alternative way to switching pickups?

[CJ]

i've always had this idea that there should be an easier way to swapping pickups. besides a mass produced pickup ring of somesort that the pickup could be clicked into place (don't feel like describing how this would work, maybe it exists already), i was thinking of a home remedy for the whole unsoldering/soldering problem. now for most of you i'm sure its second nature swapping pickups. i myself didn't really have much trouble doing this my first time, but i figured there's an easier way.

now, i'm not too electronically inclined (hoping to be since its my major!), but would this work?... now this is with braided 2 conductor in mind, but i would think it would work on 4 conductor... could you cut the wire a couple inches coming out of your pickups, and then buy some type of wire connectors and put them on each end? that way all you would have to do is unconnect/ disconnect the pickups rather than worry about soldering? i'm thinking that you couldn't just do it exactly as i described it since i'm assuming the 2 conductor carries two separate currents (or something) so maybe you could tape the two outer wires together with electrical tape, and then put the connectors on the inner wire?

since i'm absolutely confident i've lost all of you, i'll try to make up a diagram.



and then with this all you would have to do is put a connector coming out of your pickups and have the connector on the wire going to the pots.


maybe some of you do this already... or maybe there's a reason not to. if this would work in no way, and i've wasted my time, simply reply "no chance, you're an idiot" and we'll leave this topic at that.

[f.sardis]

so you are saying you want something like this

http://www.kawal.net/wiring%20to%204%20pin%20connector.jpg


nothing new mate, the computer industry has been using those connectors for years. EMG uses it too for quick pickup changes. you can do all the wiring in the cavity the way you like it and then extend one connection like the one pictured into the pickup cavities. You will need to cut the wires from any new pickup you get and install the female side of that connector onto the pickup and you are good to go.

[CJ]

not quite the type of connector i was thinking of, but whatever works. i know its not a new idea to use wire connectors (obviously), but it doesn't seem like people use them for swapping out pickups, and i was wondering if there was a specific reason (i.e... wouldn't work). i also know emg has those quick connectors but i didn't know if there was something different about them since they're made differently from passives.

[f.sardis]

nah emg is using the standard connectors used in computer industry and there is nothing special to the pickup signal coming out. it will work if you want to use it.
Pickups at most have 4 wires so one of those connectors will do the trick and if for whatever reason you need more you can get 6 pin connectors but i suspect at that point they will be too large to fit under the pickup in the cavity so you will have to move the connectors inside the control cavity.

I don't know why people don't use them. Pickups are not something you change every day anyway and 20 mins it takes to resolder pickups isnt a big deal for those who know how to do it. It is a good idea thats why EMG has been doing it for years but they also privdide you their own special pots and other electronics when you get a pickup so they can sell it all to you as a nice package. Other pickup companies only give you a pickup and then you can use industry standard pots to make the circuit yourself. As such they cannot control what you will use and they cannot enforce a connector on you.

[CJ]

yeah i know it doesn't take long to solder/un-solder, especially for those good at it... but why not shorten the time it takes if you can? plus this way you don't lose wiring every time you switch pickups.

[Spitfire]

you could just use one of thoes blocks electricians use.. where u put the wire in and tighten the screw.. that was something my guitar teacher suggested to me years ago.. i just never could be bothered to give it a go.

it would make it easy to test quickly a lot of pickups though. you would need the connector in the pickup cavity side though obv.. as the big 4 pin connector would struggle to fit through the hole to the control cavity when taking a pickup out.

[swissguy]

Acme offers this for quite while:
http://www.acmeguitarworks.com/Les_Paul_Assembly_Without_Pic_P1776C185.cfm
scroll down to solderless option....

[AndyR]

I personally wouldn't trust it in a guitar that I was going to gig with. It's a plug, not a "secure" solder connection, and as such would be more prone to dirty contacts.

I've got Line6 variax guitars that have both broken down several times and, touchwood, so far it's always been dodgy contacts on plugs like this (ie. I can fix it myself, although it does mean taking the thing to pieces to do it - not something you'd want to be doing during a gig, recording session, or rehearsal even!)

[ailean]

I think you'll get a better circuit qulity from a solder too. Exposed wire tends to tarnish over time and that could effect the interaction between the wire and it's contact, but in a solder there is no degradation. And the above point about reliability is a good one.

I started to think along the lines of putting a connector in my guitar, but then I got a decent soldering iron and now it doesn't seem worth it.

[MrBump]

I personally wouldn't trust it in a guitar that I was going to gig with. It's a plug, not a "secure" solder connection, and as such would be more prone to dirty contacts.

I've got Line6 variax guitars that have both broken down several times and, touchwood, so far it's always been dodgy contacts on plugs like this (ie. I can fix it myself, although it does mean taking the thing to pieces to do it - not something you'd want to be doing during a gig, recording session, or rehearsal even!)

Secure???

Hah!!!

You should see MY soldering! 

[HTH AMPS]

I would have poo-poo'd the idea of EMG connectors not being secure a week ago, but the neck pickup in my (EMG loaded) Explorer has quit on me.  It could only be the snap connector really - will take the pickup out and get to the root cause in the next few days.

Never had these problems with my ancient EMGs with the solder connections and cable hard-wired from the pickup.