Help Seriously Needed!

[schmendict]

Aha! Got your attention!
OK so i seem to have purchased 2 pickup covers, 2 pickup surrounds, 2 switch selector knobs and 4 volume knobs from the good people at allparts.uk.com, but i have no idea how to fit any of these!
Please help, i dont want to go damaging my lovely new Dean, which is in serious need of some Warpigs!

[HJM]

The only ones I'd not bother with are the covers, unless you can wax pot them on they'll be microphonic!

As for the rest, carefully remove the old parts and take picture/make notes and the new bits should go back on fine! Good luck!

[aisuru]

like HJM said, forgot the covers. they need to be wax potted and soldered on.

the switches and pots aren't too difficault though. head over to http://guitarelectronics.zoovy.com/category/wiringresources.22pickupdiagrams/ and select a wiring diagram. probably best if you can print it out for reference.

remove the pots and switch from the guitar. at this stage, if you can, get a bit of carboard, cut it to the size of your control cavity and mark out the positions of the pots and switches. then you can temporarily mount your parts on this template. probably easier to wire everything up outside of the guitar, where you'll have more room. if you need to drill any additional mounting holes, you can do it now.

get a soldering iron - an iron mind, not a gun, since they're generally too powerfull and they'll damage the pots. solder the parts together. i'm assuming you know how to solder. take your time. once it's all wired up properly, you can carefully put the parts into the guitar, then solder them up to the pups and the jack socket.

pickup surrounds should just screw on, though you may need to drilll new mounting holes.

[jimibt]

like HJM said, forgot the covers. they need to be wax potted and soldered on.

the switches and pots aren't too difficault though. head over to http://guitarelectronics.zoovy.com/category/wiringresources.22pickupdiagrams/ and select a wiring diagram. probably best if you can print it out for reference.

remove the pots and switch from the guitar. at this stage, if you can, get a bit of carboard, cut it to the size of your control cavity and mark out the positions of the pots and switches. then you can temporarily mount your parts on this template. probably easier to wire everything up outside of the guitar, where you'll have more room. if you need to drill any additional mounting holes, you can do it now.

get a soldering iron - an iron mind, not a gun, since they're generally too powerfull and they'll damage the pots. solder the parts together. i'm assuming you know how to solder. take your time. once it's all wired up properly, you can carefully put the parts into the guitar, then solder them up to the pups and the jack socket.

pickup surrounds should just screw on, though you may need to drilll new mounting holes.

aisuru - nice resource (http://guitarelectronics.zoovy.com/category/wiringresources.22pickupdiagrams/)

cheers

[Bob Johnson]

A tip for removing the old vol/tone control knobs. If they don't have grub screws holding them to the shaft on the pot, just a push fit, then a good way to remove them is to feed the edge of a piece of cloth, something strong like an old tea towel, between the knob and the body and wrap the edge all the way around the shaft, twist it together over the top of the knob and then just pull in a staight line and the knob should pull off. Lots of people try sticking a screwdriver under the knob and wind up buggering the paintwork.

[PhilKing]

I use strong bell wire (but any 2 core figure 8 molded wire will work).  I cut through the centre joint about half way along a 1 foot length.  This gives an opening where I can put one wire under each side of the knob.  I then pull up with this.  It is good because if the knobs are well down, you can usually get under with the wire.