Replacing pickups!?

[Cranium]

Im planning to buy a new pickup and I never installed a pickup myself, firstly where do I buy all the needed parts and what parts do I need exactly? What types of soldering iron's and do I need any other tools? Also it would be nice if someone posted a small tutorial here, its a Dimarzio Virtual Vintage model and I think the only diffrence is the wire colors, they have a guide on Dimarzio site but I still need to know what soldering iron's I need. Thanks

[Mark]

I just installed a set of Kinman Blues on my strat tonight, being a Plumber soldering is right up my alley. Go here for good info on cookin new pick-ups.
Hope this helps!!

http://www.kinman.com/html/toneWorks....htm#soldertip

[Tinky-Winky]

Though I have never installed a pickup, I have some experience with soldering and therefore can offer you some advice on what to buy. Firstly, buy the most powerful soldering iron you can afford. Though it might sound as if the hotter the soldering iron, the more likely it is to damage the pickup/pot etc., the opposite is the case, as the soldering iron will be able to melt the solder more rapidly, before heating up the rest of the component. Secondly, buy some flux core solder, as it is a hassle to apple some flux before the solder. To hold the soldering iron, a decent quality stand should be purchased, and I recommend getting one with a spongy cleaning pad that is used to clean the solder tip after soldering. Though I don't use gloves when soldering (as it makes fine connections hard to do), a heatproof mat is a necessity as it prevents your table etc. from catching fire. Finally, it's a good idea to buy a "third hand" - something like this http://www.rjsintl.com/productDetail...roduct_id=T166
This is due to the fact that it is hard to hold two components together, apply solder, and use the iron. As I said, I have never installed a pickup, but I can advise you on certain practices. To solder two components, the first thing that must be done is to "tin" the wires or contacts before soldering them together. To do this, the soldering iron must heat the part that is to be soldered, until it is hot enough to melt solder on - for example, to tin wire, the soldering iron must be pressed down on the wire until it is hot enough to melt some solder on (this will take from around 2 seconds or more depending on the iron), and then enough solder should be applied to just lightly coat the wire, so that it appears silver (no blobs of solder should be present). Once the components have been tinned, they can be soldered together. They should be clamped together, so that an electrical connection is already present. After this, the soldering iron should be applied to the connection, and when the tinned joint melts, enough solder should be applied to securely fasten the two components. The joint produced should look something like this, if a wire is being connected to the pickup selector
http://www.antex.co.uk/images/betterfig5.jpg.
After the soldering is finished, the tip of the soldering iron should be rubbed against the (dampened with a bit of water) spongy cleaning pad, to get rid of all solder and flux.
Hope this helped.

[Tone2TheBone]

Excellent reply TW, very thorough. I love soldering.

[Spudman***]

I love soldering too. I figured it out by trial and error. I'm glad we have experts that can save us the error part.

I found that if you don't have a 3rd hand tool then some locking hemostats work too to hold things together while the solder is being applied. These can be found in all sorts of places: pawn shops, fishing shops, craft stores and even the Jersey shore from what I hear. If you have a friend that is in the surgery business have them get you a pair or two. They come in handy for other household chores and fishing as well.

[Cranium]

Winky, you scared me so much with your post now Im definatley going to a shop to do it.

[Tone2TheBone]

Cranium - buy us some beer and I'll do it for you.

[Cranium]

Where do you live?

[Bloozcat]

Im planning to buy a new pickup and I never installed a pickup myself, firstly where do I buy all the needed parts and what parts do I need exactly? What types of soldering iron's and do I need any other tools? Also it would be nice if someone posted a small tutorial here, its a Dimarzio Virtual Vintage model and I think the only diffrence is the wire colors, they have a guide on Dimarzio site but I still need to know what soldering iron's I need. Thanks

A 25 watt Weber soldering iron will work well. You can get one at Home Depot.

Simply replacing a pickup isn't hard. Once you know the color coding of the wiring, just desolder the old pickup wires from the contact points, and solder the new ones in their place.

If you haven't had much experience soldering, practice on some old junk components...an old radio or computer or something. You want to heat the terminal that you're soldering the wire to, then introduce the solder until you have a nice shiny molten bead. Always let the solder joint air cool slowly...don't blow on it or use a fan. It's not hard. With a little practice you'll be soldering well.

A Weber soldering iron? What's that? My mind must have been in the BBQ thread when I wrote that. It's a Weller Einstein...

[Cranium]

Its so hard to do anything when everyone is saying diffrent things! Blooz sais 25 watt solder, TW sais the most powerful and on the website he posted it recommends 60 watts for the pots, grrr.

[Tim]

No matter what the wattage is on the soldering iron (the lower the better) try to use aligator clamps when at all possible. They help absorb the heat, which can melt the plastic around the wires.

Personally, I think a 25 watt iron is pushing the limit. Wire coatings will melt unless your experienced and fast.

I am in the process of learning how to cold solder. It works on a battery and can be bought at RS. You should have seen them on TV.

[Mark]

Dont get intimidated for your purposes a 60-80 watt unit will do all you want for typical small home type stuff my little 80 watt works fine ( 20.00 at Lowes). Get your solderin stuff and some extra wire and do a few practice joints. Youll see it isnt brain surgery......unless you soldering your friends brain for em...Ouch!
You can do this!

[Cranium]

Now since Tim scared me even more Im definatly going to have it done in a shop.

[Tim]

Like Mark said ... practice, practice, practice. I have been in ham radio for over 20 years. My little 15 watt RS iron has built many a projects. The main thing to remember is to be quick. Melt the solder and remove the iron. Preperation of the wires and a clean solder tip is also important.

Most wires have a thin insulation on them. After removing the plastic from around the wire, take a piece of sand paper and lightly sand the bare wires. Twist the two wire togethers. Touch the solder to the clean hot tip to coat the tip with solder. Touch the bare wires with the soldering iron and solder at the same time. Within a second the soldered will flow. Instantly remove the iron and solder.

That's all there is! Here are a fews sites to visit.

Basic Soldering:
http://www.elexp.com/t_solder.htm

Remember the heat sink:
http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/solder.htm

Cold Soldering:
http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/solderfaq.htm

[Cranium]

So I just warm up the iron, put the solder on it, then together with the wire I apply it to the pots then remove the solder and hold the wire in place for a few seconds until it just stays there? Also can you please post some links where I can buy the exact solders, maybe 20 watts so I can see how it looks just incase.

[marnold***]

Hey Cranium, I'm with you. I did some soldering on a part-time job I had many moons ago. I'm not sure how much I remember. Since there's such a long length of wire going to the pickup, you'd be hard pressed to damage the pickup itself. Even if you would over-cook a pot, that's only a few bucks for a new one. Everything I've read online apart from this thread encouraged the lowest wattage iron possible. Then again, I have no experience in this.

[Cranium]

I think Robert can help me out, he replaced pickups on his guitars a few times, otherwise I will go have a shop do it for me.

[Bloozcat]

Well, I always recommend a lower wattage soldering iron for beginners until the develop a feel for soldering. It's pretty easy to destroy a pot if too much heat is applied for too long.

Cranium, this isn't that hard to learn, so don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just practice enough until you're confident you can do it. Unless you're all thumbs, I have the confidence that you can learn. Just believe that you can do it and you'll do it. Besides, soldering is the key to most mods on a guitar...it's a basic skill.

Just remember what Yoda said..."Do or do not. There is no try."

[Tone2TheBone]

Yes yes mmmmm...to Bloozcat you listen....help you he can.

-Yoda