I don't even play guitar - I'm a bassist - but thank you for putting these out! It's funny how many folks don't realize how easy(?) it can be to swap out pickups and get that sound that makes you pick up your instrument more. Cheers!
If the neck feels good and it stays in tune, this is the best and easiest way to rehab an axe. Thanks for posting! (Still loving the Hot Rails I dropped in a strat in the 90s) 🤘😎
would you say that a Seamore Duncan Hot rail bridge pickup, a DiMarzio Protrack mid, and DiMarzio Air Norton S on the neck, would sound better if i change the pots to 500K pots? Does that not just make the sound brighter? And do you have to drill bigger holses to make the 500K fit the pickguard, and did you also have to buy new knobs or is it the same diameter as the 250k?
I always test the pickups/pots with the new wiring before putting the pick guard back on. Zip Ties can provide a neater way to keep wires bundled together in the guitar, rather than tape.
Good point with the test before putting back the pickguard. I also do that, just somehow forgot to mention it in this video. Thanks for the reminder! Cheers //Kris
I love that you're not creating loops at the end of the wires in order to make them stay in place for soldering. Whoever does that: I need to talk to you in my office! You're fired.
I JUST TAKE THE NEW PICKUP AND CUT THE OLD PICKUP WIRE AND JOIN WITH A MICRO CONNECTOR NO NEED TO SOLDER AND YOU CAN SWOP BACK ANYTIME OR CHANGE FOR DIFFERENT PICKUPS EASY AND IN NO TIME AT ALL
Completely unrelated but I wanted to ask first hand about my issue so I bought my first guitar, since I was in a financial pinch I bought a strat copy named "Deviser" never heard of them and well after a few days of playing I wanted to mount the tremolo stick to it, as soon as I unscrewed the back plate I saw that the piece of metal that was suspending the springs was screwed all wrong, One of the screws was higher than the other and the metal bar was in a kind of slanted position. Now this didn't cause me any problems in playing without the tremolo stick but, I wanted to fill the existing hole and re-drill the hole perfectly. Problem is my I doubt a drill would fit in that tiny space. I wanted to know how I can fix this tiny manufacturing error. Thank You in advance for any replies.
Take pictures before you cut anything! Beware cold solder joints they may work for a bit but they will fail! How to add a sustainiac system to a guitar 🤘🏽 infinite sustain!!! Or till the battery dies anyway.
Yes, beware cold solder joints. That's important indeed! Make sure to melt the solder completely to avoid it. If only the top is flowing you'll have some issues there sooner or later. Sustainiac install is not that different than an active pickup install. You swap the neck pu to the Sustaniac and rout a cavity for the battery and the mini toggle. It's not easy to do it, but the theory is that simple. :) Cheers //Kris
how can you check if a pick up is doing fine or its declining? kinda new to these stuff so a proper way beside just "listening to the sound" would be nice.
If the coils get rusty or broken, it will go microphonic, meaning you can speak or yell through it since the wires will vibrate and send that signal out. Sweat and temperature changes over time can erode the paraffin pickups are dipped in. Hope this helps 🤘😎
Hey, yes you can. Tell your friend ;) that the pickups and other electronic parts on strats are just screwed on it, no soldering necessary. Cheers //Kris
Kris i have an Aria 2 HSS guitar I love the action on it and have some pickups HSS from and old Peavey raptor Thinking of swapping the humbucker on the Aria and installing the Peavey one Do I need to check resistance to compare or does it not matter Thanks !
Resistance doesn't matter since it is a part of that specific pickup design. But when switching between pickup-manufactures, you need to make sure that you know the color codes on the wires. (hot,ground, etc.) And identifying the magnet orientation can also save you some time. If you are talking about volume/tone pot resistance, then it might make sense to also switch the pot or get an equivalent new pot. (250K darker | 500K brighter)
@@rasmusolesen5307 Now I get it North and south coil wires matching colours between manufacturers so I connect it the right way around I’ll see what I can find Thanks👍
I don't even play guitar - I'm a bassist - but thank you for putting these out! It's funny how many folks don't realize how easy(?) it can be to swap out pickups and get that sound that makes you pick up your instrument more. Cheers!
If the neck feels good and it stays in tune, this is the best and easiest way to rehab an axe. Thanks for posting!
(Still loving the Hot Rails I dropped in a strat in the 90s)
🤘😎
Oh yeah, more of these in different configurations-- namely a double humbucker, 3 way switch, volume and tone knobs. Thanks.
Hey man I just did the same, 3 hotrails, 3 way switch, but I hardwired the coils to parallel to get a somewhat straty sound! :-)
Great video, easy to follow, quick and to the point, thanks!
would you say that a Seamore Duncan Hot rail bridge pickup, a DiMarzio Protrack mid, and DiMarzio Air Norton S on the neck, would sound better if i change the pots to 500K pots? Does that not just make the sound brighter?
And do you have to drill bigger holses to make the 500K fit the pickguard, and did you also have to buy new knobs or is it the same diameter as the 250k?
I always test the pickups/pots with the new wiring before putting the pick guard back on. Zip Ties can provide a neater way to keep wires bundled together in the guitar, rather than tape.
Good point with the test before putting back the pickguard. I also do that, just somehow forgot to mention it in this video. Thanks for the reminder! Cheers //Kris
For the upcoming episodes: the troubles we meet when we change neck on a guitar.
Love the idea! Noted. :) //Kris
Can you do an episode about change pickups in a LP?
Very interesting 🤘Thanks!
I love that you're not creating loops at the end of the wires in order to make them stay in place for soldering. Whoever does that: I need to talk to you in my office! You're fired.
awesome great job i love it keep it up you are the best
Thanks a lot James!
//Kris
How To Swap Pickups In A Strat: get a preloaded pickguard or buy an empty pickguard,switch,pots & pickups so you don't mess with the original
It's great explanation I will try out following these steps :)
Enjoy your mods and thanks for watching! //Kris
I JUST TAKE THE NEW PICKUP AND CUT THE OLD PICKUP WIRE AND JOIN WITH A MICRO CONNECTOR NO NEED TO SOLDER AND YOU CAN SWOP BACK ANYTIME OR CHANGE FOR DIFFERENT PICKUPS EASY AND IN NO TIME AT ALL
Completely unrelated but I wanted to ask first hand about my issue
so I bought my first guitar, since I was in a financial pinch I bought a strat copy named "Deviser" never heard of them and well after a few days of playing I wanted to mount the tremolo stick to it, as soon as I unscrewed the back plate I saw that the piece of metal that was suspending the springs was screwed all wrong, One of the screws was higher than the other and the metal bar was in a kind of slanted position. Now this didn't cause me any problems in playing without the tremolo stick but, I wanted to fill the existing hole and re-drill the hole perfectly. Problem is my I doubt a drill would fit in that tiny space. I wanted to know how I can fix this tiny manufacturing error. Thank You in advance for any replies.
Great video! Do you have info on how to get rid of n4 noiseless and replace them with true single coils?
how do i know which one is the neck pickup and the other pickups are and where should they be placed ? can someone help
Can I change my hss to a sss with a different pickguard?
Kris how would you wire a Seymour Duncan JB single coil humburker
I usually go for 250k pots for that pickup. That's obviously ideal for the other (single-coil) pickups and the JB works really well with it. //Kris
Too bad, I was hoping for some "it smells like chicken" outtakes. :D
:D //Kris
Did it without removing the strings to put the TexMex set in
Great riff. You should do short segments with cool riff lessons.
I'd love to do that. :) Thanks man! //Kris
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses 👍
I want to convert my hsh strat style to sss. Is that easy to do???
Take pictures before you cut anything! Beware cold solder joints they may work for a bit but they will fail!
How to add a sustainiac system to a guitar 🤘🏽 infinite sustain!!! Or till the battery dies anyway.
Yes, beware cold solder joints. That's important indeed! Make sure to melt the solder completely to avoid it. If only the top is flowing you'll have some issues there sooner or later.
Sustainiac install is not that different than an active pickup install. You swap the neck pu to the Sustaniac and rout a cavity for the battery and the mini toggle. It's not easy to do it, but the theory is that simple. :)
Cheers //Kris
how can you check if a pick up is doing fine or its declining? kinda new to these stuff so a proper way beside just "listening to the sound" would be nice.
If the coils get rusty or broken, it will go microphonic, meaning you can speak or yell through it since the wires will vibrate and send that signal out.
Sweat and temperature changes over time can erode the paraffin pickups are dipped in.
Hope this helps
🤘😎
Can you swap a new pickguard without needing to solder anything? Asking for a fren hehe
Hey, yes you can. Tell your friend ;) that the pickups and other electronic parts on strats are just screwed on it, no soldering necessary. Cheers //Kris
Kris i have an Aria 2 HSS guitar I love the action on it and have some pickups HSS from and old Peavey raptor
Thinking of swapping the humbucker on the Aria and installing the Peavey one
Do I need to check resistance to compare or does it not matter
Thanks !
Resistance doesn't matter since it is a part of that specific pickup design.
But when switching between pickup-manufactures, you need to make sure that you know the color codes on the wires. (hot,ground, etc.)
And identifying the magnet orientation can also save you some time.
If you are talking about volume/tone pot resistance, then it might make sense to also switch the pot or get an equivalent new pot. (250K darker | 500K brighter)
@@rasmusolesen5307 Now I get it
North and south coil wires matching colours between manufacturers so
I connect it the right way around
I’ll see what I can find
Thanks👍
Previously sounds like fender, after like craps sorry to say
The tone was better before 😂
Best way to swap Strat pickups is to trade it n for a Tele! 🤣😂🤣
Loving the spirit here! Haha! //Kris
But "How To Swab Pickups In A Strat" ???
Well... you swab pickups when you swapped too many already. You know, just for a change. ;)
//Kris