Humbucker Magnet Swap - almost ready, just 1 concern

[AniML]

In a recent thread I posted I was considering swapping my 490/498 set in my LP Studio for Alnico 2 Pros

I have been heartily convinced to first try a magnet swap between the (A2) 490 and (A5) 498

I ran through the process on a crappy HB I have sitting around and the only difficulty I had was removing the cover.

In doing some reading I've found there are 3 common ways to remove the cover. I ended up pinching the solder bead with wire snips and it popped off the cover (similar idea to #3 below), but it did *slightly* bend the cover. Which is best?

1) Dremel - seems the most straightforward approach, but I don't own one or have much use to really justify buying one

2) Desolder - but it seems a standard 30w pencil tip iron (what I have) may be underpowered - and that too much heat can damage the pickup

3) Pop the solder joint off the cover with a box cutter or other tool. Also seems straightforward enough, but I dont want to mis-shape the gold covers or damage the finish

I'm really hoping this will improve the tone of my pickups and the only way I'm going to find out is to just go ahead and do it. But I am a little hesitant doing this on my best / most valuable guitar.

(hoping for consisitent advice)

 

[jeremy]

Re: Humbucker Magnet Swap - almost ready, just 1 concern

i use a razor blade to cut the solder joint, gotta be careful not to cut the coil and im sure there is a better way but thats how i do it. i have a dremel and it works well but its usually not set up where im working on pups

desoldering can work well if you suck the solder out before you take the cover off, you dont want to just melt it and pull the cover off, you want to remove the solder from the cover before you pull it off. i use a 45w iron for that application

 

[PoorMan]

Re: Humbucker Magnet Swap - almost ready, just 1 concern

I cut through the solder joint with a box cutter. It's much easier, faster and cleaner than the other methods and I've never damaged a cover that way.

 

[AniML]

Re: Humbucker Magnet Swap - almost ready, just 1 concern

Intermission:

So this hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be from reading the ProjectGuitar.com article, but I am at the point that I have reassembled the pickups and just need to resolder the covers. So far, no collateral damage

Oh and I used the single edge razor approach to cut the solder. It worked fine, but my finertips are a bit sore from applying pressure. My eyesight is poor enough that I had to use a magnifying glass to check my progress

The only oddity in the whole project was that one of the magnets was a little longer than the other by about 3/16" but I just swapped em and centered them up as best I could.

I added a couple slivers of wax inside each cover and heated with a blow dryer. Hopefully that doesn't screw up the spacing / gap, but I did put on masking tape as the article suggested.

After dinner I resolder and put everything back together.

Hopefully everything still works AND I get the intended results: less mud on the neck and less grit on the bridge.

 

[PoorMan]

Re: Humbucker Magnet Swap - almost ready, just 1 concern

Intermission:

So this hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be from reading the ProjectGuitar.com article, but I am at the point that I have reassembled the pickups and just need to resolder the covers. So far, no collateral damage

Oh and I used the single edge razor approach to cut the solder. It worked fine, but my finertips are a bit sore from applying pressure. My eyesight is poor enough that I had to use a magnifying glass to check my progress

The only oddity in the whole project was that one of the magnets was a little longer than the other by about 3/16" but I just swapped em and centered them up as best I could.

I added a couple slivers of wax inside each cover and heated with a blow dryer. Hopefully that doesn't screw up the spacing / gap, but I did put on masking tape as the article suggested.

After dinner I resolder and put everything back together.

Hopefully everything still works AND I get the intended results: less mud on the neck and less grit on the bridge.

Cool!

Tape over the slugs would have worked fine without the wax, but if you got the cover tight yo'ull be fine.

It's easier on the fingers to use a box-cutter than a bare single edged razor blade.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[AniML]

Re: Humbucker Magnet Swap - almost ready, just 1 concern

Cool!

Tape over the slugs would have worked fine without the wax, but if you got the cover tight yo'ull be fine.

It's easier on the fingers to use a box-cutter than a bare single edged razor blade.

Let us know how it goes.

Success!

Everything came together perfectly. Although when I first started playing both pickups sounded very thin, but once I dialed in the amp and tweeked the pup height I got what I was looking for.

Thanks to everyone for the advice. Saved me at least $200 on a set of A2P's. Sorry Seymour

 

[blueman335]

Re: Humbucker Magnet Swap - almost ready, just 1 concern

Success! Everything came together perfectly. Although when I first started playing both pickups sounded very thin, but once I dialed in the amp and tweeked the pup height I got what I was looking for. Thanks to everyone for the advice. Saved me at least $200 on a set of A2P's.

That's what this forum is all about. We all learn from each other. Even new guys have come up with some great ideas because they often think outside the box. Look at many guys have sold their their 490R/498T sets, when they may have gotten very good tones by spending several dollars & a few minutes.

Another youth set on the path to a brighter future!

 

[AniML]

Re: Humbucker Magnet Swap - almost ready, just 1 concern

That's what this forum is all about. We all learn from each other. Even new guys have come up with some great ideas because they often think outside the box. Look at many guys have sold their their 490R/498T sets, when they may have gotten very good tones by spending several dollars & a few minutes.

Another youth set on the path to a brighter future!

Youth?!?!?!? I wish.