Musicians: Is it hard to change pickguard?

It's very easy. Just remove your volume/tone knobs (and nuts), pickup selector knob, strings, the screws around the edge of the pick guard, the screws holding the pickup selector, and the screws holding the pickups.

Make sure to turn your volume and tone knobs all the way down before you remove them, and notice where the 1's line up.

You will also have to readjust your pickup height when you are finished. Depending on the type of pickups you have, you may want to look online for some suggestions. Putting single coils too close to the strings will make noise and cause a bit of detune. Lace Sensors can be set pretty high.


Hope that helps.

 

yes you will have to resolder the ground wire going to the spring claw (behind the back plate on the instrument). You will also need to resolder the input jack (positive is tip and ground is shaft). You will need a decent wattage iron to solder to the string claw but a lower wattage iron for the input jack and anything else you want to solder. A lower wattage iron will work on the string claw but will potentially cause frustration and a cold solder joint.

There are also several different screw patterns depending on year and where the instrument was made. If it is an American Strat you are in good shape and it will be easy to find a pickguard.

Turning the knobs all the way down before you remove them is some of the funniest advice I've heard in a while - but if it makes you feel better then I guess maybe you should do it. It effects nothing.

Use a wide flat head screw driver to remove the knobs (turning them slowly as you gently pry them off of the shaft of the potentiometers.

Remove the bolts and washers from the potentiometers. Unscrew the input jack plate and remove both of those wires (keeping track of which is going to tip and which is going to sleeve).

The rest will be fairly self evident.

If you have any questions just ask. I've done this hundreds of times and the guitar I play I built.

Cheers,
Brock

 

I play the hell out of the guitars and mandolins I own, but I let others work on 'em. I barely even restring my guitars any more...usually only in an emergency situation at a club.

I'm a pimp and a lazy slob. Shoot me.

 

BANG!

but seriously... I can setup a guitar better than anyone I know that could do it for me.

And I know if I do it it will be done right - eventually... ;~)

I'll have to take a pick of the telestratobigsby I built...

 

I hear ya. I should know how to fix and work on guitars since I've been playing since I was six years old. I just never learned. Dunno why. It's kind of like not learning how to work on cars.....could have saved myself alot of cash over the years, just never bothered to learn.

 

As knobs get older, they loosen, and can spin a few cm on the post. It just helps to take note of where they line up.

Also, why would he have to re-solder the input jack when just changing out the pick guard on a Strat?

 

Brock knows his stuff, but I'm quite sure that you won't need to solder anything. I've played a Strat for 14 years and I do all of the work on it myself (including changing the pick guard several times). All of the wiring should stay intact.

 

you guys are right.

usually I just take everything off so if you just leave it all sitting in the cavity you won't need to solder anything.

in regards to knobs loosening - it won't matter if they are loose or not or even if you were to rotate the potentiometers 100 degrees from where they were originally sitting - it won't make a difference. Only when you put the knobs back on is it important to turn them all the way down (or up) and line up the numbers.

again - if you just leave all the electronics in the cavity you won't need to solder. I usually take all electronics out as it is much easier to resolder the gound wire and input jack than to work with limited distances of crappy cable.

Cheers,
Brock

 

switch tips do indeed just pop off (unless someone got tired of them popping off and used a spot of glue).

You can reuse the current one unless you are changing out the switch. If you are changing out the switch or buying a new switch cap you may or may not run into issues of import vs. american and different shaft sizes. The switch screw holes can also be different depending on who made the pickguard and whether the switch is a switchcraft, import, usa, etc... If you are reusing the switch (which I assume you are as you don't wanna' solder ; ) then the issue you may run into won't be the switch cap but maybe that the two screw holes in the pickguard aren't where you expect them to be. Happens from time to time...

In regards to the BBS... yes. Apparently there are several things that the BBS can't do - mostly involving attracting members of the opposite sex, getting along with each other and agreeing on realistic trade proposals.


Cheers,

Brock

 

Plus it's tastes in Music, movies and women are highly suspect...

 

Hey man,

I was just curious how it went.

If you're still out there let me know...

Cheers,
brock