kid if hes getting strings swapped a couple times a month.

 

[Varg]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

Thats a lot of scratch for a 16 year old kid if hes getting strings swapped a couple times a month.

His mum and dad were there to see him, I got the impression they paid for everything like that.

 

[Inkstained]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

Okay… eleven minutes.

$70 isn't unreasonable at all, especially if doing it yourself would mean buying tools you don't have and soldering for the first time in your life. Pay someone else to do it, and spend that half a day or whatever playing guitar or just enjoying time with people you love.

Yeah, I agree. It's fun to learn on your own guitars, but if you're not inclined to invest in the tools and time it takes to learn ... meh. It's a free country.

 

[Stevo 42]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

The guy I use here in Houston actually does a lot of work for GC at his own shop. He charges $45 for two pickups, but I am sure GC tacks on a nice surcharge to that.

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

At the gig we played on Saturday night there was a 16 year old kid there with a BC Rich, Floyd bridge. He broke a string and didnt know how to change it, had no tools or anything, so I did it for him and he told me he normally pays the local shop £40 to change his STRINGS!!!!

Ughhhh...

 

[o.p-i.v]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

At the gig we played on Saturday night there was a 16 year old kid there with a BC Rich, Floyd bridge. He broke a string and didnt know how to change it, had no tools or anything, so I did it for him and he told me he normally pays the local shop £40 to change his STRINGS!!!!

 

[B2D]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

For soldering a maximum of 4 wires per pickup they charge:
70 bucks

RIP-OFF

I was down there last week and asked for fun and was blown away.
I honestly hope no one has ever paid that much for a simple job

The one I used to work at charged $45 per pickup... didn't matter if it was active or passive or how many wires.

I think you're getting shafted, dude.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

The only time I've ever had to pay to do a pickup swap, was on my Les Paul Supreme. They have no back panel; everything has to be done through the over-size jack plate. Total PITA, and it was worth the $150 I paid for the swap and the installation of an RS control pot kit.

My other one is going to get the same treatment, but this time I will install some battery clip connectors, so I can easily swap things by just removing the pickup.

But the guy that did my first one...doesn't really want to do another one. LOL! Can't say as I blame him.

Bill

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

The only time I've ever had to pay to do a pickup swap, was on my Les Paul Supreme. They have no back panel; everything has to be done through the over-size jack plate. Total PITA, and it was worth the $150 I paid for the swap and the installation of an RS control pot kit.

My other one is going to get the same treatment, but this time I will install some battery clip connectors, so I can easily swap things by just removing the pickup.

But the guy that did my first one...doesn't really want to do another one. LOL! Can't say as I blame him.

Bill

It is a PITA, but I am sure you could do it. You tie a piece of string to each of the old pots, and to the jack, and a toothpick to the other end, so the strings don't fall through the holes. Pull out the old pots through the f hole, without untying the strings. (The jack only has to be unhooked to give the harness some slack.) Put in the new pickups and pull the leads out through the f hole. Solder it all together on a piece of cardboard with similarly placed holes. Drop the harness into the f hole and pull on each string to get each pot and the jack back through the right hole.

 

[lex666]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

The only time I paid someone to wire a guitar for me was:

1. in a expensive semi-hollow Gibson ES335

2. Jimmy Page wiring on my Limited Edition Les Paul GOTW.


Yeah, it was expensive. But professionally done and saved me lots of headaches. :banghead:

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

What, are you joking me? 70 bucks is highway robbery. Find a good tech , he should do it for half that.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

It is a PITA, but I am sure you could do it. You tie a piece of string to each of the old pots, and to the jack, and a toothpick to the other end, so the strings don't fall through the holes. Pull out the old pots through the f hole, without untying the strings. (The jack only has to be unhooked to give the harness some slack.) Put in the new pickups and pull the leads out through the f hole. Solder it all together on a piece of cardboard with similarly placed holes. Drop the harness into the f hole and pull on each string to get each pot and the jack back through the right hole.

That would be do-able on a semi-hollow like a 335, but this ain't so easy...because the Les Paul Supreme model DOES NOT HAVE AN F-HOLE. You can't pre-solder the pots on a cardboard template. There's NO BACKPLATE, because of the flame maple cap on the back.

It all has to be done through the jackplate.

Trust me, a TOTAL PITA!!!

Bill

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

That would be do-able on a semi-hollow like a 335, but this ain't so easy...because the Les Paul Supreme model DOES NOT HAVE AN F-HOLE. You can't pre-solder the pots on a cardboard template. There's NO BACKPLATE, because of the flame maple cap on the back.

It all has to be done through the jackplate.

Trust me, a TOTAL PITA!!!

Bill

OK, same thing works, though. Use the strings. Extend the pickup leads if you have to. Gibson probably did it the same way.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

I charge people $15.

 

[Ed Hunter]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

RIP! learn to do your own pup installs and any repair you can learn

 

[Jeffrec]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

OMG! Everybody here has to do their own PU changes. If you're not sure, we'll teach you. That's money best put on PU's, not labor.

+1

 

[epiaxx]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

If you think $70 is bad I called Sam Ash today and was quoted $100, now that is just flat out robbery. Looks like I will be replacing the pups myself, im sure it's all of a 15 minute job to do both. Im replacing my stock pups on my 2012 Epiphone Les Paul Traditional Pro for Seymour Duncan slash humbuckers, honestly this epi just needs pup upgrades and a better toogle switch every thing else is pretty sweet, very close to its big brother from Gibson.

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

I try to get my friends to do it...

 

[Kac]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

If you think $70 is bad I called Sam Ash today and was quoted $100, now that is just flat out robbery.

Ouch. I was paying a local guitar shop to do mine until I started doing them myself a few years ago. I never had to pay anything close to that, but it's fun and much more rewarding to change the pickups yourself.

 

[jmh151]

Re: guess how much guitar center charges for pickup replacements?

It costs so much since a tech in those places usually charges by the hour- maybe $60 to $120. Most don't charge fractions of an hour, so if it takes him a half hour, he's charging you for an hour.

Complain all you want- most of us do it ourselves, but there are many people scared of a soldering iron- and there is a market for people that will pay that amount