Installed my first pickups!

lorirocks · #1 March 11th, 2006

I installed some GFS pickups on my Squier '51. I'll never pay someone to do it again. It was not that hard and I was stressed out for nothing. I only burned myself once with the soldering iron.

Just thought I'd share in case any of you want to do them but don't have the courage. I did it and I'm only 15.

nocat · #2 March 11th, 2006

Nice going Lori...!!! How do they sound...?

I was thinking of swapping out the bridge single coil on my MIM Strat and putting a
Humbucker in there, that would fit in the slot, with out alterations... Problem is, with
the 5 position switch... I wonder what the sound would be like in poss. 2, where both
bridge and center would be active. Hard for me to imagine what would happen when
you add a second pup out of phase with the humbucker... know what I mean...?

LOL... Even I'm confused at this point, and therein lies my problem...!!!

PS. Hope the burn does't hurt too much... (Ouch...!!)

Blind Rat · #3 March 11th, 2006

Nice work Lori.

Ultimate Garage Band · #4 March 11th, 2006

Awesome!!

How'd that Baby Taylor repair go?

munky · #5 March 11th, 2006

I was worried about replacing the pickups in my Les Paul the first time around, but now it's nothing.

Feels good to do it yourself too.

jasoncohen · #6 March 11th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by nocat

Nice going Lori...!!! How do they sound...?

I was thinking of swapping out the bridge single coil on my MIM Strat and putting a
Humbucker in there, that would fit in the slot, with out alterations... Problem is, with
the 5 position switch... I wonder what the sound would be like in poss. 2, where both
bridge and center would be active. Hard for me to imagine what would happen when
you add a second pup out of phase with the humbucker... know what I mean...?

LOL... Even I'm confused at this point, and therein lies my problem...!!!

PS. Hope the burn does't hurt too much... (Ouch...!!)

nocat i just replaced the bridge pickup on my MIM strat with a seymour duncan distortion humbucker...and it sounds just great...the 2nd position doesnt sound much different than the first however just alot quieter...i ordered a different pickguard because i didnt wanna risk messing up my old one. It only cost me 10 dollars or so for a nice pearloid one so i think its worth that little extra money just in case.

lorirocks · #7 March 11th, 2006

They sound incredible. The GFS Liverpool is exactly the sound I was wanting. Very very vintagey. Sounds great through my Ashdown Peacemaker 40 amp. Only $37.95. That's why I didn't want to pay $45.00 each to have them installed. I bought these pups at: http://store.guitarfetish.com/vintagestyle.html Here's a sound clip of the Liverpool from their site. http://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS_WAV/R12_Clean.mp3

For my neck I used GFS Lil Puncher which is a rail/blade tele neck pickup. I couldn't find a sound clip so I wasn't sure what to expect but I knew 2 other Squier '51 owners had used it and were happy with it. I love it.

Tomorrow I'll have pictures of my mod'ed Squier '51. The custom diamond plate pickguard is awesome.

The Martin was easy to fix. I used thin plywood just like you said and I glued it with some Liquid Nails glue. I only had to try once to get it right. Good thing I have small hands that fit in the soundhole. It looks so good that I didn't even use stickers on it.

I think mod'ing is gonna be an addiction.

Clancy · #8 March 11th, 2006

Good for you Lori. There's nothing like the satifaction you get when you do something yourself.

Congrats!

Clancy

lorirocks · #9 March 12th, 2006

It looks and sounds incredible. The pickups work perfect including the coil tap.

And I did it with just some help from my Mom!!!

I didn't center the neck pickup right so I'll probably move it with the next string change but it's works great. Not bad for my first project. I'll do better next one. Yes, there will be others. This is addicting as hell! LOL

It was hard to get pictures of it. The ones I took with flash came out terrible. I'll get better pictures later. Just wanted to give you guys an idea. Here it is:

BEFORE:

Ultimate Garage Band · #10 March 12th, 2006

hey, you swapped out pickguards too! I know a few guys that are totally enraptured with the '51.

Darkhodge · #11 March 14th, 2006

Hey the guitar looks great!

This bring memories back... When I was 17 I tried to put a preamp into the body of my guitar. I installed it and was happy with it until one day smoke started appearing from under my pick guard! It's not surprising really because I made the preamp myself as I'd done GCSE electronics!