How to Change Guitar Pickups

If you've ever wondered how to change your guitar pickups but weren't sure how to do it, this video is what you need. Paul shows a beginning approach to swapping electric guitar pickups for both single-coils and humbuckers
Items used in this video:
StewMac Soldering Aids
www.stewmac.com/item/0521
Solomon SL-30 Soldering Station
www.stewmac.com/item/0501
Wire Cutters
www.stewmac.com/item/1607
Fine Gauge Wire Strippers
www.stewmac.com/item/1606
Heat Sink
www.stewmac.com/item/0520-CU
Golden Age Pickups For Strat
www.stewmac.com/item/5447
Golden Age Parson's Street Humbuckers
www.stewmac.com/item/5408
Kester Solder Pak
www.stewmac.com/item/0505
Guitar Tech Screwdriver Set
www.stewmac.com/item/3000
- - - - - - - - - - - -
StewMac has everything you need to set up, repair or build guitars.
Everything is 100% guaranteed. Fast worldwide shipping.
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[@Alexpaka1111]

I recommend always wearing a mask AND work goggles when soldiering- I’ve lost too many old guit tech friends to cancer and the stuff is highly toxic.

[@budgetguitaristcom]

Trick of soldering is getting really good surface contact and using the right temperature. Actually, having a ton of practice also helps. Taking pics of the wiring before hand is a great trick - I always, always do that! :)

[@budgetguitaristcom]

Also, am I the only one who finds those box switches annoying? I've seen more than a few of those bust.

[@kkmdew09]

Thanks for this video, I have a 16 year old les paul and I am looking to getting back into playing after about 5 years of really only messing around with a few riffs on rare occasions and I am looking to make my les paul better than ever with 2 new humbuckers. Thankfully the body, head, and tuning knobs are all still in good shape and it still holds a tune as well as you could hope for a 16 year guitar. It's entire life its either been stored by hanging on a wall or in a hard shell case. Happy shredding everyone!

[@hammer9856]

I find it best to wick away the old soldier from the connection with some copper braid made for that purpose, leaving a clean lug. Then insert the wire for your new connection and bend it over to make a good mechanical connection and then heat with your soldiering iron and apply new soldier. This makes a connection that will not fail electrically. If you watch the video you will notice how the new wire almost came completely free as he was soldiering leaving an extremely weak connection that can fail over time, (as well as not making the best electrical connection). I was always taught to start with a good mechanical connection first and then soldier for these reasons.

[@Full_Sploot]

Convenient I'm in the middle of doing this right now and I was looking for a stew mac video a few hours ago

[@neutrodyne]

He left some things out. First, different brand pickups have different color codes so don't think that matching color wires will always be correct unless all pickups are the same brand. The middle pickup in a strat should always be reverse wound to give hum canceling in the 2 and 4 positions. Make sure you have your pickups in phase especially if you mix brands. You'll also have to get the pickups set to the right height for the best results. Never use acid core solder in electronics always use rosin core solder. Be careful and don't get the solder connection too hot it can run the controls. When he sees the blue wire on the stock pickup he has no idea why it is blue while the other ones are black and says it doesn't matter. There is a reason the middle pickup wire is blue. The middle pickup wire is blue is because it is reverse wound. This gives you humbucking performance in the 2 and 4 switch positions.

[@coppertopv365]

So hes not someone to really listen too... 🍻

[@FIDEL_CASHFLOW_]

This is extremely frustrating for somebody who doesn't know anything about changing pickups. I've watched probably five different videos so far and every comment section has a comment like this saying that the person left out something extremely important. Are people who don't know anything about this like myself supposed to just magically pick up on this information? Extremely frustrating

[@loganbb9188]

I’m just gonna tap lightly with this screwdriver...BAM...BAM 🤣

[@maseefweiner5872]

👀

[@VoidMacedoMusic]

It doesn’t matter how lightly you tap, it’s always gonna be loud

[@Rob-dp3vr]

Well, it was literally amplified.

[@RealRiffRaf]

I wish I had seen this sooner! Great video with a lot of useful tips and warnings. I just went through hell with a Silver Sky SE which came with a middle pick up where the ground and hot wires were inverted. It took me days to figure out why positions 2 and 4 sounded awful.

[@raysmusic49]

Chasing the tone.... great vid!

[@tylerskillingstad7486]

Super informative and understandable. Thank you.

[@Cinnemax77]

YOU GUYS ARE FANTASTIC THANK YOU

[@Zane_Doe]

The blue insulation is probably to signify RWRP, the same as the yellow lead on the middle pickup on a set of Strat pickups.

[@JC-11111]

Ehhh. I figure it identifies it as a neck pickup. 🤷‍♂️

[@NyaDxb]

@@JC-11111 RWRP would be the middle pickup on a 3 pickup guitar, it might be the neck pickup on a 2 pickup guitar though

[@johnsieff2921]

This guy doesn't mention polarity, phase, or anything else. His information is very limited, at best.

[@maicimyoshiki9715]

Very nice video. I support you.

[@stanhalen9807]

I have waited my entire life for this video.

[@JC-11111]

I swapped my pickups, pots, and jack about 3 weeks after buying my first guitar lol. After everybody told me "you need more experience before you do something like that". 🤣 Same goes for replacing the nut. I was in disbelief. How is experience playing going to help me modify/repair it? 🤷‍♂️🤣

[@stanhalen9807]

Laurence Pinney no, about 51 minutes ago.

[@telecasterbear]

@@JC-11111 I was taking things apart and putting them back together on my fist cheap guitars back in the 70s. That's how we learn.👍

[@wolfgangwolfdogplaysguitar701]

There's also Eddie van Halen

[@alidan]

on the soldering, you typically have 3 different kinds, you have the cheapest which is plug into the wall and it self regulates, you have solder station 1 which has a heating element you put tips on, and you have soldering station 2 that has the heating element and the tip as one piece. personally I would go the solder station 1, which can be had for 30~$ as its not much more then self regulating ones but its FAR nicer. and if you find yourself soldering alot, go with number 2 as it makes your life so much easier as things are instantly up to heat, not give it a minute. no mater what you do though, do not use straight pointed solder tips, they are easily the worst ones for the job nearly every single time.

[@aaronunroe5267]

What a great video, thank you!

[@leonardgarcia6048]

Hi I was wondering what is lower than the g string, specifically one below, like if play just the g string but wanted to move one lower on the D string fret

[@nestycb6702]

Thanks so much! Can I put in the place of a single coil a humbucker? As in what you just did but the new pice would be a cheap ass second hand humbucker with only two wires I found for 20 bucks.

[@Lespaul13100]

Nice vid! Question: I have a Ibanez Infinity 4 humbucker that I want to install in a HSS Strat/ 5 way switch. Any help would be appreciated!

[@michaelrains64295]

Loving the Mud Hens hat. Greetings from Toledo!

[@bertonedes]

Im wondering how can i check if the magnet is "healthy" when i bought it from someone(second hand), before instaling it in the guitar?

[@GeorgeFoxMusic]

Great tutorial, but back in my day was try and error! Since i was good withthe soldering iron i was ok. My first ever swap ,was to my Fender strat ,swap the American standard pickups with Lace Sensors 😎

[@MB.juno.]

What do I do if the soft tug to remove the cable from the selector rips of the piece of metal that holds the cable up?

[@bumblebeechris]

great video thank you

[@MJXtube]

What if a humbucker seems to be connected to the switch blade correctly, solder joints appear to be intact, but has lots of hum/buzz?

[@CowboyNeal]

Love the Mud Hens hat!

[@ingersollmusicacademy2698]

Super Groovy Dude.

[@markgowans]

What about single coil sized humbuckers? Are they wired the same as regular sized humbuckers?

[@bob-eu1jq]

I replaced the humbuckers in my SG, with better humbuckers ,but they are somewhat Wobbly, I put foam inside the cavity but still loose. Any suggestions Any help would be appreciated.

[@jfumusic1]

6:00 😂 awesome ending and video!

[@GerryBlue]

Now the pickguard has a bigger value than that whole guitar :p

[@noname1st139]

I need a new wire for the pickup but don't know the name of it, it's the black wire with regular stranded only it has a solid coaxial type cable in the cable so it's technically 2 core,I can't find anything other than twin and earth,any one know the name of it? Do I need that exact wire? Thanks

[@jasongreen5360]

Are all types of humbuckers interchangeable? Thanks

[@mikec6617]

Nice video. Go Mudhens!

[@marktoken6052]

Good video

[@gregfeneis609]

2:18 You only need to give a soldering iron time to preheat if it's not a temperature controlled iron. The rig in this video is a temperature controlled iron, so when it gets to the temperature you set, it's warm enough to solder and shouldn't get any hotter. That's largely the benefit of using a soldering iron that controls and displays its temperature 😉

[@chickenfarm09]

How do you become apprentice in Dan's shop?

[@flashbackshape]

I’m about to change pickups for the first time. Very nervous. Wish me luck!

[@kieferonline]

How did the pickup change go? I hope it was a success!

[@flashbackshape]

kieferonline it actually went smoothly. It was surreal that I managed to do it without messing it up!

[@kieferonline]

@@flashbackshape That's great! Nice work

[@shermanmiller1458]

I'm about to do the same!

[@zenmaster6780]

About to do mine this week

[@joses.a.2]

Finding the ONE.....endless process.

[@jackbarton4809]

Anyone know if I can just cut the wire off a old pickup until I Install a new one or is that a complete terrible idea?

[@dellboy623]

Ok, how do we know which pot is good for certain pickups? Let's say I wanna replace single coil with humbacker (in single coil format).

[@g.koch.]

In general 250k are for strat/tele and 500k for humbuckers, Jazzmaster and Wide Range Humbucker Pickups use 1meg very common but of course work with these lower two too. But it cuts then the high's (some people like that), same goes for humbuckers at 250k. I used in my Hss Strat 250k with vol/tone for the neck/middle and a 500k vol. on the humbucker but with no tone knob. (Regardless of the size hb stays hb)

[@Hiro.the.God.]

Can you replace a humbucker to a single coil?

[@jimkinman3054]

Is there a difference for a left handed guitar?

[@Chris-fz1os]

What is that thing you used to heat the wires?🤔

[@hchoe741]

Wow! Dan looks really young in this video. Must be the cap and the tattoos.

[@BigChuck525]

Good job Paul. Also I loved you in "The Sandlot". Seen Wendy lately?

[@zugg1271]

Just replaced pickups in my epiphone lespaul using your kit with coil split at tone controls using 022 caps and dimarzio diactivator pickup set getting a wah type tone that I don’t want would changing cap value fix this

[@stewmac]

Hey! Our techs can help. You can reach them at [e-mail].

[@Bloodray19]

I am building a mustang copy, and I wanna make it look like it has single coils, but have humbuckers, because I hate hum, and since I wanna play Nirvana songs on it with lots of distortion, it's gonna come in handy. I'd have two options. Fender noiseless pickups or single coil sized humbuckers. But I wanna try to disassemble a humbucker and make it into a fender style noiseless

[@AmperahGaming]

Did it work out? It sounds really cool if it works

[@Noctrl100]

Do I have to cut my strings cause I just bought and put them on

[@almas7123]

Aren’t all magnets height different and adjusted according to each individual guitar or if I buy pickups can I install them and be done with the way they come?

[@stewmac]

Hi Al! Some pickups have adjustable polepieces, like you'd see on humbuckers, but in this case they are a fixed radius, so you can only adjust the pickup height.

[@almas7123]

@@stewmac I see. I recently bought a squire mini and wanted to know if I can replace the pickups myself but then there was the magnet height question. Im told if I get the strat pickups I should not have to mess with the height. Thanks for taking time to reply to us.

[@stewmac]

@@almas7123 Yep, no way to adjust individual polepiece magnet height on strat pickups, but you can certainly experiment with pickup height to get different tones depending on the distance from the strings. If you get too close though you can start to affect the tuning of the strings.

[@bldallas]

Helpful. Have you considered soldering in quick connects? It definitely make it easier/faster in the future to make more changes.

[@bindodundid]

Probably makes its tougher to stuff back in there, because that is a genius idea you'd think people would be doing it

[@ireneflorindi685]

there’s a way to replace humbucker with a single coin?

[@BigChuck525]

Has anyone else noticed that the notification of new video keeps happening after you've watched that particular video? The notification has gone off 4 times for this video. None of the other channels I subscribe to do this.

[@sixfoursoul2538]

I find soldering pups insanely difficult been trying for years I just cant solder

[@shoestringplayer106]

is it safe to play my gibson les paul outside right now in summer?

[@bee.normal]

They say if the weather's comfy for you, it probably is for your guitar, too." Anything too extreme might be trouble, esp. for unfinished woods (your LP's rosewood fretboard.)

[@Mountainrock70]

Linseed oil the neck!

[@allwatched5322]

If we want to replace an electric guitar pickup, do you have to replace all of the pickups?

[@stewmac]

No you can change individual pickups! You'll have to pay attention to magnetic polarity and coil direction in order to be in phase though. A good repair shop can help you sort that out if you run into problems.

[@allwatched5322]

@@stewmac Great thank you and I appreciated your replies, it's valuable clue/info for me. Thanks again. God bless.

[@GraysonHuitt-if9cs]

What I want to know is what size solder iron? 30 watt? 100 watts?

[@stewmac]

A soldering iron with an adjustable temperature control is best, but for basic use we recommend 40-50watts, and stay away from the large trigger activated "Gun style" irons...those are too large and too hot for guitar electronics. We have a few great options on our website! stewmac.com

[@dalefrary]

Nice

[@TheFredkent]

What about mentioning polarity....and how to determine it on each pickup.

[@neutrodyne]

There are 2 ways to do this. First install the pickups and put a bass string on and pluck the string move the selector switch so 2 pickups are on at the same time if the volume drops and the tone gets thin they are out of phase. Reverse the wires on the one that makes the sound go thin. The better way is to hook a vom meter up to the pickup and set it on its lowest DC volt reading. Next watch the meter and slap a screwdriver blade on the pickup. If the meter first shows a positive voltage for a split second you have the correct polarity. When you pull the screwdriver off you should see the meter go negative first.

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

EMG Pickups make this even easier by simply plugging in wires.

[@cori1396]

Can i snip the wires, twist them together then shrink tube??

[@neutrodyne]

Twisting the wires together is a good idea. That will give you some hum canceling from the wires themself. This does not affect the pickups. Heat shrink is also ok. You can also snip the wires just be sure and leave enough wire to get the job done with some slack in the wires.

[@cori1396]

@@neutrodyne Oh My God, I didn't think ANYONE would answer me...i thank you SOOOO much for this...(I hate to solder)

[@neutrodyne]

@@cori1396 Your welcome I worked in a music store for 41 years as a repair technician. I replace a lot of pickups in those years.

[@cori1396]

@@neutrodyne Well I REALLY appreciate the help...you are a great you tuber!! you now have a new sub buddy!!

[@neutrodyne]

@@cori1396 Thank you.

[@ogcodvideos6546]

Jesus I really want new pick ups but I think I'll have to bring this to a professional for my bass

[@KingJTheGr8]

What if you just change the middle pickup

[@famlitfamskitt2612]

Is it the same process of changing pickups for a bass guitar?

[@AmperahGaming]

I guess so

[@AmperahGaming]

Since a bass is basically a really low tuned guitar

[@DaveTaste]

I think you slap them in instead of placing them.

[@goldenultra]

I think this is not that easy. Also there are different kinds of solder, a new green solder, or the more dangerous but better lead solder, and different kinds of that too.

[@bigtuna9969]

Let’s go Hens!

[@OkcStarX]

Im so confused by the cook the flux out of the pickup thing

[@Moral_Transformer]

Think about it think about it 😄

[@nikitadomrachev]

This is really simple! (switches on the NASA soldering station)

[@wolfgangwolfdogplaysguitar701]

What happens if you touch the solder

[@neutrodyne]

Nothing. You have to touch the solder in order to solder.

[@mikecurtin9831]

If you disturb it before it hardens, you can get voids in the puddle, which can make a joint that's both weak and not very conductive. You can usually see that, because it will look milky. A good joint shines as though it were polished.

[@neutrodyne]

@@mikecurtin9831 You are correct and that is referred to as a cold solder connection. If you touch the solder before it cools you will get burnt.

[@bee.normal]

If it's cold, nothing.

[@anakinskywalker1509]

Jesus loves you guys so much. God is with yall through all of your problems

[@icecreamforcrowhurst]

Think about it and think about it… lol I can relate

[@shartne]

Almost any pick you buy is going to be better to replace the stock pickups on the foreign generic guitars.

[@theklown8820]

Oh so hear me out I was taking apart my guitar because plastic was in the pickups and I didn’t realize everything was connected via wires and uhh I screwed it back in and uhh it’s sticking out about an inch

[@whytewavestudios3039]

Time to buy a 59

[@whytewavestudios3039]

@Laurence Pinney im 20 lol

[@whytewavestudios3039]

@Laurence Pinney what else else do you use in the neck? Fishmans sound horrible and so does sustaniac

[@chrisfusion6945]

Black is always ground, that's a universal rule in electronics

[@OsmiumStudios]

import guitar coloring is strange :D Like the entire Europe uses red for hot and bare for ground :D

[@emulgatorx]

"Import guitars can get a little weird". You literally just showed that they use shielded wires as everyone should. The "bare wire" is the shielding that is twisted together and of course is always the ground. Have you never soldered a patch cable? And the blue one for the middle pickup likely just indicates that this is the one with reverse polarity.

[@tonyalcantar8378]

He has the voice of an old man...

[@Oldmanhenderson12]

I’m just gonna take it to a music store tbh

[@Hot80s]

Great tutorial but you lost me at hum-effer.

[@CoppaDog]

i dont understand why they dont just create a universal plug so you can swap pickups much easier

[@stevenally8015]

Cool video, thanks. But I don't understand why Americans pronounce solder as "sodder"? Why drop the L? It's sol-der. :)

[@donsoonguitars]

You sound like Steve-o if he never did drugs and went to medical school.

[@willuexwilluex6241]

Thumb up to Thumb Down ratio is godly

[@jwardcomo]

Just a note to the admin. May be time to block Laurence Pinney for acting like a two year old.

[@baltazartorres4568]

The guy is obviously a troll, he is not even saying anything clever. Just straight up annoying.

[@user-nj4nh3og8n]

Nah bro used the underrated song: aka, bills channel theme

[@MrMisterock]

If you swap the pickups and the whole electronic components, that Starcaster will sound like a real Strat. If you do a refret job, it will also feel like a real Strat. Better go ahead and buy the real Strat.

[@theedrstrangelove]

A real professional would have completely removed the pick guard and put the guitar in it's case.. Then cleaned all the old solder from everywhere.

[@alanbeck5518]

It’s prounced SOLDER. Not sodder.

[@cajunqueen5125]

In US and Canada, we pronounce is sodder. Have never heard anyone pronounce it with the L.

[@alanbeck5518]

@@cajunqueen5125 We do in the UK. The Queen’s English!

[@frogworth1622]

@@alanbeck5518 That seems to be your problem right there 😂

[@MyButtsBeenWiped]

@@alanbeck5518 Sort of like glassier and alyouminyium, Right ?

[@Yodelinthegully-d7r]

Just add DiMarzios.