What are Some of the Do's and Don’t's Regarding Pickups?

Here are a few of my own suggestions and other friends of mine.

  1. Don't realign or push the poles down on single coil pickups.
    • Vintage design pickups usually have the magnet wire in direct contact with the pole pieces. The older sand cast magnets have pits and voids where the magnet wire can settle as the coil is wound. When the coils are potted the magnet wire can become bonded to the surface of the magnet. If the magnet gets realigned, the magnet wire can easily break within the coil.
  2. Don't grind the magnets on single coil pickups.
    • Grinding the magnets on a single coil pickup can do several things. It can de-magnetize the pole piece and cause intense heat that can melt the insulation on the magnet wire. Without insulation on the magnet wire the bare wire can oxidize and eventually become an open circuit.
  3. Don't use steel wool around pickups.
    • I get many pickups in that are lodged with bits of steel wool from repair work or pickups being placed on a work bench full of it. It can get lodged all over the pickup and even cause interference to the signal and magnetic field. It also looks bad when you have steel wool in-between your pole piece and strings. If someone wants to polish your frets on your Strat, have them remove the pickguard before doing the work.
  4. Don't use a soldering "gun", use a soldering "iron" when working with pickups.
    • I said this time and time again and I still see repairman using soldering guns with huge coils replacing your pickups. Just plug your guitar in an amplifier and turn one of those guns on. Take a good listen and the hum is the AC current starting to demagnetize your pickups. If you hear the hum then there is a good chance you could have the phase of your pickups customized.
  5. Don't use acid core solder when soldering electrical contacts.
    • Acid core solder is used in the plumbing industry and should never be used on electrical contacts and especially sensitive ones used in your instruments. Use a good grade of rosin core solder used by many electronic technicians. The rosin core and other organic flux materials can be used for making proper solder joints.
  6. Don't have an unqualified repairman work on your instrument.
    • I've seen holes drilled through bodies when drilling channels for pickup wires and holes drilled through the head stock when putting tuning keys on. Please use the experience of many great repairman out there. You will find many listed in Vintage Guitar Magazine and even ask around using the phone and web. Although many electronic shops may not be experience in working on guitars, they have much experience on changing switches and proper soldering which is essential to repairing guitars.
  7. Don't let anyone borrow your instrument.
    • I've had this experience first hand and I won't do it again. I had my guitars used for road trips and returned with new bridges, tremolo arms, new knobs and the works. When someone borrows your equipment and it comes back damaged can cause a diminished relationship. It is best not to lend your equipment out and will eliminate hard feelings. I guess by me letting someone borrow my guitar got me into rewinding pickups and eventually manufacturing many models.
  8. Don't use components that are not standard or within spec of your instrument.
    • In this day and age there are many components on the market that have Metric and American Standard dimensions. I find it aggravating when I buy a cover and find out it's made with Metric dimensions and doesn't fit my American made product. The industry needs to standardize components used on instruments. There are Metric after market covers that don't fit the pole spacing on standard and after market pickups. I've gone in stores and watched salesman trying to find the right diameter and thread tremolo arm to fit your Strat or a black cover with the right pole spacing to fit your pickup. Try putting a Metric spaced humbucker cover on your American made Gibson P.A.F. pickup makes it hard for guitar builders to find proper components from one order to the next. I know there is a need but I think manufactures of components should all get together so all products are compatible with one another. I also find it with volume and tone potentiometers along with toggle and lever switches. The nuts and screws are either Metric or American Standard.
  9. Don't install a pickup without the proper tools such as router, templates and proper location of pickup.
    • If you are adding a humbucker in the neck position of your Telecaster, please use the right tools and not use a chisel or hand drill to enlarge the cavity. There are proper templates and fixtures that can be used to do the modification. Experienced wood workers will have the tool and technique to do a great job for you. Again, contact a reputable wood working shop if the modification needs to be done. Although the wood worker may not be experienced in guitar building, they will have enough experience to do a good job in most cases. Check out the position of the pickup too. If the bridge pickup is mounted to close to the bridge the pickup can sound thin and less output. Measure other instruments and get an idea of where to put a new pickup. I've gone to music stores with a tape measure to make notes on the many models available and be sure to ask the salesperson permission and tell him about your project or idea.
  10. Don't do a modification on a vintage or valuable that can't be put back to stock.
    • It's up to you but if you need to do modifications on an old or collectible instrument, try to do it where the modification can be reversed or the instrument put back to stock. You may not care about it now but maybe in 5, 10 or 20 years from now that instrument you own may be very collectible. Look at all the old '50 and '60's instruments that have been modified with humbuckers, vibrato's, added pickup cavity's, re-fins etc. Now look at the price of those instruments such as Les Paul's, Gretsch's, Strat's and Telecasters.

WRITTEN ON JUNE 12, 2015, BY sltwtr

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