How Hard is it to install new pickups?

[Robbiedbee]

Hey all.

I have been talking to my Dad, and he thinks that we should start fitting our on pickups. Now, I was wondering, realistically, how hard is it to install say, a Hot Rail in the bridge of a Strat? Would it be possible for an absolute beginner to do a good job with the schematics on the website?

My Dad is a pretty handy guy, he works will with tools, but is kinda new to a soldering iron.

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: How Hard is it to install new pickups?

If you can use a soldering iron and a screwdriver, it's a breeze. The soldering iron takes practice to master, but it's not hard to use. There are a lot of tips on the internet for soldering. Just make sure you get an iron and not a gun for guitar use.

Doesn't SD have a video on their site showing a pickup swap?

 

[Robbiedbee]

Re: How Hard is it to install new pickups?

Doesn't SD have a video on their site showing a pickup swap?

There is, yes, and Seymour he makes it look really easy. But Seymour would, because he's a pickup genius.

 

[Twitch]

Re: How Hard is it to install new pickups?

I have yet to install new pickups in my guitar but want to in the future for tone/entertainment. My biggest concern is not being able to follow the schematic/solder well, but instead it is removing all 6 strings to get access to the guts. I thought it was bad for the neck to lose all that tension

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: How Hard is it to install new pickups?

There is, yes, and Seymour he makes it look really easy. But Seymour would, because he's a pickup genius.

He IS a pickup genius, but it's also really easy.

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: How Hard is it to install new pickups?

I have yet to install new pickups in my guitar but want to in the future for tone/entertainment. My biggest concern is not being able to follow the schematic/solder well, but instead it is removing all 6 strings to get access to the guts. I thought it was bad for the neck to lose all that tension

It's not a problem at all. Just use the tuners to loosen them a little first. Don't cut the strings when they're in tune.

 

[RiggaMortes]

Re: How Hard is it to install new pickups?

I just attempted my first pickup change today and it didn't go as smoothly as I hoped. Apparently I killed a pot in the process. :doh: I don't think I put too much heat in it, I didn't even do a great job of soldering it because I wanted to make sure it worked first and then go back and do everything up real nice so it didn't look like a 5 year old did it. I guess before I pronounce the pot dead I'll take everything out and clean it all up (either Ibanez or the previous owner had a PILE of solder on the pot for grounds).

If you can have someone help you who's done it before, that would be best... if not, don't be discouraged, go ahead and try it, just not on a $1500 guitar your first time. And practice soldering wires to little pieces of metal before hand if you've never soldered before.

 

[Robbiedbee]

Re: How Hard is it to install new pickups?

It's not a problem at all. Just use the tuners to loosen them a little first. Don't cut the strings when they're in tune.

De-railing my own topic here I know, but I didn't know that you weren't supposed to never have it with no strings on ever. That's a new one on me.

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: How Hard is it to install new pickups?

If you can have someone help you who's done it before, that would be best... if not, don't be discouraged, go ahead and try it, just not on a $1500 guitar your first time. And practice soldering wires to little pieces of metal before hand if you've never soldered before.

That's a good point. Practice on something simple. Even if you mess up and fry a pot the first time, they're not too expensive. $20 in fried components could save you a few hundred down the road by doing it yourself.

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: How Hard is it to install new pickups?

De-railing my own topic here I know, but I didn't know that you weren't supposed to never have it with no strings on ever. That's a new one on me.

When I fixed up my brother's frankenstrat for him, I had the neck completely off the guitar for 3 months and I didn't need to do any adjustments to it when I bolted it back on (that's not to say you won't ever, but you shouldn't if it's just for a couple of hours). Just don't tweak it by cutting the strings while they're under tension. That can put too much stress on it.

You've gotta take the strings off to do a good cleaning on it.

 

[John Wymore]

Re: How Hard is it to install new pickups?

The ket to a sucessgul pickup swap IMHO is having the correct soldering iron and correct solder. The rest is pretty straight forward.

You do need a soldering iron (not Gun) with 15 watts to 30 watts of power and a pencil type tip. You also want to use a small diameter solder (I like .032) that is made specifically for soldering electronics (rosin core). Both these can be picked up at Radio shack for minimal outlay. If you plan on doing a lot of soldering you can go a little better and pick up a Weller variable soldering station but it's not mandatory.

 

[Robbiedbee]

Re: How Hard is it to install new pickups?

That's great. Thanks very much to everyone. This has been a huge help ^_^

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: How Hard is it to install new pickups?

The ket to a sucessgul pickup swap IMHO is having the correct soldering iron and correct solder. The rest is pretty straight forward.

You do need a soldering iron (not Gun) with 15 watts to 30 watts of power and a pencil type tip. You also want to use a small diameter solder (I like .032) that is made specifically for soldering electronics (rosin core). Both these can be picked up at Radio shack for minimal outlay. If you plan on doing a lot of soldering you can go a little better and pick up a Weller variable soldering station but it's not mandatory.

Excellent advice. Its probably a little old school but I still like to use flux on every connection. It really seems to help get the text book clean, shiny joint and also seems to minimize the amount of time I need to apply heat to get the job done.