I want to build a Pickup Test Bed guitar

[Aceman]

Here is what I'm thinking:

Basic Squire Strat
Quick Connect system
Get an appropriate pick guard. (Humbucker in this case)

Just capo the strings on the neck, and remove the pick guard to do an easy swap, replace pick guard and neck and good to go!

Comments?

 

[Artie]

I might approach this differently. A long time ago, there was a Duncan blog, where they showed a special guitar, that had blocks that you slid in the back. You could swap a pup in a few seconds. I'd do something like that. Make a dirt simple "Bo-Diddle-ish" rectangular body. Bolt on your favorite neck. (You can always put it back when the test is over.) Cut the opening for the pup all the way through, then make a few "pup-plugs", so to speak, that allow you to swap in seconds.

That's how I'd do it.

 

[Adieu]

The easiest would be a one-pickup Gibson/Epiphone, just loosen the strings, pull up the tailpiece, and attach the new pickup.

Prolly just cut the stock pickup wiring in the pickup cavity, and twist and tape the test subjects there

 

[formula73]

Here is what I'm thinking:

Basic Squire Strat

Comments?

Squier

 

[Securb]

I played a cool one at Fishman, the pickup was installed through the back of the guitar.

 

[ehdwuld]

hard tail
in from the back

unscrew the adjustment screws
and pop out

use a screw terminal in the open hole to attach to new wiring

I saw an bolt on epi LP that was set up that way

 

[idsnowdog]

I have a top routed H/S/S non-pickguard parts Tele and all of the controls are wired so I can just attach pickups I want to try with alligator clips and pickup rings.

 

[GuitarStv]

The problem with most pickup test guitars is that there's no easy way to get pickup height exactly the same from test to test. The height can change how the pickup sounds pretty dramatically.

 

[Aceman]

The problem with most pickup test guitars is that there's no easy way to get pickup height exactly the same from test to test. The height can change how the pickup sounds pretty dramatically.

That's why I liked the pick guard solution - you'd use the regular mounting screws & springs

I suppose there is a rear load method or design. Something an ENGINEER might come up with....

 

[Mincer]

The problem with a Strat is that you need to take the pickguard off. I'd use a bolt on, but rear-mounted electronics. You can use a Liberator pot, and switch out pickups in a few minutes.

 

[dystrust]

hard tail
in from the back

unscrew the adjustment screws
and pop out

use a screw terminal in the open hole to attach to new wiring

I saw an bolt on epi LP that was set up that way

If you direct-mounted the pickups to the mounting block, you'd always have the same height provided that leg length was uniform.

 

[Securb]

That Dan Armstrong solution was pretty smart but sadly only works with their pickups...I think. Has anyone made a universal pickup harness for this guitar?

 

[Aceman]

If you direct-mounted the pickups to the mounting block, you'd always have the same height provided that leg length was uniform.

Which is fine until you get a short leg, or the original height is not correct, etc...Gotta be an easy way to adjust. Low block with screws would work, or even a ring on something....

 

[jeremy]

i built this lets say 16 years ago? hasnt been used in years, mostly cause i took the neck off and gave it to a friend. the top set of controls is 500k, the bottom is 250k each with their own jack. you cant see it but there is a hole that usually has the wires from the control cavity run into where the pups go so you can easily connect a pup to a set of controls in a few seconds. the two metal rails in the cavity are part of a system that lets me slide the pup to any position within the cavity. there are a few different blocks that connect to the rails. one for short leg buckers, one for long leg buckers, one for strat/tele neck pups, one for tele bridge pups, and one for p90s. basically the pup attaches to a block which connects to the rails keeping the height from the strings the same. though it can be adjusted with shims which are 1/16" each. the idea (and it works fine) is that you can swap pups keeping damn near everything the same and try a set of 500k or 250k controls

 

[allstarrme]

Get one of those relish guitars, the pickups mount to a plate that pops in with magnets. The wiring has 4 pins that touch a pad in the body to make contact. They have a height adjustment screw on the back for the pickups.

 

[Aceman]

Relish?

 

[Mincer]

Relish guitars have an interesting but very expensive way to solve this.

 

[Aceman]

Extremely cool. Also extremely expensive - holy monkeynuts!

 

[idsnowdog]

This is my testbed guitar. Since it is top routed all I need to do is loosen the strings and slip in the pickups which are mounted in pickup rings. Then run the wires through the wiring channels to alligator clips in the control cavity where I can clip them onto the 5-way switch. I can switch out pickups in less than five minutes. If I wanted to I could also route the neck for a humbucker so I could test nearly any pickup combination. I might put a screw terminal strip in the pickup cavity to eliminate the alligator clips.

 

[Mr. 80's]

A Floyd Rose guitar would be easier than removing a neck and or removing any other bridge, just pop in and out a couple springs and good to go. Still in tune and ready to go w/no detuning-returning. No crazy crap to design or deal with either. None of it really matters in the end because they will sound different in another guitar anyways.