How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

[Z0S0]

Folks,

I'm taking the big plunge: I'm modifying my 1992 LesPaul Classic for the first time. I decided to replace the stock 500T and 496R ceramic pickups with a set of Alnico 2 Pros humbuckers.

The shop that I brought my guitar in to get worked on has a 5 week delay and I can't wait that long! So, I wanna do it myself.

I'm thinking it can't be that hard since I only have to undo some soldering to take out the old ones and then solder the new ones in. I think there is only 2 wires so it can't be that hard...can it?

Am I right?

Do I need any specific instructions? Any site recommendation to view some "howtos"?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

This forum is awesome...and addictive! Thanks for all your help!!!

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

ZOSO You're right the forum is a plethora of knowledge and experience, and welcome to it!

I've got a Jazz A2P(b). I love the A2P it's a great pup very smooth and full even response as well. Capable of great classic and hard rock tones. Unsoldering and resoldering is easy enough. You only need to heat the solder and pull off the lead, it's very easy. Then resoldering you do the reverse and then put a little more solder on the lead.

Since you're changing out the pups yourself I'd also recommend you do a compolet rewire. Change out your pots to 500k CTS b/c from what I remember the 92's had 300k and the pups might sound a bit muffled with those. The CTS pots are about $4.00 a piece and new sprague orange drop caps are $.87, then you'll know everything in your guitar is top notchh quality.

Luke

 

[Arkitkt]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

Actually, The A2Pro HB has four wires, IIRC. The red and white need to be soldered together and insulated. The rest is pretty straightforward.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

Actually, The A2Pro HB has four wires, IIRC. The red and white need to be soldered together and insulated. The rest is pretty straightforward.

Does the 500T just have the braided dbl conductor? I thought it was four conductor as well?

Luke

 

[BlueGuitar]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

Since you're changing out the pups yourself I'd also recommend you do a compolet rewire. Change out your pots to 500k CTS b/c from what I remember the 92's had 300k and the pups might sound a bit muffled with those. The CTS pots are about $4.00 a piece and new sprague orange drop caps are $.87, then you'll know everything in your guitar is top notch quality.

You're a brave man, Luke... I cringe at the thought of changing the pots in my Les Pauls, at least the ones with the ground plate under the controls. Br-r-r-r-r-r! :saeek:

I think it might be a good idea for Zoso to start off just changing the pickups to test the waters, so to speak. It should be fairly straight forward with two humbuckers and no coil split switches. With the pickups he mentioned there should be no problem with them being out of phase (when two humbuckers are out of phase you can either reverse the wirings or flip the magnet- whatever is more appropriate.)

Tips: allow the soldering iron to heat up completely- don't rush it! And keep notes of the wires that are being disconnected... after awhile they all look the same!

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

You're a brave man, Luke... I cringe at the thought of changing the pots in my Les Pauls, at least the ones with the ground plate under the controls. Br-r-r-r-r-r! :saeek:

I think it might be a good idea for Zoso to start off just changing the pickups to test the waters, so to speak. It should be fairly straight forward with two humbuckers and no coil split switches. With the pickups he mentioned there should be no problem with them being out of phase (when two humbuckers are out of phase you can either reverse the wirings or flip the magnet- whatever is more appropriate.)

Tips: allow the soldering iron to heat up completely- don't rush it! And keep notes of the wires that are being disconnected... after awhile they all look the same!

I don't know about me being brave, but I had to change mine in my custom because I melted the wiper :smack: :smack: :smack:

You are probably right, one thing at a time unless he has plenty of time on his hands.

But above all listen to Blueguitar and let the iron heat up all the way.

Luke

 

[JOLLY]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

The hardest parts is the springs (for me anyways)....everything else is easy.

 

[BlueGuitar]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

The hardest parts is the springs (for me anyways)....everything else is easy.

Now that you mention it I would recommend making sure that the screws fit the holes in the pickup plate BEFORE you solder everything up... if you need to tap them out better find out about that right away.

I thought that SD usually included vinyl tubing in their pickups instead of metal springs, or does that vary model by model?

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

Now that you mention it I would recommend making sure that the screws fit the holes in the pickup plate BEFORE you solder everything up... if you need to tap them out better find out about that right away.

I thought that SD usually included vinyl tubing in their pickups instead of metal springs, or does that vary model by model?

Strat and Tele style have the tubing the buckers have springs.

Luke

 

[rinse_master]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

You're a brave man, Luke... I cringe at the thought of changing the pots in my Les Pauls, at least the ones with the ground plate under the controls. Br-r-r-r-r-r! :saeek:

Those plates are so damn fiddly!!, took me a while to change the pots on my LP too...

 

[MikeS]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

Let him try out the 300k pots first. In my Studio I initially left them in and haven't felt that I needed to swap them for 500k.

I must also admit that I am a tad intimidated by the ground plate in the cavity. I remember having a hell of a time getting pots out of a buddy's LP because of that thing, and I haven't the patience to fiddle with it

 

[Aceman]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

Tip: Tie a string to the old pup wires BEFORE you pull them out of the body. That way you'll have a string to help pull the new wires back through the body!

As for the 300k pots, I think I'm gonna keep them on the bridge, but maybe go 500K in the neck. And I agree, go for the pup swap first. If you feel up to it or aren't happy with the sound, switch the pots later.

 

[martinsixstringcustoms]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

The hardest parts is the springs (for me anyways)....everything else is easy.

Me too! :smack:

 

[Z0S0]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

Does the 500T just have the braided dbl conductor? I thought it was four conductor as well?

Luke

Thanks for all the great help everybody, truely appreciated!

I opened up my LesPaul and saw that both the stock 500T and 496R pickups have the braided double conductor (I think).

The outisde covering braided wire is solered directly onto the pot (the external coating of the wire is soldered on the flat part of the pot) and the internal black wire is soldered to the hot output.

When I unpacked my Alnico 2 Pros, I saw that they 4 wires, so it's 4 conductor.

From reading all the info, I gathered that the black wire is to be soldered to the hot output just like my sotck pickups. Easy enough.

However, I came up with questions for the next two pairs of wires:

1. The red and white cable are to be taped together and soldered on the pot. I'm not sure exactly where though. Anywhere on the flat part of the pot?

2. The green and bare wires are to be grounded. This is where they lose me. Where am I supposed to ground them and how do I do that?

I am sure these are very basic questions and I feel like a moron posting these here. :smack: However, I have read so many good posts by so many regulars around here and nobody has ever been bashed for being a newbie with pickups.

Thanks everybody!

 

[flank]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

red and white are taped together and thats it (they are responsible for the two coils, so putting them together makes both coils function), assuming that your not doing any coil splitting........then the green and bare are soldered to the ground, which is the same place as the ground for the existing pups: the back of the pot

 

[Z0S0]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

red and white are taped together and thats it (they are responsible for the two coils, so putting them together makes both coils function), assuming that your not doing any coil splitting........then the green and bare are soldered to the ground, which is the same place as the ground for the existing pups: the back of the pot

Flank, thanks for the info!

No, I am not doing any coil splitting.

For the ground of the existing pickups, it looks as if the outside coating of the wires is what is soldered to the back of the pots. I am assuming that in the case of the new A2Ps, I have to "strip" the outside coating of both the green and bare and sodler the actual inside wire to the pot. Is that correct?


For the red and white cable, I will "strip" the outside coating of both wires, tie both cables together and tape them up? I don't have to solder both of those wires anywhere?

 

[Jeff5]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

Flank, thanks for the info!

No, I am not doing any coil splitting.

For the ground of the existing pickups, it looks as if the outside coating of the wires is what is soldered to the back of the pots. I am assuming that in the case of the new A2Ps, I have to "strip" the outside coating of both the green and bare and sodler the actual inside wire to the pot. Is that correct?


For the red and white cable, I will "strip" the outside coating of both wires, tie both cables together and tape them up? I don't have to solder both of those wires anywhere?

Correct and correct.

 

[Jeffrec]

Re: How hard is it to change pickups in a LesPaul?

It's pretty simple, as the guys have said. If you want, you can tie some fairly stiff wire to the pup wires, and fish them into the control cavity. The rest is a matter of desoldering the old pups one at a time, and then soldering the new pup wires in their place.