Long pickup legs won't fit guitar - what to do?

[hamerfan]

Just a general philosophy. If you have two things that won't work together because one of them is non-standard or irregular, don't make the normal thing irregular to match the irregular thing. Cuz then you have two irregular things. Extra true in your case because a guitar costs more to mess up than a pickup.

Wrong philosophy in this case.
The right one is:
If you have to alter something, change the one which is easy to work on and is reversible.

 

[Mincer]

Wrong philosophy in this case.
The right one is:
If you have to alter something, change the one which is easy to work on and is reversible.

This was always what I though, too.

 

[GabenFreeman]

basically you need to unscrew the screw poles so they are clear of the baseplate, remove the four little brass screws that hold the bobbins to the baseplate, use a soldering iron to gently remove the bare ground wire from the base plate, snake the four conductor wire out of the hole in the old baseplate, then reverse the process. you shouldnt need to mess with the coils or coil tap if you are careful. as you take the pup apart, be aware of where the keeper and the spacer go so you can put them back in the same way.

Ok cool man thanks for the help. Hopefully I can do this successfully

 

[Chistopher]

Wrong philosophy in this case.
The right one is:
If you have to alter something, change the one which is easy to work on and is reversible.

In this case they overlap.

I guess what I was saying was more along the lines of "two wrongs don't make a right"

 

[GabenFreeman]

Ok replying to my old thread, I finally got around to attempting this, I've taken the tape off, backed out the pole piece screws and unscrewed the four little attaching screws. Am I supposed to take the bar magnet out first before I take the base plate off? I'm tugging on the base plate and it won't budge. I also don't know how I'm supposed to slide the magnet out because it looks like the solder joints or something for the wires are right in front of the magnet so I can't push it out.

I attached a pic of what it looks like from the side. Not sure if i'm supposed to move those out of the way to push the magnet out.

 

[switchman]

Is it wax potted? It looks like wax potting is holding it all together even though it's unscrewed. If so I would take something not sharp like a guitar pick and try to gently free up the lead wires. The plastic pry tools that come in electronics repair kits for phones are good for this too. Then separate the bobbins and magnet from the baseplate the same way so you can desolder the shield wire. You may find the wax (and magnetism) hold the magnets, keeper, and bobbins to each other. Here's a Lollar I did the same thing on because it had been drilled out for direct mount :disappoin You can see the spacer stayed stuck to the baseplate - look at all that wax! By the way it helps to have a few small quick clamps to free up both hands. Good luck!

 

[Mincer]

I always take the magnet out first, which gives some space and pries some of the wax off. It is held in with wax and those 4 screws on the bottom...I use a small screwdriver to push it out one side, being careful of the tiny wires.

 

[Seashore]

I find it easier to gently pry up the bobbins first and then get at the magnet, rather than trying to push the magnet out first. You'll have to move the bobbins (and those little wires) out of the way to desolder the ground wire from the baseplate anyway. As long as you take it easy and don't tug on the small wires, you shouldn't have any problems. Just make sure to keep track of which edge of the magnet faces which bobbin so you reassemble it with the same polarity on the new baseplate.

 

[misterwhizzy]

The first step is to move those wires up a little bit so you can see the magnet. Then push the magnet out with a small flat blade, and it should start to come apart at that point. You don’t have to desolder the ground until you’re almost done disassembling. Godspeed.

 

[GabenFreeman]

Ok I moved the wires out of the way and i'm pushing on the magnet pretty hard with a flathead but it won't budge. I'm guessing because there's so much wax. Is there a trick to get it out? Could I heat it up a little bit to soften up the wax?

 

[ehdwuld]

Loosen the four screws one turn each

In the base plate there are two screws holding each coil down

Loosen those oe take them out

 

[GabenFreeman]

I took the screws off, neither the base plate or the magnet will budge at all. Not sure if i'm supposed to just pry it apart with some pliers or something

Edit: nvm I got it off with some pliers

 

[Mincer]

Yeah, sometimes the magnet is stubborn and held on with the wax.

 

[GabenFreeman]

Alright I did it, thanks to your help everyone. Thanks guys! I think I managed not to fudge anything up. I guess I'll see when I plug it in and play it, fingers crossed. I probably won't ever do that again though lol. I did have to wrestle with getting the cover off that it came with, that was probably the hardest part

 

[Mincer]

Well, it looks fantastic!