Beginner at changing pickups

RG-Head · #1 04-24-2003, 05:16 PM

Ok, i want to change my stock powersound humbucker pickups to sum DiMarzio. my question is when i change the pickups, do i need to attach the wires to the main circuit board of my guitar and guiding the wire down the holes of the powersound pickup goes? OR do i just unscrew the pickup and just swap over by changing the wires without attaching anything to the main circuit or guiding any wires down to there? I am a complete n00b as i don't want to be changing pickups if i have to guide the long wire down to the guitar circuit and mess around and unplug the wires there, i know i will screw up because i've opened the back panel and all the wires are so confusing to me

If i just can change the pickups without needing to do any soldering on the main circuit board of the guitar, i am more than happy to buy sum Dimarzio's

Thanks for ur help ppl!

Champagne Mist · #2 04-24-2003, 08:07 PM

I think you are going to have to do some soldering, no matter what.

little wing · #3 04-25-2003, 01:16 PM

Dude, guess it would be better is you attacth the wires to the curcit board rather than doing the unscrewing thing which i don't really get you. :P

btweensunandmoon · #4 04-25-2003, 01:17 PM

if you are unfamiliar with basic electonics and soldering, I would not recommend you try this yourself. Its better to just pay someone to do it rather than potientially making a mistake that could mess up your volume control or pickup selector switch. And yes, The pickup wires must be cut back all the way to the connections in the control cavity and all old solder must be removed. Rule of thumb is just to copy the old connections as they were and do it wire by wire, matching all the colors. Unfortunately, Ibanez pickups do not have the option of changing the coil configurations. This means your old ibanez pickups will have 2 insulated wires and a bare ground while the dimarzios will have 4 insulated wires and a bare ground wire. to an experienced person, this will be no sweat, but for a beginner this will be confusing as hell. So safe yourself some aggrevation and have a pro do it.

RG-Head · #5 04-25-2003, 05:43 PM

Thanks for the help guys.

lol i am already confused as btweensunandmoon described it

darren wilson · #6 04-25-2003, 07:31 PM

There are a few good books you can probably pick up at your local library on guitar wiring and electronics. It's not terribly difficult if you have patience and can follow instructions. But if you've never soldered anything before, i'd suggest taking it to a qualified technician and ask if you can look over his/her shoulder to see how it's done.

RG-Head · #7 05-03-2003, 11:09 AM

ok thanks, btw how do you people connect and disconnect the pickup wires to the circuit board? Do you use glue to glue the wires to the board? I have a Ibanez SR485 bass guitar, i checked out the circuit today and how the wires are connected to the circuit board, it seems as if they were glued on or something

so i am assuming the electric guitars will be the same...

darren wilson · #8 05-03-2003, 03:28 PM

Unless guitars have active tone circuits (which the Soundgear bass likely does), your guitar will not have a circuit board.

Electrical connections are not glued. They're soldered. If you've never used a soldering iron before, i'd highly recommend practicing first. Changing pickups may not be a good first electronics project.

Shredd · #9 05-04-2003, 06:46 AM

Hey guys, i got a question similar to wat RG head has.

I have an RG620X with a H H configuration (V7 n V8 ). Im thinking of changing both of them to dimarzios.

I am a begginner in this sort of thing. But what i have decided to do is to cut the wires where they are soldered to the V pickup, and remove the V. Then . all i have to do is to solder the wires to the Dimarzio at the same spot where it used to connect to the V.

Thus, i would not have to open the back panel at all.

Can someone tell me if my method going to work, or is it not as simple as i had thought?

Can someone pls advice??

frankfalbo · #10 05-04-2003, 08:41 AM

Yes, please don't do that. There's no correlation to the wire colors or even the wire quantity from a Dimarzio to a "V". And you have no idea what wire serves what purpose. You also kill the "V" pickup, which you might want to put back if you ever sell off the guitar. If you open the back, you'll see "Oh, this wire goes off to the back of that pot, just like in the Dimarzio instructions" and you'll also notice that two wires on the Dimarzio will be soldered together. In the "V's" they do that internally and just run one wire out. If you're not soldering well yet, don't change your pickups yourself. That goes for both of you. Trying to twisty-tie wires together and glue them is like cutting the lawn with a pair of scissors, because you don't want to buy a lawnmower. Good luck, I hope you start reading up on the subject, practicing your soldering techniques, and make great techs someday.

Shredd · #11 05-04-2003, 09:29 AM

Thanks Frankfalbo.

So that means the wires can only be cut off at the pot, and not at the pickup side?

Anyway do u have any links where i can read up more on this subject, eg. a step by step or something?

Thanks a million

RG-Head · #12 05-04-2003, 10:56 AM

hehe, i was wondering about what Shredd said, but gave my hopes up when Frankfalbo said no and yeh i too would like to know can i just cut the stock pickup wires off on the circuit and just attach the new pickup wires on there? And what do u ppl mean by the word "soldered" there's nothin to solder on the circuit board, from what i see the stock pickup wires are like glued on to the circuit board pot

darren wilson · #13 05-04-2003, 11:21 AM

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22how+to+solder%22

RG-Head · #14 05-04-2003, 12:56 PM

ah that really helped me out, thanks darren wilson.

Does ne1 know where i can get a Soldering iron tool?

Shredd · #15 05-04-2003, 01:24 PM

Im sure you can get it at any hardware shop.

Maybe i should rephrase my question...

I gona take my first step into becoming more informed and skilled so that i can do minor repairs and setups to my own guitar. Im not aiming to become a competent certified tech.

Can someone please advise what i have got to learn or read up on before i can actually replace my own pickups? Im sure replacing pickups are as easy as ABC to many of you all.