HELP REQUIRED - Total novice trying to fit a pickup!!!!!

[SPENSPUMA]

Hiya

I need some help here....ive never fitted a pickup before, but im gonna give it a try!!

My problem?

Well....My second guitar is a Yamaha Pacifica 112 and i decided to try and spruce it up and fit a Dimarzio Paf Pro. I cam to fit it this morning and firstly removed the old pickup and noticed it only had 2 wires???? whereas the Dimarzio has 4 (5 if you count the one attached to the red??)....the wires on the dimarzio are RED(with a bare silver wire attached to it-is this right?) a BLACK,WHITE & GREEN.....the Yamaha just had a WHITE and a BARE SILVER.

Can anyone tell me how i wire this thing up???...where do 4 wires go where only 2 came from???.....the 2 wires on the yamaha Pu were wired 1) To Pickup selector and 2) To the volume pot.

Like i say im a complete novice so any help would be VERY VERY much appreciated...

Also noticed that the pickup screws in my yamaha pu are wider than the holes in the Dimarzio pu????? why couldnt all pickup makers have made them a universal size!!...now ive got to try and source some!!!

Any other tips on fitting pickups???...im just on my way out to get a soldering iron.


THANKS in advance for any help

[SPENSPUMA]

anyone??

[ibanez2005]

ERM. Someone on here will know, just give it a bit of time.

Try searching the net, ive found stuff on pickups before. Try this place http://www.guitarelectronics.com

This page mite help http://www.guitarelectronics.com/cat...kupcolorcodes/

Oh and if you aint used to soldering, be careful, very dangerous tool. Keep a wet sponge near you to clean your iron.
Make sure you tin your connections before you try to wire it up. Dont hold the Iron on the components too long, you risk damaging them and give you iron plenty time to cool down afterwoods.

[ibanez2005]

Where are you in the UK mate?

[horstausmforst]

The 4 wires on the dimarzio allow a much wider range in sounds than the 2 on the yamaha pickup - each coil of the dimarzios can be used independent of the other, allowing split sounds, series/parallel wiring, etc. Be sure to test all those sounds sooner or later in your pickup fiddling carrer .
For now, we'll just do a direct swap, meaning that both coils of the dimarzio will always be active simultanuously (sp?), and wired in series, which will give us the 'standard' humbucker sound.
In order to ditch the coil cutting features of the dimarzio, you'll have to solder the black and white wire of the dimarzio together and tape them off (isolate the ends). Then wire the green wire together with the silver one onto the back of the volume pot (I think that's where the silver wire of your yamaha pickup was) and the red one to the switch, and you should be good to go.

For starters, there are also pretty good diagrams somewhere in the depths of the seymour duncan website, but you'll have to adjust your wiring colors accordingly.

[SPENSPUMA]

Originally Posted by ibanez2005

Where are you in the UK mate?

I am close to Burton on Trent

[SPENSPUMA]

Thanks for your help so far..VERY much appreciated.

Can i just clarify them.....the Black and White pickup wires need to be soldered together and taped off - and hence NOT attached to anything else???....the GREEN and BARE wire attached together and to the volume knob and the RED needs to go to the selector switch??

I bought the Paf Pro second hand , and when i got it the RED and BARE wires were soldered together???...is this wrong??

[SPENSPUMA]

One last thing....im having great trouble finding the screws to fit the Dimarzio pickup??....they are slightly slimmer than what were used to fit the Yamaha pu...been to various hardware shops and a guitar shop !!!! and they look at me gone out as if im asking for chickens teeth!!!.....are the Dimarzio screws smaller??? or is the DM pu i bought faulty????

[horstausmforst]

Originally Posted by SPENSPUMA

Can i just clarify them.....the Black and White pickup wires need to be soldered together and taped off - and hence NOT attached to anything else???....the GREEN and BARE wire attached together and to the volume knob and the RED needs to go to the selector switch??

exactly. You may want to solder black+white to a mini switch later for more diversity in sound, but for now, it's exactly like I mentioned.

when i got it the RED and BARE wires were soldered together???...is this wrong??

No it isn't wrong. Green and red can be switched, since that only changes the direction of the current flowing through the pickup. It will become important once you want to use your pickup together with a middle single coil. The way I described is the 'standard' way, but the other way should also be fine. But be sure to solder the bare wire to the back of the volume pot in both cases.

[horstausmforst]

Originally Posted by SPENSPUMA

..are the Dimarzio screws smaller??? or is the DM pu i bought faulty????

I don't know how large the screws of your yamaha pickup are, but yes, the screw sizes vary from brand to brand. But any well stocked hardware/tool shop should help you out there. Also ask at your local guitar/instrument shop - that'd be the first thing I'd try.

[SPENSPUMA]

Having a nightmare getting the screws to fit the dimarzio pickup....looks like its a 2mm radius and not 3mm like almost all other makes!!!...rang 2 guitar shops....no can do.....been into about 6 hardware shops and none do them any narrower than 3mm......nothing on ****!!!!!!!....it is Sooooo frustrating!!...i just wanna get the damn thing in my guitar.

Can anyone else tell me if there is a place online which would sell such 'rare' screws????

[SPENSPUMA]

Does anyone know where i can get Screws for the Dimarzio Pickup on-line????

[satchboogeyman]

Originally Posted by ibanez2005

ERM. Someone on here will know, just give it a bit of time.

Try searching the net, ive found stuff on pickups before. Try this place http://www.guitarelectronics.com

This page mite help http://www.guitarelectronics.com/cat...kupcolorcodes/

Oh and if you aint used to soldering, be careful, very dangerous tool. Keep a wet sponge near you to clean your iron.
Make sure you tin your connections before you try to wire it up. Dont hold the Iron on the components too long, you risk damaging them and give you iron plenty time to cool down afterwoods.

I clicked on the link and found pickup screws although might be a problem shipping over seas.

see here http://www.guitarelectronics.com/cat...screwssprings/


BTW Ibanez 2005 thanks for the link *thumbs up*

[David McCarroll]

Originally Posted by SPENSPUMA

Having a nightmare getting the screws to fit the dimarzio pickup....looks like its a 2mm radius and not 3mm like almost all other makes!!!...rang 2 guitar shops....no can do.....been into about 6 hardware shops and none do them any narrower than 3mm......nothing on ****!!!!!!!....it is Sooooo frustrating!!...i just wanna get the damn thing in my guitar.

Can anyone else tell me if there is a place online which would sell such 'rare' screws????

If it helps, Gibson screws have the same thread as Dimarzios, so if you have access to a decent Gibson dealer........

[David McCarroll]

..... or for that matter I'm sure Cottham Guitars (see banner, top of page) would have a couple knocking around.......