Pickup Swapping...

[jeremy]

i really dont mind it and my soldering skills are pretty good so as long as i dont rush, its clean and usually works as expected. if im not in the mood, i just wait till i am.

 

[alex1fly]

I hate the soldering and restringing but love the experimentation.

Same

 

[Bogner]

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.

I might have to try that out on one and see what I think about it.

 

[ErikH]

Doesn't bother me. I've been soldering and doing my own wiring since I was 16. I usually wait until I'm ready to change strings before making the swap unless I'm doing it for a reason, like dialing in the rig. Most of the time I'm done in less than 30 minutes as long as I remember to let the iron heat up while I prep the guitar.

 

[dave74]

After I'm done it feels like it was fun and well worth the effort. When I'm being lazy about getting to it it feels like a hassle.

 

[Bogner]

After I'm done it feels like it was fun and well worth the effort. When I'm being lazy about getting to it it feels like a hassle.

Isn't that the truth...lol.

 

[SweetClyde99]

I love it when I finally find the perfect pickup for a guitar and it suddenly becomes an inspiring instrument to play, but I do not enjoy the process to get it there. Especially on this HSS Strat I’ve been fighting with for a while now. Removing all one thousand damn screws to take off the pickguard over and over just so I could try a new pot value or some other tweak to the circuit was seriously annoying (it turned out the greasebucket circuit was deadening the low end too much for my taste).

 

[zionstrat]

I love the hunt, planning and recording the difference. Like most the actual soldering isn't the fun part.. but I had a good gig going for a long time where the luthier I work with did all of the part ordering. He's very meticulous and it really made all the difference.

Now if you want to make the soldering part easy, wind some of your own pickups for a while and then everything else appears extremely easy

 

[zionstrat]

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.

Off topic, but tell me more about the slanted mini humbucker! Start a new post or shoot me an IM

 

[Mincer]

I love it when I finally find the perfect pickup for a guitar and it suddenly becomes an inspiring instrument to play, but I do not enjoy the process to get it there. Especially on this HSS Strat I’ve been fighting with for a while now. Removing all one thousand damn screws to take off the pickguard over and over just so I could try a new pot value or some other tweak to the circuit was seriously annoying (it turned out the greasebucket circuit was deadening the low end too much for my taste).

This is a pretty good description for me. I usually have a pretty good idea what will work, although sometimes I am horribly wrong.

 

[alex1fly]

Is it only a matter of time until there are modeling pickups? Everything else in the chain can be modeled effectively...

 

[Mincer]

Is it only a matter of time until there are modeling pickups? Everything else in the chain can be modeled effectively...

Line 6 models types of pickups, if not specific models in their Variax guitars. The sound is good, but the 'feel' is a little weird.

 

[alex1fly]

Line 6 models types of pickups, if not specific models in their Variax guitars. The sound is good, but the 'feel' is a little weird.

Right, I just wonder if pickup modeling will feel better over time kind of like how amp modeling has? Also if there'll be a module you can put it any guitar that communicates with your switching and pots like a pickup does (as opposed to a "Variax pedal"). Suppose it depends on $ and R&D efforts