Upgrading Pickups / Customising a Guitar

[jabuerctu]

Hi,

 

I'm thinking of picking up a cheap 2nd hand strat copy a pacifica or AXL or something like that and I want to have a play with upgrading the pickups.

 

Is this easy to do? Are there any good sites with a tutorial or anything to that effect?

 

What else could I do to it apart from upgrading the pickups?

 

Any advise on customising a guitar welcome Quite interested in this now!

 

Thanks,

Adam

[Zacman0126]

There's plenty you can do to customize a guitar...you can customize it to the point it's not even the same guitar anymore....or customize to the point that it wasn't even a guitar when it started (parts-caster). If your not shy with a solder gun then yes it's a great experience. If you need tutorials then just you-tube it. If you buy Seymour Duncan pickups they come with a wiring diagram with them.

 

You can upgrade the actual electronics like the pots, the wires themselves, the switches, upgrade the bridge, change up the pickguard/pickuprings/knobs for different colours, if it's a bolt-on you can change out the neck for something else. Throw in a kill switch, in/out-phase switch...I could go on for a while man...

[Ancient Mariner]

Have a look at www.gitarnuts.com for wiring info. there's a site called *something like* guitar projects (can't remember the URL) that will show you how you can refinish and do all kinds of stuff.

[Elias Graves]

It's a lot of fun. I have turned my cheapie Epi SG into a pretty good player.

 

If you are doing for a fun hobby, it's great but don't think that you can get your investment back out of it if you decide to sell. You won't.

 

I have got a lot of enjoyment out of seeing my sg grow up into a real guitar.

 

Do some studying, take your time and do it right and you may end up with a pretty good guitar.

 

And yes, SD has some of the best wiring diagrams out there. They have one for just about any pickup and control combination you can imagine.

 

EG