Step by step guide to switching pickups?

[Madiac]

Hey, im soon (hopefully soon) getting my bareknuckle pickups, MQ (one pig90, one normal mq) with three conductor wiring for coil-tap and im switching from a 490/498 gibson pickup set on my Gibson SG GT that already has push/pulls with splitcoiled buckers. Now, the only thing i know is what knob does what and for what pickup, but have no idea about anything else. Is a cheap 30W soldering iron good enough? What soldering wire should i use? What do i do step by step? I checked gibsons own guide, but it was way to confusing. Anyone got some links? I can upload pictures aswell i guess:) Maybe i should just bring it in for 70 bucks and get them switched by a pro? But somehow i feel mistrust and will never know the jobs is well done anyhow if i dont do it myself...
Is it basically, remove the old pickups, check the wires that come from the pickups and desolder them from the pots, then put in the new pups, check the wiring diagram on the new ones and solder them on the pots as instructed? Or am i just over-estimating the simplicity?

[Fourth Feline]

Hi Madiac,  :)

Yes, the 30 watt iron is ideal. 25watts can go a bit cool when re-soldering the earth wires back onto the body of the pots ( if required ) - and therefore make slightly dry / crystaline joints. 70 watts is too much. I have always used a $ 15  ,  30 watt iron.  Remember to heat the joint and then apply the solder to the parts, not apply solder to the iron and drop it onto the joint e.t.c. As soon as the solder is fluid enough, remove the iron, but keep the joint still - so it does not move and go crystaline in appearance. If it does, just carefully start again.

As for solder, just buy any brand of the general purpose 'Multi-core' stuff - where the flux runs through the solder itself. It is available in small size packs. 

A bit of fine emery cloth to slightly rough up the back of the pots ( if ever installing new pots ) - helps the solder grab quick.

In your case - of swapping ' like for like' - you have already summed it up nicely - and are not underestimating the simplicity. Just lift off the 'old' connections one at a time  - and replace them with the B.K.P wire. Bear in mind the B.K.P wire colour codes may be slightly different from your existing pickups - but easy to follow anyway.

You will be really satisfied  when you have done it yourself !  :)

[Madiac]

Yeah, i like learning stuff myself. I feel prouder of myself the more i learn instead of needing other peoples help (although theres a limit to how far i would go to do more difficult repairs), besides, 80 bucks is gonna add up if i get more guitars;) Thanks for the advice, i already checked some videos. Kinda funny, because at school we always applied solder to the iron and then put it on the joint haha, well, it worked, kinda... ;) Today i bought Rosing core solder, desoldering braid to suck up the old solder if needed, + a cable stripper, all for 20 bucks, and i borrowed a temperature controlled 50W soldering iron. Someone at the gibson forum recommended that i use it and set it at 400 Celsius. Thanks again! Im gonna remove the old pickups tomorrow, because my bare knuckles should arrive during the week, i hope!:)

[Lazy_McDoesnothing]

You might want to wait on removing the old pickups until you're ready to install the new ones.  I'd do one pickup at a time so you know where the wires came from.  You could even draw a wiring diagram of what's in there now just in case and use this to figure out which Gibson wires correspond to the BKP wires.  It is a relatively simple job but for your first time you want to be prepared right? :)

[Madiac]

Yeah i know, but i feel more at ease removing the pups first, but i thought of taking pictures with my camera. Hows that sound? Also, i never understood the coil-split/tap thing. My guitar already has coil-split, but im changing to MQs with coil-tap, and i dont know where these wires should go since i dont find em in diagrams, What color code do they have? Also, the diagram you get with the BKPs, do they explain where each wires goes?

[Fourth Feline]

Yeah, i like learning stuff myself. I feel prouder of myself the more i learn instead of needing other peoples help (although theres a limit to how far i would go to do more difficult repairs), besides, 80 bucks is gonna add up if i get more guitars;) Thanks for the advice, i already checked some videos. Kinda funny, because at school we always applied solder to the iron and then put it on the joint haha, well, it worked, kinda... ;) Today i bought Rosing core solder, desoldering braid to suck up the old solder if needed, + a cable stripper, all for 20 bucks, and i borrowed a temperature controlled 50W soldering iron. Someone at the gibson forum recommended that i use it and set it at 400 Celsius. Thanks again! Im gonna remove the old pickups tomorrow, because my bare knuckles should arrive during the week, i hope!:)

Good score !

The de-solder braid is great, and I should have mentioned it - as I always have some on hand. Cleaning away the solder from a bad,  or previously soldered pot / switch tag really ensures the pickup wires, capacitor wires etc. get to sit right inside the tag hole - and are therefore naturally held in place whilst you gently heat the area and then touch the solder on it to melt in and around it really neatly. 

* EDIT *  The colour codes and wiring diagram  are in the B.K.P. box , on the warranty / serial number card insert. :)

[Madiac]

Nice, i guess ill start desoldering them this evening and take pictures. Im still unsure how the coil-tap are soldered versus the coil-split, but i guess if i get lost i can just post pictures and ask for help here!:) Thanks!
EDIT: Actually, might be a bad idea to desolder em before i get the BKPs, is there a risk for neck warp/other neck problems if i leave it without strings a few days ?

[Fourth Feline]

Nice, i guess ill start desoldering them this evening and take pictures. Im still unsure how the coil-tap are soldered versus the coil-split, but i guess if i get lost i can just post pictures and ask for help here!:) Thanks!

I am assuming that the wiring 'rules' are the same for coil 'tap' and coil 'split' - one term refering to running a seperate pair of wires off each individual coil in a humbuker - and the other denoting the three wires coming of a 'tapped' single coil such as the Mississippi queens' e.t.c.  When there are 4 wires coming out of a humbucker, the white and green come joined and insulated by B.K.P. anyway - so both permutations pretty much end up looking the same regarding fitting.  The diagram provided in each box shows the 'plan' really well - and of course , ( as you noted ) - we are all here to help.  :)

[Madiac]

Got the pups today, and everything is set-up, im just waiting for the soldering iron to heat up;) I think i have understood the wiring after thinking a while:) Wish me luck

[Fourth Feline]

Got the pups today, and everything is set-up, im just waiting for the soldering iron to heat up;) I think i have understood the wiring after thinking a while:) Wish me luck

" Good luck " ...

I look forward to hearing of your success very shortly.  :)

[Madiac]

Ok, holy shite, this was messy. Think i melted cable covers everywhere and burnt some shite, even messed up some of the paintjob inside. cr@p, but well, the good thing SO FAR, is that both are in, soldered, and the poles react when i tap something on them... so, im putting strings after dinner, BUT, im unsure if i put my MQs the right way around. The neck one has the cable coming from the upper left corner, as this was how my gibson was put in, but this does make the cable run under the pickup and into the hole. my bridges cable run on the right side closest to the hole (unlike my gibsons  bridge). So if you had x-ray vision and looked at it from behind while the guitar was standing up you would read the logo correctly. Did i do this wrong?

[Lazy_McDoesnothing]

The logo isn't always correct.  The neck pup wire should be closest to the neck and the bridge pup wire should be closest to the bridge.  At least for humbuckers, I've never dealt with an MQ.

[Madiac]

Well, thats how i did it, and good news, theyr frigging working:)
They respond to all the knobs (sadly like my gibsons though, the volume is kinda on or off, not much of a 0-10 scale.), however im not blaming BKP for that:) I only put on one string and it sounds right. Gotta put on all to get a good feel for the real sound and adjust pup height etc! Thanks!
EDIT: Some bad news i think, the coil-tap doesnt seem to be working correctly or maybe it should, the volume drops ALOT on the coil-tap, so much that its unusable, and i cant get distorted tones. What did i do wrong, any ideas? I put the white cable to where my coil-split went on my hums.

[PhilKing]

Some bad news i think, the coil-tap doesnt seem to be working correctly or maybe it should, the volume drops ALOT on the coil-tap, so much that its unusable, and i cant get distorted tones. What did i do wrong, any ideas? I put the white cable to where my coil-split went on my hums.

It sounds like you have the tap the wrong way round, and you are taking only the tapped portion instead of dropping that.  I think that the old switch probably shorted the coil to ground.  For coil tap you need to wire like this:

right lug 1  Red from P/U   left lug 1 nothing
right lug 2  Wire to volume left lug 2 nothing
right lug 3 white from P/U  left lug 3 nothing

Hopr this helps

[Madiac]

Geez, i never connected anything to the lug, the lug isnt grounded either like it shows on the diagram. I just put it exactly like it was with my gibson humbuckers, and i guess im totally lost now. I ended for the evening, but tried some sutpid things first, that didnt work.. I had a compliments paper from tim where it said Red - Tap, White -Hot      Bare+Back ground (atleast i got that right i think hahaha! Everything feels so messy. So can anyone help togehter with a picture? I never changed anything of the existing wire, just took of the old pickup wires, added the new. cr@p!