Print PDF
Favorite
Email
Step 4Getting Started and Tips
Get your stuff together.
Did you lay down a towel? Do that. You don't want scratches on the back of your guitar.
Organize your stuff. Lay it out so everything is aligned. If you don't have OCD, find someone that does.
The reason for the organization is simple. You're working with a guitar that cost a lot of money. Mine was $250, not excessive but still something I don't want to trash. And your pickup cost $70+, a lot of money for most of us. You don't want to screw anything up.
Can you see? You also want as much light as you can get.
Are your hands clean? Clean them, grease isn't something that's desirable on guitars(except in peculiar fetishes in villages of faraway lands I suppose)
Heat up your soldering iron. You should also have some paper or similar to lay on the guitar while you're soldering.
Tips:
-Write down things you think you don't need to write down. If you need those things later for unpredictable reasons, you'll be glad.
-Print out a standard wiring diagram for your guitar. If you are confused, you can use that to go back to stock.
-Study the wiring diagram before doing any soldering.
-Keep the towel free of wire clippings and clipped strings. When you move your guitar around, they'll put gouges in the back of it.
-Go slow and study how the guitar goes together as you take it apart. Take pictures in case you forget how something goes. Like which direction springs are facing(if they're conical). Little things like that.
-When you take screws out, lay them in the configuration that they were in before you took them out(second picture). Sure, they're all the same, but if you forget where they go that will help.
-When stripping the pickup's main wire to get at the ones on the inside, remember that you don't want to strip more than you have to; it's shielded wire, and it needs to stay that way.
-Put on some good music! If anything it's an inspiration to finish the project so that YOU can make music!
My preference is Zeppelin, but to each his own , right? If only they made Burstbuckers in single coil size. (FYI, my pickup is supposed to model a '59 PAF humbucker found on Les Pauls and the like at that time)
Ready? Next step!
Did you lay down a towel? Do that. You don't want scratches on the back of your guitar.
Organize your stuff. Lay it out so everything is aligned. If you don't have OCD, find someone that does.
The reason for the organization is simple. You're working with a guitar that cost a lot of money. Mine was $250, not excessive but still something I don't want to trash. And your pickup cost $70+, a lot of money for most of us. You don't want to screw anything up.
Can you see? You also want as much light as you can get.
Are your hands clean? Clean them, grease isn't something that's desirable on guitars(except in peculiar fetishes in villages of faraway lands I suppose)
Heat up your soldering iron. You should also have some paper or similar to lay on the guitar while you're soldering.
Tips:
-Write down things you think you don't need to write down. If you need those things later for unpredictable reasons, you'll be glad.
-Print out a standard wiring diagram for your guitar. If you are confused, you can use that to go back to stock.
-Study the wiring diagram before doing any soldering.
-Keep the towel free of wire clippings and clipped strings. When you move your guitar around, they'll put gouges in the back of it.
-Go slow and study how the guitar goes together as you take it apart. Take pictures in case you forget how something goes. Like which direction springs are facing(if they're conical). Little things like that.
-When you take screws out, lay them in the configuration that they were in before you took them out(second picture). Sure, they're all the same, but if you forget where they go that will help.
-When stripping the pickup's main wire to get at the ones on the inside, remember that you don't want to strip more than you have to; it's shielded wire, and it needs to stay that way.
-Put on some good music! If anything it's an inspiration to finish the project so that YOU can make music!
My preference is Zeppelin, but to each his own , right? If only they made Burstbuckers in single coil size. (FYI, my pickup is supposed to model a '59 PAF humbucker found on Les Pauls and the like at that time)
Ready? Next step!
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
 |
Add Comment
|
