First time fitting pups - Any tips?

[ailean]

Hi all

I'm a complete newbie in the guitar world, only started playing about 6 weeks ago so please excuse any ignorance on my part.

I bought myself a sweet Japanese made Tokai Les Paul, and have just ordered a calibrated set of Nailbombs to put in it. I fully intend to fit them myself coz where's the fun in letting someone else do it?

However, it would be nice to get any tips from those of you who have done this before. :)

Rich.

[Twinfan]

Welcome  :)

You'll need a soldering iron, some solder, screwdrivers, pliers and ideally a small socket set.  Plus a wiring diagram, plenty of room, lots of time, and some patience.

You need to decide in advance if you're going to uses the existing pots and capacitors, or if you're going to wire in new ones while you've got your guitar to bits.  If this is your first re-wire, I'd keep as much of your original wiring as possible.  You can always upgrade it later if you feel you need to.

Anything else you need to know?  :D

[ailean]

Thanks for that Twinfan

I was intending to re-use the current wiring etc, I've heard that the Japanese made guitars have a high build quality so I'm hoping that covers the electrical quality too.

Is there much gain in replacing stock wiring / pots / caps?

[Twinfan]

You're entering the minefield of guitar modificatin here - tread carefully  ;)

All changes will make a difference.  Whether they'll make it "better" or "worse" is down to your opinion.  The Japanese pots/caps etc are (as you say) generally good quality.  I would fit the Nailbombs and take it from there.  My golden rule is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!".  Only change things if you're trying to cure a problem e.g the guitar is too bright/aggressive/muddy/thin sounding etc.

Take it easy, wire up the Nailbombs, and let us know if you have any problems.  Then give us your review of how they sound.  We like that stuff round here  :)

By the way, if you've only been playing for 6 weeks you're making a big jump into the unknown with a pickup change!

[Nadz1lla]

Been playing 6 weeks and already switching to Nailbombs?

You'll go far, my son...far indeed!  :D

Great choice.

[futuregun]

I was intending to re-use the current wiring etc, I've heard that the Japanese made guitars have a high build quality so I'm hoping that covers the electrical quality too.

Is there much gain in replacing stock wiring / pots / caps?

well man... ive been playin on off for a few years so am a novice essentially though i talk BIG :roll:

but i just replaced my pups about 1month ago...before that i hadnt even really lookin at th guts of my guitar b4 .

1st thing dont be intimadated.like twin' said its all about patience an havin a guide...ie wiring diagram an thats it....oh a cold beer hhelps no end to keep th heat off when your takin tooooo much care when solderin  :lol:

also you need a victory sup to enjoy your new killer tone with.oh an if your not of legal drinkin age.....its never too late to start lol

an my guitars are all jap an the wiring is fine to use again, though i changed out th pots etc as i mortally wounded them with my solderin iron the 1st time...i was using my brothers which he solders car connections etc with so it was too big to manouver around the guitar delicates :oops:

but really just take you time an  youll be grand, once you do it once you can swap out th guitars guts in no time....but the 1st time it took me like near 2 hours.
its good though.

good luck th lad
damn i jsut wrote a motivational essay there

ps. dont liten to me as i talk alot of foolishness

[Nadz1lla]

When I ripped the guts of my axe out I made myself an instructional video with my mobile phone to tell myself what goes where. Providing the wiring on the new pups is the same colour coding as the old ones all should be dandy. If in doubt though, it really is a good idea to read up on it from the pro's.

Or, you could get a pro at your local Axe boutique to do it and ask them nicely if they would mind if you watched. Some local shops will be more than happy to give you a hint or a demo on how to do things like that.

[ailean]

Thanks guys.

Yeah I know I'm probably a fool to start messing with my pickups so soon, but I read some reviews and thought "I want some of THAT". I figure I can always put the old ones back in if I've made a mistake, but I can't see that happening.

I think I'll save the beer 'till after the surgery  :twisted: I'm well over the leagal age, so no problems there, but I'm a serious lightweight and I'm pretty sure you shouldn't use a soldering iron while ratted.

Good idea nadz, I think I'll take a video or at least some pics before I fire up the soldering iron.

Twinfan, you mentioned "patience", where do I buy that? I checked Maplins and ScrewFix but they didn't seem to stock it?  :D

[Twinfan]

Twinfan, you mentioned "patience", where do I buy that? I checked Maplins and ScrewFix but they didn't seem to stock it?  :D

Try the hills of Tibet, home of the Buddhist monks...

;)

[ailean]

Nailbombs arrived today (Thanks Tim!)

I've fitted them and they sound great, loads more depth and tone, and a lot louder too!  :twisted:

I'm not sure my amp can take it though, I'm getting some reverb on the real low notes and thats on the clean channel, I think it might blow up when I switch to the lead channel   :D