swapping PU's
 

Hi Folks. Reading threads on how some PU's fair better than others, and how that is the reason a person didn't like the guitar. Cant most guitars allow for an upgrade on PU's?

So far as I know, all electric guitars are able to use different pickups, so long as the same type (humbucker, strat-type single coil, Tele single coil, P90, etc.) is used for replacement.

Also commonly replaced are the supporting electronics, eg the tone/volume potentiometers, wiring, and capacitors (for tone pot). In addition to the pot values, the "Linear" or "audio" taper for each type of pot is factor for change, as is cheap Asian v. higher quality pieces.

Keep in mind that lots of pickups get changed for many reasons, including mans' desire to tinker, make something unique, etc. In many cases, "upgrades" are a waste of money, time, and risk of damage to the instrument. Proceed with caution, and good information gained from knowledgeable folks.

Chris has a great response (^).

I'll add that different pickups drive the front end of your amp differently. If you want a great vintage Les Paul tone then you're not going to want to use the Gibson 469R/500T pickup set in your Les Paul because they're too hot.

Also, different pickup magnets give different responses. Alnico II, III, IV, V, VIII, ceramic, etc all give different frequencies. Swapping magnets in the same pickup will make it sound like a different pickup.

I've bought 13 or 14 pickups and swapped them in various guitars. Some of them replaced the "Duncan Designed" pickups with real Seymour Duncans and I found it made a positive difference in the tone. I also installed the EMG 81/85 Zakk Wylde set in my Schecter because I wanted more of that metal tone than the stock Duncan Designed.

Different pickups for different applications.

So would the style of guitar make a difference, hollow body, semi hollow, solid? Would the same pick up sound different in each of these guitars? Thanks for the information but am Deffinately ignorant when it comes to this but find it fascinating.

Guitar type/style makes a difference, though the pickup "sound" stays the same. The same pickup will sound different in a solid body than it will in a semi-hollow or fully hollow body. Quality of components assumed equal, the solid body contributes more "sustain" while the semi/fully contribute their own additions to the pickup's contribution due to the body cavities. Plus size counts - same pickup in a Gibson 339 will sound slightly different in a 335.

That's the problem with upgrading - it's a rabbit hole for the unwary, with a badger at the end. I've read multiple posts from folks who've changed pickups X times because they heard about the newest XYZ, only to end up with their factory pickups and a fistful of regret at the money/time wasted from getting better on the instrument. Now, if you're trying to replicate a particular artist's sound, then you may require "their" pickup to match it (and even then, you may need "their" pedals/amp!).

Dru raises a good point about magnets, especially with humbuckers. In addition to the wire gauge/windings used and other internal bits that distinguish one pickup from another, is the magnet. Check this video:



You can change the magnet to change the pickup's output/strength/whathaveyou. Eg, - alnico II is low output (but per the video, alnico III is lower??), alnico V/VIII much higher. Which do you want? Well, probably the one that came in the pickup, but maybe you want to adjust the magnet a bit because your guitar came with pickups that were too "hot" (too strong a magnet and/or too many windings) for what/how you play, and, while they work better with more gain/distortion, they're not as good "clean". BUT, many great rock/distortion guitarists LOVE alnico II magnets in their low output pickups because they get a great sound letting the amp, not the pickup, do the work of putting out the volume.

I hope you can appreciate how complex the quest can be - might be better not to start?? I know I don't have enough years left to learn and apply it all, if there even IS a right answer.

Still on the hunt for my first electric and saw a post on the Epiphone ES 339 whis is one I am interested, and type of PU was brought up. Thanks for all the input, as usual you guys are great!

I watched that video last night. I watch most of Darryll Braun's videos. He does a great job relating with his audience.

Chris, thanks for the video. Helped me understand the different sounds also between the magnets.

With semi hollow and hollow bodied guitars, it can be more complicated to swap pickups. A traditional Gibson or Epiphone like the ES-335 or -339 requires unbolting and pulling the whole wiring harness out of the body to reach where the pickups are soldered to the control pots. I've learned a few tricks over the last few years to do it more efficiently, but it's still one of my least favorites to do. That extra labor also makes it about the most expensive wiring work if a pro does it.

If you know you want to swap pickups in that style of Epiphone, I'd recommend changing out EVERYTHING while you have it apart. If you're the type to swap just the pickups then wonder whether the pots and capacitors could also benefit, and then the budget pickup selector switch and jack start acting up, labor could eat you alive having that same work done 3 or 4 times. And then you hear about modern vs vintage wiring on a forum, and off you go down the rabbithole.

That reminds me, I need to clean the control pots on my ES-335 this winter.

Great point, Clint. I should have added in my earlier post that when I did pickup swaps it wasn't in hollow/semi-hollow bodied guitars. That would have been a lot more challenging to do.

The pickups have by far the biggest contribution to the timbre of an electric guitar (assuming we're talking about the instrument itself and excluding the amp & cab).

The plank of wood, and the fittings, will certainly have some influence on the sound too. For example, the traditional Tele twang isn't all in the pickups. Big brass saddles and the large break angle help preserve the initial high frequency transients in the attack part of the envelope. Neck-through guitars often have good sustain because the laminate construction creates a very stiff neck (helps preserve the energy in vibrating strings).

When I look at a guitar design I'm mostly thinking about its natural envelope: the attack, sustain and decay of each note. How bright I want this to be, or how "punchy" and dynamic, is going to be determined by pickup choices.

A pickup response curve would show a resonant frequency where frequencies get a big boost then higher up a sudden collapse like a low-pass filter. Single coils tend to be brighter, punchier and more dynamic (higher cut-off point, higher resonant frequency, bigger resonant peaks) and humbuckers tend to be darker, richer and less dynamic. Fewer turns of wire push the resonant frequency up higher so low-wind "vintage" spec humbuckers can be the answer if you find others too dull.

This is the point where I try to convince people that winding your own pickups is much easier than you think. Give it a try if you're interested in experimenting.

As a general rule, you can either choose single coils and spend all your time trying to make them "warmer" or you can choose humbuckers and spend all your time trying to liven them up a bit, make them brighter.

In the end you have to learn how to tune a sound in both with your hardware choices and by twiddling with the amp controls, maybe a pedal or two, and the guitar itself. The guitar won't do it for you, no matter how good it is.

I recently rewired a guitar and fitted new pickups, here is my story:

My first telecaster style guitar was a Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Special, a model only produced for around 18 months in 2011. It is quite rare but here is a link showing you what the guitar is like:

https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/g...special-541806

It has a normal telecaster body and bridge pickup but a jazzmaster neck and neck pickup. The pickups are "Duncan designed" and always sounded very bland to my ears. Also the shielding on the guitar was non existent and the jazzmaster neck pickup was quite noisy. The pickups both measured around 6.5K.

A couple of years ago I picked up a butterscotch Squier Classic Vibe 50s telecaster and although the Tonerider pickups measure similar to the Duncan Designed pickups they were so much nicer with more body and character.
So I decided to improve the cheaper model as follows:

I bought a mint green pickguard already cut for a Stratocaster neck pickup and fitted an Oil City Classic blues strat neck pickup for around £40. I fitted a Tonerider Hot Classic Alnico 3 bridge pickup for around £30.

I totally shielded the guitar with copper tape and fitted CTS pots with a treble bleed circuit and upgraded the pickup selector switch. Other mods included a graphtech nut and string tree and graphtech saddles, and I had the frets levelled.

As a result of these changes I have transformed the guitar into a bit of a tone monster that is quieter and nicer to play. It also stays in tune really well now.

The Classic Vibe Telecaster will be staying as it is as it sounds like I expect a vintage Tele to sound. But the other guitar is now more rock'n'roll than it was and is a nice contrast to the CV Tele.

Working on and modifying guitars is a lot of fun.

I recently swapped out the pickups in my SG. It was not very difficult and I'm quite happy with the result. I have very limited experience in soldering but am the type of person that likes to just jump right in to new hobbies. Had a couple of quarters of circuits classes in my undergrad years but the components snapped into place on the boards rather than being soldered.

I shot many pictures from different angles as I disassembled the original set up which helped immensely when I was putting it back together. I also got some good advice from the guitar tech at my favorite shop and replaced the pots and capacitor while I was doing the work.

My guitar had the 490s that many people like but I thought they sounded a bit thin. I replaced them with '57 classics and it sounds much more rich and full.

The pickups do sound differently in different guitars. My sister's Les Paul also has '57 classics, and it sounds better (to my ears) than my SG. Pretty sure the difference in mass between the two guitars is a big part of that.

I've got a not very old but a bit beat up Telecaster that produces a lot of noise, and I've done work on that to ensure it is properly shielded and grounded. Still has a crispy buzz that another guitar tech friend says is too much even for a single coil, so my next project is to rewire it with a new switch and pots. If that doesn't work I'll replace those pickups also.

After that I'm going to experiment with coil splitting on my other electric. So many fun projects!

The maple cap on the Les Paul also contributes to the tonal differences between the SG and Les Paul. One of my Les Pauls and SGs have '57 Classics and the two guitars do sound different. I'm with you, it's fun to experiment with pickup swaps.

Would a swap from a Gibson P-90 to mini humbucker be an easy drop? Should I change the electronics at the same time?