Pre-Wired Strat Pickguard.

[pike168]

I Own a Fender Stratocaster and i am really interested in the buying a set of Trilogy pickups but as i dont know how to wire them all up with the pots and switch i was wondering if there are any places in the UK which sell pre-wired kits. I've seen a few pre-wired pickguard sets but none of them use BK pickups.

Anyone know any places which do this ?

[Will]

BKP web shop.
Haven't been over there to have a look since the sites overhaul, just order off BKP on t'internet, or phone

[Philly Q]

BKP web shop.

Agreed. 

But you really don't need to "know" how to wire them all up with the pots and switch.  If you can manage a bit of basic soldering all you need to do is replace the pickups one at a time and put the new ones exactly where the old ones were.  :)

[pike168]

So all i have to do is replace the pickups, i wont really have to wire up the pots and stuff? Also how many wires would need to be soldered if i was only replacing the pickups ?

[Philly Q]

No, you won't need to wire the pots or anything.  Just two wires from each pickup, so six connections in all.  And three of those are the ground wires which all go to the back of the volume pot, so in effect you only have to make four connections.

[Mariner]

It really is easy it you are sticking to standard wiring - which I would recommend for your first time.  The hardest bit is learning how to solder properly (and you can do that in about half an hour!).

Two tips - and apologies if I am teaching you to suck eggs.

1) Get a decent soldering iron - I like a plug in one with variable and accurate temperate control (helps avoid dry joints); and

2) Get a multimeter and check your wiring as you go (also helps to track down problems if they occur.

Good luck.

[AndyR]

I agree with everything said...

But having said that, I bought my ITs on a pre-wired guard. Nice high quality work, BKP even wired it non-standard for me when I asked (master tone covering all three), at no extra cost - I wasn't expecting that, I'm guessing it meant they did it especially for me  :D

The advantage for me is that I now own (for two strats) three sets of pups, each on their own pick guard with controls. If I want to swap, it's a lot quicker and involves three solder joints (two for the jack-socket, and one for the ground on the tremolo claw at the back).

[Philly Q]

The advantage for me is that I now own (for two strats) three sets of pups, each on their own pick guard with controls. If I want to swap, it's a lot quicker and involves three solder joints (two for the jack-socket, and one for the ground on the tremolo claw at the back).

The obvious answer to that is another question...... so when are you buying another Strat? 

[AndyR]

The advantage for me is that I now own (for two strats) three sets of pups, each on their own pick guard with controls. If I want to swap, it's a lot quicker and involves three solder joints (two for the jack-socket, and one for the ground on the tremolo claw at the back).

The obvious answer to that is another question...... so when are you buying another Strat? 

Get behind me satan!!!  :lol:

The missus would fully understand a different type of guitar (danelectro and gretsch are current considerations, but she doesn't know yet), as long as the purchase order request was accompanied by a proper business plan including needs- and budget- analysis.

But a new strat, I'd have to start gigging again to justify that (to myself even)!!

[badgermark]

The hardest part is soldering the ground wires. I'm pretty good with the old soldering, been doing it since i was 13 or so, on and off, and I still struggle with clean soldering to the back of the pot.  Maybe done one or two perfect ones in years of guitar wiring.

Go for the bkp wired guards, quality is second to none.

[AndyR]

The hardest part is soldering the ground wires. I'm pretty good with the old soldering, been doing it since i was 13 or so, on and off, and I still struggle with clean soldering to the back of the pot.  Maybe done one or two perfect ones in years of guitar wiring.

Go for the bkp wired guards, quality is second to none.

+1 on the quality. Note that it's a "modern" screw config though, if you're putting it on a "pre-cbs" re-issue, the screw near the top of the neck pup has to move. Not an issue for me, but might be?

On the soldering ground wires Badgermark - Jonathan at Feline helped me out on that. He pointed out that molten solder is a really good conductor - get a good dollop on the iron to heat the pot casing (or the tremolo claw on a strat - that's always a pig for me), it gets it the pot casing hot enough quickly enough to do the joint without hurting the pot. Before that, I'd always understood that taking solder to the joint on the iron was "bad soldering practice" so I tried religously not to do it (and not managed to solder anything!)

[badgermark]

Yeah i finally got it, asked a tech to show me when i picked up stuff a while ago. Also a good tip if you're struggling to get solder OFF a component. if it doesn't melt get a blob of solder on your iron and the bad boy will melt much easier.

Just a shame that Fender seem to change the screw layout depending on place of manufacture, day of the week and other random factors. Surely if you provide an empty scratchplate BKP could wire it up for you?

[Elliot]

Check this out as a primer in soldering

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

[Philly Q]

Surely if you provide an empty scratchplate BKP could wire it up for you?

Or transplant an existing pre-wired setup on to your scratchplate, perhaps.

[AndyR]

Surely if you provide an empty scratchplate BKP could wire it up for you?

I'm sure they would. I'd be inclined to charge for that, personally, but you never know?