so how hard is it to wire a pickguard? i think that id rather do it myself but not if its crazy hard. it looks like simple soldering and winding of wires, shouldnt be that hard should it?

also, i think im going to go with a humbucker in the bridge and two single coils...is it crazy to have two completely different makes of pickup? all the guitars ive owned have had the same kind (i.e. make and model) of pickup so i dont know any different.

like if i wanted to have this at the bridge: seymor duncan 'dimebucker'



and these: lace sensor



aesthetics aside, when i select one pickup, the others are not active and dont contribute, right, so you could get a wider array of tones this way? would it create a problem when you are using a 5 way switch and selecting two pickups?

thanks for the electric guitar knowledge, i cant believe i have never learned this stuff

It's simple, you'll be fine. Seymour duncan's website has good wiring diagrams. You're comfortable with soldering right?

And it's like cooking, you can do whatever the fuck you want. And yes, you can get a wider array of tones.

Just remember, the exact same pickup will sound different in the bridge vs. the neck.

Have fun fucking around. It's good for your inner caveman.

i need to learn to solder, i guess

So yeah, you need to brush up on some soldering, but it's not rocket science. I've used a cheap 25W Weller for years, and it's nice in that it doesn't get hot enough to let you overcook things. You'd need that kit they sell it in, with a little coil of solder, and maybe some tinning flux if you want it to go smoothly. Cheap money, and remember - money spent on tools is never wasted.

Following the diagrams isn't too hard. There aren't that many wires involved.

As for the spread of pickup makes, I would say the dimebucker and lace sensors may not make the best bedfellows. The thing is this... different pickups have not only a very VERY different tonal range, but different effective volumes. So take those up there, for example. In the bridge spot you've got a dimebucker, and then mid and neck are lace golds. The dimebucker is SUPER mid-rangey, and has little bottom end or really high highs. It's designed to sound like a dude yelling into a mic. It's supposed to support ludicrous amounts of distortion, to cut through. No subtelty, no finesse, no hope of cleaning it up and sounding ok, or of playing along well with others in a Position 4 setup on a strat with the mid pickup on too. It's just big-ass ceramic magnets. So it's really loud, and focuses on the midrange frequency set that doesn't have much competition in the mix. The lace golds, however, are much much softer, have deep low end and really nice sweet chimey highs. Why does it matter? Because you'll set your amp where it sounds decent for one set, and it will not sound as good or be at the right volume for the other pickups. And with those up there especially, I would have my amp set very VERY differently, tone and volume-wise. The laces need mids, but the dime is the opposite. You'd find yourself kinda stuck with one pickup selection. They'd just sound so totally different from each other, and not really in a good way.

If you want a setup like that, Hum-single-single, where it can handle a lot of distortion but still cleans up well, have a look at the duncan Pearly Gates humbucker (designed for Billy Gibbons, used a lot by Warren Haynes of gov't mule, came standard in the Lone Star Strat, fairly hotty totty but still sounds sweet when you back of the volume a little), paired with texas specials. Or the PRS McCarty humbucker for that classic old PAF sound and maybe some duckbuckers?


And finally, a tip I figured out that I wish I'd known sooner: You get your strings off, the pickguard taken off, and you *think* you wired it up right. The only way to check is to put it back together and put strings on and plug it in, right? Wrong. If you have ticking wrist watch, that is with a ticking (not sweeping) second hand, you can plug the disassembled guitar into an amp, turn up the volume on the guitar and amp, and then hold the watch right over the magnets. If they're wired right, it will come "CLOCK...CLOCK..CLOCK" ing through. Check it on a guitar you know works, but I've had several watches now that all worked like this.

thanks a lot guys. i think that ive just never been really happy with the subtle differences in the bridge and neck position sounds and thought that by changing up the schematic that it might provide more sound 'opportunities'

i hadnt considered the relative needs for the different types of p/u

Yeah, the pickup manufacturers help you out there.

And by all means, if you absolutely want a Dimebucker, buy one from the real Bill Lawrence, the guy who actually invented the damn thing instead of SD (Wilde Pickups scroll down)

so is there anything i can look at to help determine what 'kind' of sound i get when comparing pickups?

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Electric+Guitar+Pickup


I'll save you a lot of time and hassle though and suggest you go HERE

You can even call them up and they will help you out matching up say a humbucker and a couple singles.

Also, that Rothstein guitars site i linked in your old thread sells prewired pickguards and uses a lot of Fralin stuff.

Lawrence and Fralin are absolutely wonderful, though I'm only familiar with their country and blues pickups. I'd trust them, though. Also it may seem like a pain in the ass to try to call people and match things up, but it's gonna be worth it. You just need to have it straight in your head what sounds you're looking for. Because the pickups on a solidbody are like 80%+ of your final sound. So choose wisely.


(Oh and didn't SD's website have sound clips for all its makes?)