changing pickups

  • Thread starter Thread starter Scrubucket7
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Scrubucket7

Scrubucket7

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hey hey hey, i have a standard mexican strat that i wanted to put a humbucker in. I play mostly hardcore punk and im lookin for a much thicker sound that will bring out my distortion more. What is a good pickup to put in. And does anyone know how much it would cost? or how hard it would be if i had my brother do it or somethin?

thanks

- K-Dogg

HOLLA
WHAT WHAT
 
itll cost anywhere from like 60 bucks to 150, depends on teh pickup you want...and youll ahve to get a new pickguard, which can be up to probably 50 bucks..it's not too hard, just requires some soldering. i did it myself in my strat, i put in a seymour duncan sh4 JB pickup..but then again i'm good with wiring and whatnot
 
You are talking about putting a humbucker in a guitar which is only routed for single coils, so you are looking at spending at least $150 on the labor, plus the pickups. We sell most Seymour Duncan humbucker at $85. You will also need a new pickguard. I highly recommend that you get the routing done by a professional, as it is not a simple thing. It is both difficult and dangerous (both to you and your guitar). Getting the positioning right on the cavity correct is very important, and will make a big difference in the sound of the pickup. If you are comfortable with your soldering skills (or your brothers, as the case may be), then feel free to do that part, as it is a relatively simple soldering job. If you are at all uncertain of your skills, then get it done by a professional.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
you could get a one of the stacked humbuckers that fits in a single coil space. Then you wouldn't have to get a new pickguard or have it routed. Check out seymourduncan.com in the strat section.
 
gtar02 said:
you could get a one of the stacked humbuckers that fits in a single coil space. Then you wouldn't have to get a new pickguard or have it routed. Check out seymourduncan.com in the strat section.
Click to expand...

They don't sound the same. One of the largest differences with a humbucker is the additional string length which the pickup "reads" because of it's additional width.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
whoops, forgot the routing part, lol...i've never owned a mex strat, i have a 96 squier that i re-did, i forgot that my pickup cavity was just a big cut out square lol
 
There used to be a guy in the Northern Virginia area named Vic Barton, who made some pretty good pickups for Fender guitars. His initial speciality was telecasters, but I think he may also have models for strats.

That might be an option if you can find what you want.

Ed
 
Hey Scrubucket,

If I were you I'd stick w/ Seymour Duncan or Dimarzio at this point. You can find them most places for around $65. The SD JB that ZoSo suggested is a good choice, as is the Dimarzio PAF Pro. You can find a pickguard for as low as $15 if you watch for sales or Ebay. If your guitar isn't routed for a humbucker, I'd definitely have a pro do it as light suggests. That is by far the hardest part. All the rest is easy.

A
www.aaroncheney.com
 
I have to agree with Light, when you are routing the fun bit is where the router bites in and splits the wood where it will be seen outside of the pickguard. heh heh. Get someone who does it for a living to do it, no doubt they have learned by their mistakes.
Clive
 
trade the strat in on one that already has a humbucker in it....it will save you time and money
 
Clive Hugh said:
Get someone who does it for a living to do it, no doubt they have learned by their mistakes.
Clive
Click to expand...


Well, yes, but mostly we are anal retentive bastards who have figure out exact how little you have to take out in each pass to keep it from biting. We do this stuff free hand on an improvised overarm router (a drill press with a down cut spiral bit in the chuck). That is REAL fun, let me tell you. There are templates out there for this, but they don't seem to work very well, and there is not always room for the templates anyway, so we do it by hand. Templates are even less of an option on guitars like Les Pauls, where the top is arched.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Guitargauntlet said:
Well i put a hot rail in my bridge position and its pretty darn hott. It can keep up with some full size humbuckers if you ask me. If you want to keep the original look then get hot rails, but if not get some real buckers.

www.geocities.com/chuckacious

http://www.getfreeforum.com/forums/index.php?mforum=chuckacious&act=SC&c=2
Click to expand...


They are extremely hot, but because of the smaller size, they have a smaller magnetic field, so they do not pickup as much of the string as a real humbucker. This has as much to do with the sound of a humbucker as anything else.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
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