putting in new pickup

[CJ]

ok, got a new warpig to go in my Dean ML dimeslime. i've done one pickup switch before on my flying v. problem is, the wiring is quite different on my dean than on the gibson V. i've got control cavity instead of just being able to take out my whole pickguard. on my dean, there are 4 wires coming through into the control cavity. i'm assuming there's one from each pickup, a black wire for ground... and whats the fourth wire from? does anyone know which pot is the volume pot? is it the one closest to the bridge? i really don't even know what to ask here... i was thinking i'd have no problem putting in this pickup, but i'm used to 2 conductor wiring and i really am not even sure what kind of wiring these pickups have. there appears to be on big wire coming from each pickup and then a bunch more wires come out of that. i'm assuming thats just regular 4 conductor and those wires are insulated which is why it appears its one big wire.

i'm rambling now because i don't even know what to ask... if someone could just try to give me some direction that'd be great. i really do want to do this myself. i dean schematic would be nice too if someone found one... i couldn't seem to find any on the dean site.

[hamfist]

I expect that the 4th wire goes to your pickup selector switch.

The main thing you need to identify is the wiring coming from the pickup you want to change. Unscrew the pickup ring and pickup, then wiggle the wire from it, you'll soon see which one in your control cavity comes from that particular pickup.
  You can then note down exactly how it is connected. Onceyou've done that, de-solder it, and replace with the Warpig. You will need to know how the wires coming out of your Warpig correspond to the wiring coming out of the current pickup (which I can't help you with).  I'm also sure a good photo of your guitar's wiring would be better than a 1000 words at describing how it's laid out. Some of the other guys will be able to give you further advice I'm sure.

Oh, a tip for helping to feed wires through cavities is to stuff the wire up a drinking straw and then feed the straw through. Once the straw tip arrives at the other end, you can just pull it all through.

[Jonny]

If you don't want to coil split, you don't need to mess with two of the wires (white and green), the red goes to the switch (where the previous stock pickup was) and the black goes to the base of the volume pot.

The volume pot is usually closest to the bridge.

Hopefully what I've just said is 100% but get info from other people in case you don't really want to die.. or anything. Cause, you know.. that sucks.

[Antag]

IIRC the Dean MLs have 2 Volumes & 1 Tone.  The first (i.e. nearest) pots are the 2 volumes & the third (i.e. furthest) is the master tone.

If you can't work out which vol pot is which, get the strings off, take tbe bridge pickup out of its mounting ring & gently pull it back & forth to see which wire moves (i.e. which pot it's connected to).

EDIT: Or better still, play it with the existing pickup & work out which control is which! :lol:

Then all you need to do is wire the Red to the + of the bridge Volume pot.

The White & Green wires should already be soldered & taped together.  Leave them like that unless you have a push/pull pot for coil splitting

The Black & Bare wires are the ground.  Solder them to the back of the volume pot.

[FELINEGUITARS]

Ok - here is the deal
The bridge pickup volume control is usually the middle knob  on a Dean

If you still have the original pickup in , loosen it and give itr a wiggle/shake and you will see its cable move when viewed in the cavity.
This is the cable you are going to unsolder

Get a pen and paper and write down what each wire in that cable is connected to - this will help you reassemble

On a BKP the usual wiring is to put the red wire to the tag on the pot (where you unsoldered the one from the old pickup)
the Black wire and the bare wire get soldered to the back of he pot (the big circular "quarter coin" sized bit)
The green and the white you can solder together and tape out of the way so it doesnt come into contact with any metal parts.

That's it!
You should be ready to rock.
Should the guitar now sound really thin  and nasal in the middle position (both pickups on) try swapping the positions of the black and red wires and this should rectify that problem without changing the sound of the bridge pickup on it's own

[CJ]

ok, thanks for the help guys. the only reason i wouldn't just test to see which is the bridge volume pot is because the strings are already off. i also asked on the dean forum and they clarified the middle pot is the bridge volume. i will also do as you guys said and just loosen the pickup and see which wire is moving.

also, to clarify, the warpig is braided 2 conductor... so i'm assuming i solder the braided part onto the top of the volume pot, and the inner wire goes to whichever tag the other wire from the old pickup was connected to.

[CJ]

just took a look at my wapig... which way does it go? in doing a search i found that the lead should be coming out on the high E side. however, someone also mentioned, and it makes sense, that the BKP logo should be rightside up (if the guitar was standing up). on mine, the BKP logo is upside down if the lead is on the high E side. i see on the pickup that there is a hole on the opposite side of where the lead currently is, making it appear that Tim could put the lead on whichever side of the pickup... so i'm leaning towards thinking it should be installed which the logo facing rightside up?

[Lazy_McDoesnothing]

Never go by the logo.  Both of the logos on my Warpigs are upside down and other peoples' end up right side up, or both.  The lead coming from the neck pickup should be closest to the neck and the lead coming from the bridge pickup should be closest to the bridge.  Another tip is if you wanted to test the volume pots without the strings you can tap on the pickups with the volume up(through an amp obviously) and then again when the volume is all the way down. 

[CJ]

thanks. got everything in and installed. i had a brief freak out moment after getting everything soldered and installed, and when i tried tapping on the pickup i got nothing. then i realized the switch was on neck position. haven't tried it with strings on yet, but its definitely working. i'm going to post a couple samples using the same songs comparing the warpig vs. the dimeblade in my ml with the same settings and everything. should be in the players section by tomorrow hopefully.

thanks for all help.

[FELINEGUITARS]

Well done
Each time you do something like that it builds a bit of confidence and understanding.

[ailean]

Well done
Each time you do something like that it builds a bit of confidence and understanding.

+1

Plus you get a nice sense of satisfaction that you did it yourself. And even more when you play it! (and even more when you realise you don't have to pay a guitar tech to do it!  :D  (Sorry Johnathan))

[CJ]

Well done
Each time you do something like that it builds a bit of confidence and understanding.

+1

Plus you get a nice sense of satisfaction that you did it yourself. And even more when you play it! (and even more when you realise you don't have to pay a guitar tech to do it!  :D  (Sorry Johnathan))

yeah, i really don't have the kind of money to be paying guitar techs to do stuff. plus the one near me put my last pickup in wrong, so i had to re-do it anyway.

[Jonny]

Well done
Each time you do something like that it builds a bit of confidence and understanding.

+1

Plus you get a nice sense of satisfaction that you did it yourself. And even more when you play it! (and even more when you realise you don't have to pay a guitar tech to do it!  :D  (Sorry Johnathan))

yeah, i really don't have the kind of money to be paying guitar techs to do stuff. plus the one near me put my last pickup in wrong, so i had to re-do it anyway.

I know how that feels :P
I'd do my own soldering at Uni if I had an iron, but the fumes would probably set the fire alarm off. Which isn't the best idea..

[CJ]

Well done
Each time you do something like that it builds a bit of confidence and understanding.

+1

Plus you get a nice sense of satisfaction that you did it yourself. And even more when you play it! (and even more when you realise you don't have to pay a guitar tech to do it!  :D  (Sorry Johnathan))

yeah, i really don't have the kind of money to be paying guitar techs to do stuff. plus the one near me put my last pickup in wrong, so i had to re-do it anyway.

I know how that feels :P
I'd do my own soldering at Uni if I had an iron, but the fumes would probably set the fire alarm off. Which isn't the best idea..

how many guitars/pickups do you have there?? :?