|
|
Guitar Discussions -> Basic (possibly dumb) pickup wiring question
There are 7 messages in this thread.
You are currently looking at messages 1 to 7.
|
Basic (possibly dumb) pickup wiring question - Mark Jones - 00:30 27-11-05
|
|
I have a Canvas double-humbucker guitar (www.canvas.com, the CVN20),
and I'm fond of it. But I have this Seymour Duncan Phat Cat pickup
lying around, and I want to swap out. Here's a sorta dumb question: Can
I just leave an inch or two of each of the two wires from the original
pickups attached to the pots and splice the Duncan's leads onto them
with those little electrical-wire nuts? I don't know how to solder and
i don't want to pay anyone to do it in case I don't like the pickups. I
figure if I secure the wires tightly, I'd have to thrash around a long
time before they came loose. Am I a genious? An idiot? Or just cheap,
lazy and wrong?
|
|
|
|
Re: Basic (possibly dumb) pickup wiring question - Keith Adams - 00:48 27-11-05
|
|
It isnt the way to do it but it will work. Leave as much wire on each
that you possibly can. Dont yank on em either.Instead of a wire nut I
think Id crimp on a male and female spade terminal.You know man .One
slides into the other securely and they have plastic insulation on
them. If you dont know what I'm talking bout then do a web search
"Mark Jones" <mjones39393939@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:2005112623304816807%mjones39393939@yahoocom...
I have a Canvas double-humbucker guitar (www.canvas.com, the CVN20),
and I'm fond of it. But I have this Seymour Duncan Phat Cat pickup
lying around, and I want to swap out. Here's a sorta dumb question: Can
I just leave an inch or two of each of the two wires from the original
pickups attached to the pots and splice the Duncan's leads onto them
with those little electrical-wire nuts? I don't know how to solder and
i don't want to pay anyone to do it in case I don't like the pickups. I
figure if I secure the wires tightly, I'd have to thrash around a long
time before they came loose. Am I a genious? An idiot? Or just cheap,
lazy and wrong?
|
|
|
|
Re: Basic (possibly dumb) pickup wiring question - Mo - 04:55 27-11-05
|
|
Mark Jones <mjones39393939@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:2005112623304816807%mjones39393939@yahoocom:
> I have a Canvas double-humbucker guitar (www.canvas.com, the CVN20),
> and I'm fond of it. But I have this Seymour Duncan Phat Cat pickup
> lying around, and I want to swap out. Here's a sorta dumb question:
> Can I just leave an inch or two of each of the two wires from the
> original pickups attached to the pots and splice the Duncan's leads
> onto them with those little electrical-wire nuts? I don't know how to
> solder and i don't want to pay anyone to do it in case I don't like
> the pickups. I figure if I secure the wires tightly, I'd have to
> thrash around a long time before they came loose. Am I a genious? An
> idiot? Or just cheap, lazy and wrong?
>
The purists will tell you to unsolder the existing wires and resolder
directly to the pot. It looks neater that way.
But how often are you going to look in there?
You don't need an extra wire nut. What I do pretty often --I leave an
inch or two of the original wire on the pot and strip the end to get
about a 1/4 inch of bare wire. I do the same with the new pickup.
Wrap/hook the two wire ends and solder them together. Then I wrap the
connection in electrical tape (or find some extra tubing, slide that
over the connection.
You don't want any exposed wire because if it touches anything else in
there, it'll ground out the pickup and you'll get no sound.
Once you're comfortable soldering --and once you're convinced you want
to keep this pickup, you can always clean up the connection and solder
directly to the volume pot.
But I've never noticed any issues doing it the other way.
One thing to keep in mind --make sure you protect the rest of the guitar
while you're soldering --there's always a chance that your solder will
drip or spatter, you don't want to ruin the finish.
In the meantime, practice for a few minutes on spare wires before you
attack the guitar.
|
|
|
|
Re: Basic (possibly dumb) pickup wiring question - Boyd Williamson - 19:43 27-11-05
|
|
On 11/26/05 11:30 PM, in article
2005112623304816807%mjones39393939@yahoocom, "Mark Jones"
<mjones39393939@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Am I a genious?
If you can't spell "genius," you probably aren't one. ; )
Yeah, go ahead and twist 'em up to try it. But whatever you decide on, you
really should get a soldering kit and do it right. The wires are pretty
fine, and could easily shake loose.
Soldering isn't difficult, and a basic kit isn't expensive. About the only
tricks to it is to use some soldering paste, and use the iron to heat the
connection you are soldering, and feed the solder into the connection,
rather than feeding the solder into the iron.
Zoid
|
|
|
|
Re: Basic (possibly dumb) pickup wiring question - Larry - 12:19 28-11-05
|
|
How do the "Cold Heat" soldering guns work out on Guitar stuff?
I have one I got at radio shack. It's actually an amazing little tool. It
just isn't good for heavy-gauge work.
-Larry
"Boyd Williamson" <zoid@z9design.com> wrote in message
news:BFAFAED5.DB7C%zoid@z9design.com...
> On 11/26/05 11:30 PM, in article
> 2005112623304816807%mjones39393939@yahoocom, "Mark Jones"
> <mjones39393939@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Am I a genious?
>
> If you can't spell "genius," you probably aren't one. ; )
>
> Yeah, go ahead and twist 'em up to try it. But whatever you decide on, you
> really should get a soldering kit and do it right. The wires are pretty
> fine, and could easily shake loose.
>
> Soldering isn't difficult, and a basic kit isn't expensive. About the only
> tricks to it is to use some soldering paste, and use the iron to heat the
> connection you are soldering, and feed the solder into the connection,
> rather than feeding the solder into the iron.
>
> Zoid
>
|
|
|
|
Re: Basic (possibly dumb) pickup wiring question - Jim Anable - 18:08 29-11-05
|
|
Mark Jones wrote:
> I have a Canvas double-humbucker guitar (www.canvas.com, the CVN20), and
> I'm fond of it. But I have this Seymour Duncan Phat Cat pickup lying
> around, and I want to swap out. Here's a sorta dumb question: Can I just
> leave an inch or two of each of the two wires from the original pickups
> attached to the pots and splice the Duncan's leads onto them with those
> little electrical-wire nuts?
I wouldn't. Plus, you need to check whether the Seymour Duncan is four
wire or two. If four wire, you need to connect two of those wires
together, as well.
> I don't know how to solder and i don't want
> to pay anyone to do it in case I don't like the pickups. I figure if I
> secure the wires tightly, I'd have to thrash around a long time before
> they came loose. Am I a genious?
No.
> An idiot?
I wouldn't go THAT far. You could twist the wires TIGHTLY (WITHOUT wire
nuts, just twist the wires) and tape for testing purposes, then PAY
somebody to solder if you like the sound. ...or ask fellow musicians
for help. Most can handle this. Best advice would be to watch and learn.
> Or just cheap, lazy and wrong?
WE HAVE A WINNER! (no offense intended)
|
|
|
|
Re: Basic (possibly dumb) pickup wiring question - Jim Anable - 18:09 29-11-05
|
|
Larry wrote:
> How do the "Cold Heat" soldering guns work out on Guitar stuff?
I don't trust those, because the correct way to solder is to heat the
wire. Those little things just melt solder. I imagine a high incidence
of cold solders.
|
|
|
|
1 |
|