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Installing New Pickups


epi-curious

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OK - this morning I installed my new Tonerider Alnico II pickups in my black G400. Just wondering - has anybody else here thought the hole between the pickup cavity and the control cavity was a really tight fit for the pickup wires? I got the job done and they sound great but wow - it was probably easier getting the Chilean miners through that tunnel than it was getting the wires through that hole!

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Epi-C,

 

Don't feel like the lone ranger. Can't say for sure about the G400s. I Don't have one.... and maybe your hole just happens to be a little tight. (nothing personal)

 

What I can tell you is that it is a thinline guitar. The canals are bound to be a bit smaller than some guitars.

I just re-did the pickups and wiring on my LP special. (2 vol, 2 tone...not a special II)

Everything, including the pickups was done with vintage braided wire. Talk about a headache.

 

When I ordered the wire I didn't give it much thought as I had done the same on a few Lp Standards and Customs.(piece of cake) You could have driven a car through them.

Well, I guess body thickness makes a difference in the size of your hole!

 

It took every bit of patience I had, not to mention some utterances on my part in languages I don't even know.

 

Willy

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I put new pups in two G-400s. The first one was a piece of cake. The second one, not so much. The hole was VERY small and I had a heck of a time getting it through. I ended up using some dish soap on the pup wires which help to feed them through, but it was still a job. I was really glad when it was done. And even happier that I liked the pups cause I wasn't gonna change them again!

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i recently did pick-up change on my G400, it was a tight fit. the stock pick-ups had single core wire and the replacements had full blown 4 core wire for extra wiring options.

 

it's probably a bit hit or miss weather it's gonna be tight or not.

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How about this option:

 

Dental floss (unwaxed) tied to the wires. Then use a vacuum with hose attachment. Sucks the light, but very strong floss right through the channel. Used this technique for a re-wire on a semi-hollow re-wire.

 

heretic

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How about this option:

 

Dental floss (unwaxed) tied to the wires. Then use a vacuum with hose attachment. Sucks the light, but very strong floss right through the channel. Used this technique for a re-wire on a semi-hollow re-wire.

 

heretic

good idea. If it's not already in there then is should be added to the excellent and admirable "DO IT YOURSELF" thread over in the epi lounge

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How about this option:

 

Dental floss (unwaxed) tied to the wires. Then use a vacuum with hose attachment. Sucks the light, but very strong floss right through the channel. Used this technique for a re-wire on a semi-hollow re-wire.

 

heretic

 

That's how we used to pull long runs of wire through conduit on electrical installations. Had a string tied to a piece of styrofoam that fit just right in the conduit. Basically a shop vac at the other end of the conduit. Sucked the foam while feeding string, then tied wires to the string to pull it the rest of the way.

 

I'd have never thought to do the same thing with dental floss. That's brilliant!

 

I just used the original pickup wires to pull a piece of thread as I pulled them out, then tied the new pickup wires to the thread and pulled them back through.

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cjlandry,

 

Having been a journeyman 'fitter, I worked around Sparkasaurus Rexes (IBEW) and learned a few tricks. I just scaled it down. I was doing the mod and went from Alphas to CTS and used a piece of 1/2" dia. tubing duct-taped to the nozzle attachment to vacuum out the sawdust. I didn't have any twine to tie to the pots, but I have miles of dental floss (wifey is an RDH). I tied the floss to the pots, jack and switch. When I fired up the shop vac to clean put the crumbs, all of the floss got sucked into the tubing, and the "lights went on".

 

--heretic

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