Pickup Swapping...
- Thread starter Bogner
- Start date
JB_From_Hell
Jomo's Nimions
I used to really love it, but anymore, I'm less enthusiastic. I've been playing for almost 20 years longer than when I started getting into pickups, and my gear as a whole is a lot nicer. It's not that I dislike taking a guitar apart and soldering in new stuff, it's more like it seems futile, and it's gonna sound like me regardless of what I swap in or out.
While I agree with you I also disagree a tiny bit. True we sound like we sound but there are some things to help us along a bit. I have about 15 sets left to install and I think I will just try and knock as many out at once as I can so I can be done with it. What will really spin me out is if these don't work like I expect them to. I am very confident I am putting the right pickups in the right guitar for what I want but there is always a chance it won't work out like hoped. I would be elated if that didn't happen and I can retire from from doing this for a while...lol. I love doing set ups and such but wiring and soldering, not a fan anymore.
Masta' C
Well-known member
I've never really enjoyed the "swapping" part, but I've had less of a desire to swap things out more recently. I think that's because I know enough that I can usually get in the ballpark of what I'm after on the first try and know where to go if it doesn't work out. I've been moving past the decade-long "swapping for fun" phase and focusing more time/effort on the other aspects of my signal chain.
PFDarkside
of the Forum
I hate the soldering and restringing but love the experimentation.
Lucius Paisley
Well-known member
If only those pull out pickup system guitars weren't so ridiculously expensive and didn't look like kids toys.
Clint 55
OH THE DOUBLE THICK GLAZE!
I'm getting bothered by it because I'm so addicted to customizing. I think I'm finally zeroing in on my perfect pickguard. Gonna be a single coil size humbucker in the neck, an angled mini right behind that as a 2nd neck, and a full sized hum moved towards the neck a quarter or half inch or so.
eclecticsynergy
Well-known member
That's the thing for me, too - I love tinkering with tone, and usually swaps work as expected.
But sometimes pickups and a guitar that should work great together just don't.
Occasionally a guitar has even sounded worse after a swap.
And soldering over & over again isn't fun anymore.
It's frustrating to go through three or four pickup changes before you hit on a match that's really inspiring.
eclecticsynergy
Well-known member
It's amazing how much difference a quarter of an inch can make with a bridge pickup.
I really notice it with the neck pickup, too. That can be either the distance from the strings, or the distance from the bridge.
Aceman
I am your doctor of love!
In my old age, fortunately, between my soldering skills (weak but effective) and my income (strong usually) I have figured out what I like/want/need in a pickup.
I rarely make a bad move, and I'm easy to please.
Patience and a screwdriver, along with a healthy does of "easy to please" helps.
I rarely make a bad move, and I'm easy to please.
Patience and a screwdriver, along with a healthy does of "easy to please" helps.
I probably should have better clarified my statement. I rarely swap just to swap. 99% of my pickup swaps are from the factory pickups to something else. How people want to try 50 pickups in the same guitar just to see how it responds is not a path I care to venture down.
True story there! I discovered this first hand years ago? I swapped PRS pickups and struck gold. I had another identical PRS, just different color, same woods, pickups, etc and threw the new pickups in there and was like..........what happened? Wired correct, sounded nothing like the other guitar. Still to this day I am surprised at that.
GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
I don't hate the pickup swapping. The actual swapping part is fine. I hate when you solder everything, jam it all back into the guitar, sit down to enjoy the new pickups . . . and then realize that you fucked something up and have to do it all over again with debugging. That part sucks.
This still happens to me sometimes. I find I shouldn't keep working if I am tired, or if I hit my patience wall. If I take my time, everything is usually fine. It also helps to have good lighting and a comfortable place to work, or I get mad quickly.
Funny how some things can really shorten our fuse. Once I pass my place of grace it's over for me. Hang it up for another time.
BluesIsBlood12
New member
I like trying different things, but I hate the process. That's why I try to get solderless harnesses from MojoTone. That makes it quick and easy.
Every video I’ve seen with Seymour, the man seems so laid back. I wonder what it’s like when he gets mad…
I think my obsession with tinkering and my distaste for the pickup swapping process are what led to focus on magnet swaps lol
As you can see form my signature, I've mag swapped a large portion of my pups
Any time there is a pickguard-mounted pickup, the whole process becomes much more of a PITA. Right now, I have a mini-hum and mini-hum pickguard all set to get swapped into my tele, but I still havent done it yet because that would mean doing the one thing no guitarist ever does unless they HAVE to - changing strings! **gasp**
As you can see form my signature, I've mag swapped a large portion of my pups
Any time there is a pickguard-mounted pickup, the whole process becomes much more of a PITA. Right now, I have a mini-hum and mini-hum pickguard all set to get swapped into my tele, but I still havent done it yet because that would mean doing the one thing no guitarist ever does unless they HAVE to - changing strings! **gasp**
