Do It Yourself - How To Change Guitar Pickups (Courtesy of Seymour Duncan)

How to install pickups. Easy to follow tutorial by Seymour Duncan.
Please SUBSCRIBE to Seymour Duncan: / seymourduncanchannel

[@trennonking5888]

The Bob Ross of DIY guitar.

[@AGeekNamedRoss]

Happy pups

[@jeremyhines3513]

😂

[@jimbryant2157]

But does he have the cool perm hairdo?????? :)

[@gregmerritt9366]

Had the same thought.

[@Soul-OnFire]

Asmr for guitar players and luthiers 👍 I hope this guy makes meditation tapes 😝

[@elemsit]

You explained this so well I think my soldering skills went up a lot just from watching this. I feel confident to change my pickups with this video as a reference. You sir are a natural teacher!

[@czito]

I sure wish every pickup maker used the same color codes.

[@oldgit4260]

It should be law

[@TempoDrift1480]

Just write them a letter, they will send you a diagram in a couple weeks.

[@av.punk.801]

That's why I prefer Duncs 🤷 they're consistent with themselves, and come with a diagram

[@bfraz76]

Lol, just like car stereo wiring... preach!!

[@justinTime077]

Thanks Seymour Duncan. I’m not paying a “guitar tech” $75 and waiting 2 weeks!? How calm and friendly this guy is. Put me at ease and inspired confidence! Why can’t every teacher be this way?

[@Cognitoman]

Yeah dude I’m learning too man. Last time I had my guitar set up, I spent like 80 dollars and it was all fucked up... waiting 3 weeks to get it done too on a brand new guitar... finally just did it myself and did it better now so save money. Then had someone do my pickups... guess what? That was all fucked up.. so now I bought my own solder and doing it myself 😂

[@somedaysometime]

i would get mine done in 10 min, albeit for $88 at my local guitar center and really great! but i'd like to save that $88

[@f.x.c.k]

holy shit 75$ for a pickup change??? thats almost the half of my guitar's price

[@DChaosID]

@@f.x.c.k Lol

[@HiThereFaceHere]

My local shop just wanted to charge me $175 for only a damn cleaning. I laughed in their faces. That's their standard rate whether the guitar is super filthy or not. I can only imagine what they charge on a pup swap. It's definitely worth it to just learn it all yourself.

[@SGobuck]

*Instructions not clear , garage door opens when I play guitar*

[@raul21md]

lol

[@jade10313]

SGobuck idk why but that sounds really fun to me

[@theonygard5694]

I AM DYYYIIING!!!! You are hilarious. Congratulations man, and thank you.

[@davidmcghee660]

BS I know but funny as hell anyway!

[@ransombaggins9301]

🏆🏆🏆

[@martinmactaggart6111]

I love tutorials where it just shows you the thing you want to do and explains that thing. Thank-you sir!

[@DIYGuitarTalk]

Glad you like them!

[@MerryTech]

How did I make it to 56 years old, and never had to change my own pickup! Today is the day, thanks for the tips!!

[@jackbenson8228]

about to turn 40 and right behind you old man

[@Boogieplex]

Tommy Merry Films Same...im 48 and today did it in 30 minutes with this video. Very satisfying when you plug into the amp and it works....lol.

[@antonmarek6377]

Woah! Good pickups make such a huge difference! I've had a stock Jackson Rhoads for 12 years, and it's as if I was playing with Chewing Gum in my pickups this entire time. I swapped my bridge pickup for a Seymour Duncan Invader, and the clarity in the high end is astounding. Incidentally, I've also been really bad at pinch harmonics for my entire life...until now

[@InformalChaosEdits]

I just bought a bridge invader

[@InformalChaosEdits]

I just bought an invader ridge for my jackson Rhoads

[@Chris-tl9wd]

7 years later and I still come back to watch this for a refresher. Thank you sir

[@cliffgem]

I’m new to wiring and this helped me a lot. Nevermind the haters.

[@DIYGuitarTalk]

I pay zero attention to the arrested developed. In fact, most get blocked. Thanks for watching.

[@boofert.washington2499]

@@DIYGuitarTalk the arrested developed! 😆 even your insults are chill. You rule, man.

[@Duskusbunny]

I thought your pfp was medic from tf2

[@sugarwithoutcoffee]

This is next level explanation here! No assumptions, nothing is considered obvious enough that should be left out. This video comes from a place of empathy and we all could learn from it.

[@johndinsdale4454]

The Bob Ross of pickup fitting videos. Fantastic!

[@grady9752]

You Sir are the Bob Ross of pickup swapping! Thank you for the great camera work, the clarity of your instructions and most of all, no annoying canned KZbin quality background music. I'm doing a full resto of a 1963 Guild Starfire 3. Will be putting SD vintage P90s in with all new electronics. Wish me luck. Thanks again for this great video.

[@TheCheck01]

15 minutes ago I knew nothing about pickup wiring. Now I know all I need to do it.

[@teddydavis3504]

Deadpool teaches guitar wiring.

[@FringeSpectre]

I can hear it. Now I cant UNhear it

[@krispynachos9980]

Just saved myself a couple of hundred bucks for a pickup change. Awesome work. Bought a soldering kit and got to work

[@nobbytart27]

This is great it combines two of me favourate KZbin topics, guitars and ASMR, i can fall asleep whilst learning how to fit a new pickup to my Yamaha Pacifica 😁

[@blanco57]

i literally don’t even own a guitar but i watched the whole thing. nice tutorial. i’m looking to get my first guitar and thought this video might be helpful if i ever wanted to change pick ups

[@AndrewOnTheYouTube]

I’ve yet to find a video on KZbin that’s this good. I learned a lot about Seymour Duncan pickups and the process both. Thank you.

[@jodysanders1111]

Heck yeah ! Very helpful. Not every guitar comes from the factory with that perfect tone,or maybe you just want something a little different. Now tone chasing just got alot easier for me. Thanks again.

[@lukeethridge5709]

I know this is super old now, but man I couldn't have done it without this video... Well I probably could have, but not with the efficiency this helped me do it. I had 0 experiece soldering before doing this on my guitar, so I was a bit nervous to attempt to learn on my instrument. Super straight forward, best tutorial on soldering guitar pickups on this app.

[@freedm3619]

this guy's voice is so calm and yet so confident and I love it, amazing guide and I feel super confident now to install new pickups!

[@BestBallBeats]

This was exactly what I was looking for single wire to the 5 wires on a one volume two tone guitar. Excellent job, and thank you!

[@p0tayters0830]

I have to cheap guitars I’ve been wanting to gut and rework and this was by far the best and biggest help. The Bob Ross of guitar for sure! Thank you!

[@maekong2010]

I do believe I will be changing my own pickups. I'll be going for Seymour-Duncan, too. Thanks for the walk-through.

[@henrys3138]

Thanks so much, I've never wired a guitar before and I've been tremendously frustrated trying to find information on how to wire a 4 connector pickup. I don't need to split the coils and and all the advice I've gotten so far has been over my head and lacking depth, but this helps a lot.

[@Boogieplex]

I waited countless years and paying hundreds of $$$’s to techs before finally deciding to swap my own pickups.And with nothing but this video,was successful. Thank god,because it was on a$2,500 Les Paul....lol. Extremely satisfying to know not only did I finally find i can do it myself,but found just the right sounding pickup.I wish I would’ve decided to do this long ago. Btw-the hardest part was getting the dam springs from shooting from my hand when installing the new pickup.He made it WAY easier then it really was. Thanks

[@gabrielpatrick1581]

on the same journey as you rn. Wish me luck !

[@markskyscraper8092]

Alternative "tools and supplies": soldering: big gun type ; wire cutting: scissors ; Wire stripping: teeth (between), front, choppers ; Screwdriver improvise: dime, metal pick ; pliers: finger nails ; tape: fingers ; cell phone: mental notes ; towel: kleenex, or pure air (nothing);

[@-WolfMan-]

You forgot tweezers & toothpicks, lol

[@morbidrockgod]

Very patiently explained! Thank you very much!

[@DIYGuitarTalk]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ordinan]

Thank you, I'm planning to change the stock pickups of my brother's Ibanez GIO GAX70 to Seymour Duncan Humbucker pickup. This really helps

[@captpootis8495]

This video helped me wire my first guitar, it was a Jackson js22-7 and pretty much I made a single volume, 1 pickup with a two way mini for coil splitting.

[@eddieshunter1891]

That reassuring voice is ideal from a beginner's perspective. Thank you.

[@DIYGuitarTalk]

Glad it was helpful!

[@tiagocandiani3958]

This is by far the coolest DIY teacher I have ever seen. Thanks man.

[@natsterjam]

Very informative but what genius chose black for the HOT wire? Face Palm! On another point: NEVER cut your strings before loosening them, you'll save your tuners, bridge and finish on the guitar!

[@jacob2343432]

My acoustic saddle broke bc I thought I loosened the strings enough and when I cut the string it snapped my saddle clean in half, but I ended up getting a bone saddle that sounded better so I guess it’s a win at the end of the day, lesson learned lol

[@jimmcbride2990]

Which color would you prefer

[@Lee-wu2up]

@@jimmcbride2990 white or red. Black is negative in most schemes.

[@dingleberrio]

@@Lee-wu2up black is hot in residential electrical work in the US. when he said black was hot it just seemed natural to me. then again, i am an electrician. never worked with fine electronics, really

[@Maddogg-hg5me]

Thanks for the vid. I just replaced the stock humbucker in my 8-string kit build with a Duncan Distortion humbucker and, considering that this was for a Seymour Duncan humbucker, I was able to follow this tutorial to the letter. My 8-string is a Tom Delonge-style setup: single humbucker with just a volume knob so the wiring is fairly simple. The hardest part was soldering the wires where they needed to go since I'm not exactly a wizard with a soldering iron. My solder joints aren't pretty but they got the job done.

[@stateoffluxguitar]

Just got a SD Distortion - this is the exact video I needed. Thanks for putting this together :D

[@MattMacKo]

The instructions were stupid easy. Thank you. Didn't take long at all!

[@zenchiefengineer]

I referenced this before I opened up my Epiphone to change the pickups. When I did, I found that the Epi pickups has wire terminals with a color coding that is different from the Seymour Duncan wires. The bridge pickup terminal has 2 black wires (one of them the bare wire), and the neck has 2 white wired (one of them also the bare wire). After a lot of searching, I found this - and successfully changed the pickups: From Seymour Duncans to Epiphone harness: bare goes to bare (of course), green goes to black, black goes to red, white goes to green, & red goes to white

[@maurijn8568]

Great tutorial, I changed my pickups on my guitar thanks to this and it is so much better now. Really thank you for explaining so calm!

[@DIYGuitarTalk]

Rock on!

[@michaelsemiatin]

I haven't done this since I was a teen. And now, my skills are complete. I will construct a new light Saber! Thanx.

[@KontraBoss]

great job, well done. However, I'd never use an electric drill. Every screw should be tightened by hand... to avoid damage.

[@bfraz76]

Excellent instructions!! Haven't changed a pickup in 25 yrs & was a bit antsy about the process. This video made it easy. Changed the humbucker on my Kramer baretta with ease. Much thx!!!

[@love-hammer]

5 seconds in and getting flashbacks to the awful electronics projects I attempted in college.

[@bengrosskreuz2278]

I used this to upgrade my Seymour Duncan invader bridge pickup to a humbucker, this was EXTREMELY helpful and I very much appreciate it!

[@TRNFloyd]

I've only ever once attempted to install a pickup, years ago(probably like 8 years) and failed some how. Either the pickup I bought was faulty, or I fucked something up. In the end, I no longer have that guitar. Jump to today and I FINALLY got my new set of pickups(12 years into playing guitar, sounds like a good time to change things from stock LOL) and because of this video I now know that I have two new single-wire pickups. I'm legit excited to put these babies in and play with them. I remember when I tried to install the first pickup I ever did, I heated the solder up first. Don't think that caused the issue but yeah, clearly not the best way to go about it. lol. Thanks for the video man! :)

[@phillamoore157]

Outstanding video! I'm trying to put an SSV+ into the bridge of a super strat, and have no desire to do coil splitting with it. That said, there's virtually nothing out there, whether it be wiring diagrams or videos showing how to wire up a series bridge humbucker into a strat (that was previously an SSS). So, I'm simply working with two 250K tone pots and a 500K volume pot. I'm probably over-thinking it, but it would be nice to see it done visually. Suhr doesn't have a wiring diagram, and it seems to be opposite of my Bare Knuckle Pickups wiring diagram. So, I'm hoping it's the same wiring as the SD. Either way, I'm going to give this a try and see how it goes. This is a great video...thank you for posting!

[@h16mustang10]

Your voice is so soothing and calm, I feel at ease listening to you XD

[@wwedz]

this was the most interesting tutorial i found for changing my pickups, thank you so much!!

[@sudoo6987]

Is it an ASMR? Anyway very very helpful. Can you make a video of how to split the coils? Thank you!

[@Rick-5728]

Why don't they just make them plug-and-play???

[@yopaaaaaaaaaaaa1519]

because it would be too ez to repair it yourself they want you to go to shops and spend money

[@Geert890]

​@@yopaaaaaaaaaaaa1519what? No 😂

[@WhatYouDidLastSummer]

Exactly like EMG

[@ilikepotatoes1345]

Thank you so much for making this tutorial man. Just swapped my stock bridge pickup for a Dimarzio Super Distortion, followed your instructions and advice and it worked out perfectly!

[@gitarmats]

Getting ready to install my first set of pickups, so this will be helpful.

[@randallsandoval1179]

Just slid a new zebra Invader into a forty year old Robin of mine today because of this video. Seamless, perfect instruction. Thank you very much!

[@sseltrek1a2b]

nice vid...informative without being condescending...love Seymour Duncan products...

[@frazzofaz]

Fantastic video, thank you sir!! Im super confident i can successfully change pups now..5 stars!!

[@ricemann24]

You just helped me install SD Alnico II's in my prs. Thanks!

[@DIYGuitarTalk]

Glad I could help!

[@buddyholly9960]

@@DIYGuitarTalk me and my grandpa are building me a left-handed homemade electric guitar with my own shape style not a regular guitar shape and we are gonna use Humbuckers and we are so confused on what were doing even though we work with sodering and wire and wood could you please put instructions in a link

[@rhugh02]

Thank you, can't wait to get started!

[@JustinWoo]

Great tutorial! Descriptive, clear, with good narration.

[@OZZOZZ]

Holy crap I had EVERYTHING required... Damn !

[@sleevelessace]

honestly i think 90% of its just getting over the initial fear of "fcck i hope i dont mess this up so i have a unplayable guitar" or "i hope i dont mess this up and wasted a seymour duncan pickup" lol but once u do it once youll be good, this guy made it look alot easier its giving me courage to try it... i might just try it on a fake les paul or strat before trying it on my baby lol EDIT: all i wanna do is swap out my humbucker for a slash SD, and you made it 80% less indimidating to the point where im like that makes sense when i look at the wiring of pickups now!! thank u so much

[@coytarturo8358]

I'd make a diagram of the wire colors attached to what lug on back of each pot from which pickup.put that in a little envelope and toss into a case compartment.

[@-Marc2044-]

Hi.Its not that hard that i thought.Thank your for your detailed tutorial,it helps alot!!

[@ihgfhifsdhogi]

Nice video on this. Never done it before but am gonna attempt it myself on my old LP. Either that or I balls it up and there's a dude down the road who will do it for me.

[@DIYGuitarTalk]

You can do it!

[@ihgfhifsdhogi]

@@DIYGuitarTalk failed! Got the neck pickup to work but the bridge is not functioning. Problem I have is my LP uses quick connect cables but im not using them so trying to wire it like you show.

[@ChristopherDrinkard]

Really helpful for newbs like me 😅 and smooooth commentary man! Haha. Cheers!!

[@mheberling5939]

This is rad. I was choosing between a SD or another brand, but this video helped me with my decision. If they are this helpful with a tutorial on how to install, well they earned my business.

[@Davo2233]

Damn I’m sleepy

[@M4USMC]

Mr Guitar Talk you should be a professional with your voice. You have the best voice with clear articulation and every word is completely clear. I am leaving you this idea and compliment, as I am a 100 percent service connected vet with very bad severe tinnitus and bi lateral hearing loss that is severe. Hearing is really difficult for me picking out syllables and certain phonix. You Sir have a voice that I am not even using my heariing gear, as the hertz of your voice and how you speak so consitentantly and clearly its amazing. 😊

[@benh9350]

I did find these instructions helpful, thank you!

[@ransombaggins9301]

Oh my gosh! This was so soothing. I'd listen to this guy explain how to do anything. As someone fighting the battle with depression, etc. this was incredibly therapeutic. 🤣 Heading over to the channel now, praying he's still active.... HE IS! Woo Hoo! 😃 Subbed!

[@natesenft5376]

I don’t think he is the same guy. His voice sounds different or maybe he just uses a different mic

[@ottopoika8525]

Great video, explained everything simply and in detail. I'm going to upgrade my Jackson Cvr2 pickups to Seymour Duncan hs2 and hs5.

[@rokkrrofficial]

Thanks for this excellent instructional video. Well done!

[@stevehill5018]

I watched the entire video and yes, I will be dropping off my guitar to someone like you. No way I would attempt this.

[@Dextro0451]

Excellent tutorial, thank you.

[@jwrocks83]

Edit: I did it - it works and have now played two shows with pickups installed in MY guitar. By ME! Thank you for this video! Is it really that easy? I want to but I’m too scared :-(

[@deadlineauto]

This is awesome. I wanna try it if I ever change one myself.

[@meowthew-ou812]

...and some bath towels to protect your work. LOL Son: Hey Mom listen to this, I just put in those new pickups! Mom: Why are there burn holes in my new towels?!

[@jackdeamson2101]

Thank you for the great tutorial. :)

[@bobholst874]

Hi all, I have a couple of things that really can make things easier. First of all a correction, he refers tge outer coating on the red, white, black and green as "Shielding" that term is not really correct. It is insulation. Shielding is a term that hints that it protects from ground hum or buzz. Shielding is used to reduce noise ie: "Shielding Tape" The second item that saves a ton of frustration is before pulling wiring out after disconnection, I tie a light string to the wires so when I pull the wires thru it creates a pull string to pull new wires back when you put the new pickups in. Easy Peezy! Good luck to you and may your skills grow to Monster Proportions!

[@markbirkett4404]

Thanks for focusing the camera on the volume knob for the entire video.

[@julioguerrero8849]

Thank you for the video! Helped a lot changing pickups on my Strat and Bronco bass.

[@SpiderStratagemVI]

Excellent tutorial

[@petegarciajr2601]

This seems really satisfying to me. Never done it, I'm a drummer but I have an old Ibanez I was thinking about trying to do this on.

[@davidhowe6023]

Great video, thank you!

[@DIYGuitarTalk]

Glad you liked it!

[@PreacherAtArrakeen]

My 59s are coming on Wednesday, I've never done this before.

[@markuss4008]

I just start to think about customizing my gear. I'm fine with the theory, but a little concerned about the soldering. Your tutorial is really great, both in what you show and say as well as the way you explain it. 👍

[@owakulukem]

You can use a little flux on the existing solder to melt it very quickly instead of setting your iron on the dry solder heating everything up. Probably won’t do anything to a pot, but if it was a sensitive piece of electronics you don’t want to set it on for that long.

[@AleArzMusic]

Attempting to install a pair of Duncan Solar pickups on my Jackson JS22-7. Rookie here. Let's hope for the best. (Will be documenting everything)

[@xchaosinfamous]

Howd it go. Thinking of putting Lundgrens in my jackson

[@streety301]

thank you bro 6 years later

[@ilvarscenters8057]

This was ASMR for me !!!

[@VaibhavMittalIndia]

Great clear video on a little tricky process. I feel confident about changing pups now 😊

[@SugarSpyce]

these black winters are going to fucking sing in this king v bro.

[@JP-ds7bv]

Very helpful instruction. Thank you

[@DIYGuitarTalk]

Glad it was helpful!

[@vanillagorilla8438]

Thanks for the video, very helpful 👍😁

[@Hikaeme-od3zq]

I'd listen to your voice even if you were talking about sewers, so calming.

[@williamdon3442]

Thanks dude. I just went and swapped my white for my black. We got sound lol. I just put a SD quarter pound in my bridge in my squire classic vibe tele. She roars.

[@Darkstar301]

I know it’s an old video but it’s certainly helps me thank you very much

[@katoom-ju6vo]

Excellent video!! Thanks!!

[@davidluu8210]

I really like your explainations. Nice work.

[@williamb3323]

Love to solder! Do it all the time on my fpv quads. Now I'm off to update my Hamer xt quilt top that has horrible pick ups from the china factory. Thanks!

[@happygiraffe9787]

Thank you! Very clear video!