Pickup Replacement

Thinking of changing or upgrading your pickups?

Pickup replacement is a great way to upgrade or tweak the tone on your guitar. It’s a process that most guitarist will consider or undertake at some point in their playing life, as they seek to find that elusive “tone” they have in their head. There could be many reasons for considering pickup replacement; maybe you playing style has changed and the existing pickups don’t suite that style. Or you love the way your guitar looks and plays but the pickups don’t do the guitar justice. Or you want pickups that have a more vintage voice, or a contemporary voice, more mids, more treble….the list goes on!

 

So which pickups are best for me and my guitar?

The pickup options now are a bit daunting. Compared with twenty years ago there are so many more companies making pickups, each with multiple options for both guitar and bass. There is no such thing as “the best” pickup. If there were we would probably all be using the same pickup. So choosing “your sound” is not easy. But it can be a lot of fun!

 

And what about the various switching options?

So having chosen your pickups what switching arrangement should you opt for? You can keep it simple; such as two humbuckers with volume, tone and a 3-way switch. But if you want greater tonal variety then consider coil cut, series/parallel switching for guitars with humbuckers, or the variety of switching options that are available for guitars with three, single coil pickups.

 

I’m here to help

Over the years I have probably fitted most of commonly used pickups. There probably aren’t too many switching options and schematics that I have not completed. So I am very happy to offer any advice I can and suggest pickups that best fit the tone that your are trying to create.

 

Cost:

Price varies according to guitar and the wiring schematic used. But as an indicator you are probably looking at £60 for replacing two humbuckers and £80 for three single coil pickups.

If you are thinking about having your pickups replaced or want some advice on this, please contact me to discuss.