Why can't I leave my darn guitar alone?

[kiteman]

When I got my Carvin DC127 it had Holdsworth pups.

My first pup swap, Seymour Duncan Blackouts.



My second pup swap, Dimarzio D'Activators.



My third and present pup swap, NOS Carvin M22s.



Now I'm thinking about putting the Blackouts back in. Duh, there's gotta be an easier way to swap pups.

[Ch0jin]

Well you could always buy another two guitars. Then you wouldn't have to swap

[deeaa*]

Why not try some EMG85's :-) I haven't swapped my pups since I found those.

If that were my Carvin, I might paint it...maybe sand it some...:-) no, really, looks fine.

[kiteman]

I have two other guitars, one converted to single coils and the other with the Holdsworth pups.

deeaa, good idea. I'll paint white stripes on it and it'll look like a candy cane.

[bcdon***]

Put those Blackouts back in but add this first:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/liberator/

With a Liberator installed in place of a volume pot, changing pickups becomes fast, easy, and solder-free, but just as reliable. In fact, it's more reliable than a less-than-perfect solder joint. You simply insert the bare end of each pickup lead into one of Liberator's pickup connector stations and tighten the screw-clamp to lock it down. Turning the screw lifts up a carriage that locks the wire against a fixed pad, securing the connection in place. It's completely simple, and completely solid.

[MAXIFUNK]

Buy Taylor electric where switching pups is as simple as just switching out the pick guard. Really cool stuff.

[street music]

Kite, face it man was put on earth to work all his life and things that he enjoys that the wife just doesn't understand.

[kiteman]

Kite, face it man was put on earth to work all his life and things that he enjoys that the wife just doesn't understand.

I don't have that problem, I never married.

Lady friends are great.

[mrmudcat]

Ya married fo-sho to a curvaceous redhead!!!


ya dont like the m series????

[kiteman]

The M series is great but instead of putting Blackouts back in I'm thinking more likely the D'Activators. They're great pups and I won't have to change the controls.

I used to have a redheaded lady (and green eyes, eat your heart out) and she's my fav but she moved. That's the curvaceous one.

By the way, I'm gonna wait til I get my single coils for the Bolt.

[FrankenFretter***]

Kite, I feel your pain on the pickup swapping; my Agile AL3K is now on the 4th set of pickups. I use that guitar to test my magnet swaps, so it's had a few in there. I need to figure out a reasonable quick change system. It's a PITA to do all that soldering...especially when you don't like to solder.

Hope the current set that's in there does the trick for you. If I develop a quick change system, I'll let ya know!

[kiteman]

Kite, I feel your pain on the pickup swapping; my Agile AL3K is now on the 4th set of pickups. I use that guitar to test my magnet swaps, so it's had a few in there. I need to figure out a reasonable quick change system. It's a PITA to do all that soldering...especially when you don't like to solder.

Hope the current set that's in there does the trick for you. If I develop a quick change system, I'll let ya know!

I leave short wires on the switch and ground. That way I can solder wire to wire instead of the terminals. Wire nuts can be quicker.

[Brian Krashpad]

Ya got me.

I tend to buy guitars and play 'em, or sell 'em.

No disrespect to anyone intended, but I've never begun to understand the fascination with endless tinkering that so many here and on other guitar forums exhibit.

[Eric***]

I tend to buy guitars and play 'em, or sell 'em.

Same here. I figure I could save some money if I knew exactly what I wanted and could mod appropriately, but I just don't think it's in my blood. At least not yet.

[deeaa*]

I love moddin' my guitars, but once it's done it's pretty much done. I don't tinker them ad nauseam.

Pickup changing is kind of a swamp of problems IMO for instance. I don't think changing 'em makes for much of a difference compared to what you can achieve with some amp EQ'ing for instance, unless we're talking real crappy ones and/or changing the style completely (single/bucker/active/P90).

I'm not saying there's no difference, far from it, but the problem is in that the guitar sound has so many variables to it, it must be like 10¹⁰ possibilities each changing it a little, and if you change something like a pickup, you mess up the palette quite nicely once again. It's like...I don't care if I wear a blue or black suit to a wedding, it has very little importance, but if I change to a blue jacket I can't be happy with black pants any more. Same with pickups - you change them a little, and you'll end up with just more tinkering trying to chase the sound qualities that you partially liked with the previous ones.

I like to 'fix' a few variables - I know what kind of pickups I like and why, and install them in all my guitars. I know what kind of an amp sound I like, so I use just one amp. That way I can always be happy with my sound and just slightly improve it over the years. I do check back on my recordings way back to the 80's and think what was good about them and what has changed though. It's a process, but I don't think I tinker with things much in the end.

The only thing that varies is pedal settings really, and slight differences in guitars like neck materials, scale, overall build, and those alone are way more than enough to yield enough differences for a lifetime of testing etc.

[otaypanky***]

I like to mess with things until I think I have gotten the best out of it. But in the past I have been surprised with 2 things that really had a big impact on the tone and response. I found that pickups I thought needed a replacement sounded wonderful after changing the wiring design, pots and caps. Another Item that had a huge effect and once again made me realize I didn't need to change out what I thought were dull and lifeless pickups was playing with the right cable. Especially if you are someone who goes straight in to the amp without using pedals, finding the right cable can make a remarkable difference in the tone and effectiveness of your controls.

[deeaa*]

Yep, I agree at least partially...these are things that are the icing on the cake...using a really bad cable does have a clear impact, the longer it is the bigger too. But, much like in speaker cables, I don't buy into any 'super great' cables...just good ones are good enough. And in the end, no matter what you do to your pots, caps and cable, stick a regular Boss pedal in there, and any benefits of those are gone.

Any pedal, buffer, circuit or using a wireless device also affects the sound clearly. But both are the type of thing that can be compensated for somewhat by just adding some EQ. If wireless is good enough for Angus it's good enough for me (although I don't own a wireless, no need.)

But pedals by and large are what changes the sound most, though, regardless of being on or off or so called true bypass...by far the greatest improvement in overall signal quality and thereby tone for me came when I started using a pedal switcher instead of just queuing them.

Pots & caps...yes they make a difference, probably much more so in passive guitars. I don't use tone controls by and large and might as well just rip them all off and have just a volume there. Used to have a volume pedal, at which time my main axe didn't even have that :-)

In active guitars the differences with these seem very small, but the ones with just the volume maybe are ever so slightly more lively sounding than the rest. Although it's hard to tell, because those are very simple 1-pickup, & lively sounding guitars acoustically too.

But, yeah, especially if you go direct to amp, it is a good idea to make sure you have decent pots & caps and also try not to use just any lousy cable you find but get a good quality instrument cable.

[gavin_rossdale1]

if i have those pickups,,ill buy them a decent guitar and play some good guitar music for each of them..