Members Guitin Better Posted December 24, 2008 Members Share Posted December 24, 2008 Santa's bringing me a set of Seymour Duncan pickups and I'm going to be installing them tomorrow. I cracked open the back of my guitar to have a look at the wiring and it scared the crap out of me. I'm not worried about the soldering; I could do that in my sleep. The part that concerns me is the spaghetti-like mass of wires in such a small space. My thought on getting around that is to simply cut the wires from my existing pups and solder the new leads to the stub leads that I'm leaving in place. This seems like an easy solution to my problem. Does anyone see a flaw in my plan? I have no intention of using the existing pups again and, if I did, I could extend the leads in similar fashion to what I described above (i.e. solder a piece of wire to the lead to lengthen it). Thoughts?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr.Polyphony Posted December 24, 2008 Members Share Posted December 24, 2008 Yeah, that doesn't seem like a great idea. By soldering two wires together and considering the low currents that need to flow freely, you might get buzz or other noises. I would definitely consider desoldering the old leads and replacing them. Guitar electronics are very finicky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alfsboy Posted December 24, 2008 Members Share Posted December 24, 2008 I always do this unless changing pots as well .It make no difference whatsover and saves heating up the pots again .I used to wire up military spec systems and sometimes it was permissible as way of joining wires .You should use heat shrink and twist and fold over the wire so that it cannot pull apart.Guitar electronics are usually pre stone age simplicity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members photon9 Posted December 24, 2008 Members Share Posted December 24, 2008 My friend does that with no problem. Personally I would gut the old and put in the new. Getting the old ones out of the massive globs of solder is definitely the hardest part. Should work fine either way though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SuproSuper Man Posted December 24, 2008 Members Share Posted December 24, 2008 personally i would just un-solder the old and put the new leads right to the terminals,,,,but its your choice, if you think its a hassel to totally remove the old then so be it, if in the end it works, fine then its all good... TIP - make a little sketch on paper of the wiring ,where the original wires were attached to,,,,that way if some thing goes wrong or what ever, then you still have the drawing to show you what terminals your supposed to solder to... Its a good practice to get into the habit of doing when rewiring guitars,,i keep all my drawings in a scrap book, if something goes wrong down the road i have drawings of how the original wiring was before i butchered it ...er ...um... i mean before i moded it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitin Better Posted December 24, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 24, 2008 Thanks for the excellent feedback! My concern with removing the existing wiring is that it looks like there are several wires landed on the same terminals, or at least very close together, and I'm afraid I'll remove a wire that I didn't mean to and will not know where to resolder it. I have to play at church this weekend so I can't afford to have my guitar out of commission because I only have one guitar (I know, that's the next problem I need to solve ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grooveHT Posted December 24, 2008 Members Share Posted December 24, 2008 I know this isn't quite what you have in mind here, but the first time I put new pickups I also check the cavity out to see what kind of pots, switches and jack are in there; if they're shoddy, like the ones on my steinberger spirit here, I replace them without a second thought and start from scratch. It's a few extra bucks to be sure, but I'm assured quality parts, and it can conform to pretty much any wiring diagram out there. You never can tell with the crappy switches they put in some of these guitars if you're putting a lead in the right place or not... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitin Better Posted December 24, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 24, 2008 I know this isn't quite what you have in mind here, but the first time I put new pickups I also check the cavity out to see what kind of pots, switches and jack are in there; if they're shoddy, like the ones on my steinberger spirit here, I replace them without a second thought and start from scratch. It's a few extra bucks to be sure, but I'm assured quality parts, and it can conform to pretty much any wiring diagram out there. You never can tell with the crappy switches they put in some of these guitars if you're putting a lead in the right place or not... Dude, your avitar is hilarious!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grooveHT Posted December 24, 2008 Members Share Posted December 24, 2008 Dude, your avitar is hilarious!!thank you, I smile when I see it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitin Better Posted December 26, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 For anyone who's followed this thread, here's an update. I installed the SD's yesterday and I did it as described in my first post (cut the wires from existing pups and solder the new leads to the cut wires) and it worked out really well. Here's the surprise though - the sound isn't much different than before. So, does that mean that: a) Pickups don't make THAT much difference? b) My original pickups didn't suck as bad as I thought? The originals were the stock models that shipped with the SX I bought from Rondo so I can't imagine that they are anything fantastic. I guess I was expecting more from a $200 investment in new Seymour Duncans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ranalli Posted December 26, 2008 Members Share Posted December 26, 2008 For anyone who's followed this thread, here's an update. I installed the SD's yesterday and I did it as described in my first post (cut the wires from existing pups and solder the new leads to the cut wires) and it worked out really well. Here's the surprise though - the sound isn't much different than before. So, does that mean that:a) Pickups don't make THAT much difference?b) My original pickups didn't suck as bad as I thought?The originals were the stock models that shipped with the SX I bought from Rondo so I can't imagine that they are anything fantastic. I guess I was expecting more from a $200 investment in new Seymour Duncans. Maybe the originals weren't that bad. I've put in pickups and have gotten drastic changes to the tonality of the guitar....and other times I was better off leaving the stock ones in there. It all depends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SuproSuper Man Posted December 27, 2008 Members Share Posted December 27, 2008 just curious what model seymour duncan pickups were they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stspider Posted December 27, 2008 Members Share Posted December 27, 2008 I also think that some people have a very personal touch on the guitar and swapping gear actually does not make a huge difference in how they sound. On the other side it's not the same for everybody. Also, take some time to mess with your pickups: polepieces height, pickup height..they make a very noticeable difference in tone, and quality pickups should be more reactive to this than cheap ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jds22 Posted December 27, 2008 Members Share Posted December 27, 2008 Here's the surprise though - the sound isn't much different than before. So, does that mean that:a) Pickups don't make THAT much difference?b) My original pickups didn't suck as bad as I thought? I've thought the exact same thing after swapping out pups. It really depends on how differently the new pups are voiced compared to the original pups. Differences in output will also affect the tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Raxus Prime Posted December 27, 2008 Members Share Posted December 27, 2008 Dude, your avitar is hilarious!!X2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Raxus Prime Posted December 27, 2008 Members Share Posted December 27, 2008 Make sure your pickup height is properly adjusted. Sometimes that makes a big difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitin Better Posted December 27, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 27, 2008 just curious what model seymour duncan pickups were they? Neck = Jazz Bridge = JB (both humbuckers) Since my last post I have noticed that the SD's are much more sensitive to pot adjustments. I haven't messed with the pole pieces at all but have jiggered around with the overall height a bit and it seems to affect volume more than tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vrm Posted December 28, 2008 Members Share Posted December 28, 2008 I've thought the exact same thing after swapping out pups. It really depends on how differently the new pups are voiced compared to the original pups. Differences in output will also affect the tone. agreed. I would think the JB and Jazz models are probably thier two most copied models as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.