Would U change pickups by cutting the wire?

8475 Views 13 Replies 9 Participants Last post by moonlight, Dec 14, 2011

Dave Goodland

Discussion Starter · Dec 14, 2011 (Edited)

Hi all,

I have the issue of needing to change pickups in a Gibson supreme.

these guitars have no back plate to get into the pot cavity.

The usual way to change pickups or pots is to feed the pots through the pickup cavity and use the output jack as a way of inserting tools.

But I cant do this and a guitar tech said it will cost a bit.

So I came across a video on youtube showing you can just cut the pickup wire where it meets your old pickup (ground and live) and solder it to your new pickup wire - providing its obviously not an active pickup.
here is the video if you do not understand my description

SO

-Would this sound any different to a proper installation?

- Have any of you done this or would do this?

Thanks in advance - any help would be appreciated.

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ibanezcollector

· #2 · Dec 14, 2011

it wont sound any different but its not correct so to speak.

On a side note the funniest thing about that video is the end where he is playing out of tune LOL that speaks volumes on maybe that isnt the best way to do it.

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Dave Goodland

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 14, 2011

I thought the same thing - once he played the out of tune chord at the end I thought "damn I cant trust these people" hence why I came here.

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RGTFanatic

· #4 · Dec 14, 2011

that video should be banned....LOL

What a couple of hacks........Dave, do yourself the favor of having it done properly. I promise you'll thank yourself in the end.

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Sho

· #5 · Dec 14, 2011

A tuner spoiled me. Even I can tell that's out of tune.

I agree with the rest do it properly.

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LostInRockFormations

· #6 · Dec 14, 2011

Do you really NEED to change pickups ?

Desire is the cause of all suffering.

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Death.by.G-string

· #7 · Dec 14, 2011

check if you can drop the volume pot and get it with the bottom up under the F-hole.
(remove pickquard) if there's enough space to get it there you can easely solder the new pickups. you might need an extra pair of hands to hold it there while you solder.

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Dave Goodland

Discussion Starter · #8 · Dec 14, 2011 (Edited)

Death.by.G-string said:
check if you can drop the volume pot and get it with the bottom up under the F-hole.
(remove pickquard) if there's enough space to get it there you can easely solder the new pickups. you might need an extra pair of hands to hold it there while you solder.

Unfortunately there is no F-hole on the supreme's

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ibanezcollector

· #9 · Dec 14, 2011

when all else fails take it to someone who can do it right, not always my favorite option but sometimes you got to do it.

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elcid

· #10 · Dec 14, 2011

You can probably tie a string around the volume pots then pull the pots through the pickup holes , do your soldering and use the string to fish the pots back. It'll be a pain. Dan Erlweine has a video where he splices new pickups to the old wires, and he's pretty much the guy for repairs.

The best way would be to have it done professionally, but if you cant or dont want to spend the money, there's nothing wrong with splicing the wires. It'll work and sound fine

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musikron

· #11 · Dec 14, 2011

No way would I ever do what you are suggesting. Not only is it lazy and sloppy, devalues the instrument, but is also asking for issues with the job sooner rather than later.

Either pay someone to do it right if you can't do it yourself, or acquire a guitar that is not beyond your means to service. I don't understand the logic, spending $3500 on a guitar is no problem, but a $200 repair bill to protect the investment is unacceptable?

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elcid

· #12 · Dec 14, 2011 (Edited)

Lazy maybe, but how exactly does it devalue the instrument or create issues, a solid splice will last indefinately, go take apart some light switches, fixtures, or outlets and see how many splices are in your house that you never had any issues with.

All soldering is is a splice point, it isn't some magic connection that does anything special, adding another splice point in this case wont affect anything. There's a handful of companies that offer solderless solutions for installing pickups, either with Phoenix connectors or clips

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LostInRockFormations

· #13 · Dec 14, 2011

I was curious, I wanted to know how thay make a ship in a bottle.

This explains it,

http://www.lespaulforum.com/slubarticle/supreme/supreme.html

seems it has long wires and it all slides out through the Jack socket.

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moonlight

· #14 · Dec 14, 2011

LostInRockFormations said:
I was curious, I wanted to know how thay make a ship in a bottle.

This explains it,

http://www.lespaulforum.com/slubarticle/supreme/supreme.html

seems it has long wires and it all slides out through the Jack socket.

Thanks for the article. I was baffled about the reason for building a guitar that appears next to imposable to work on the electronics. As a habitual pickup changer/electronics tinkerer the thing looks insane. I can change a pickup on my back routed RG's and be back in tune in half an hour.

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