Question About Guitar Work

[JamesD]

First off i have never really worked on a guitar on my own. I have really been itching to do so lately. I have a Schecter C-1 Elite and i love how it plays to be honest, but i can't get into the stock pups, which are Duncan Design pups so that is the reasoning.

I would definitely like to change out the pup's and also i believe my volume pot is going bad, because it is cutting in and out when turning it at times.

I am looking to see if anyone can steer me in the right direction of what and where to get a new volume pot, and also a tone pot wouldn't be a bad replacement while i am at it. How big of a hassle is it to replace these? I can solder so i am not worried about that, just wondering.

Same thing goes with the Pup's is it a pain to switch them out or not?

One last thing, was can anyone recommend me some good pup's for Hard Rock? I play mainly Hard Rock with a hint of Metal at times, but i would also like for the pups to handle cleans well also. I don't want to go with EMG's as i already have some in a guitar of mine. Thanks in advance to any help you guys can give me!

 

[Pablo1234]

Its really not that hard at all if you do understand simple electronics and know how to solder.

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/menu.php

This is some very good reading. I highly recommend the shielding and star grounding if you plan on rewiring your guitar to that extent. It should take about 4 hrs if you have a nice work area and are a little organized.

As for Pickups for Rock and metal with good cleans, I personally use Pearly Gates in my strat. The Dimarzzio FRED is a really cool pickup if your looking for something really different sounding. standard PAF pickups are nice also but a bit darker than the Pearly Gates.

I would sugest looking up the specks on the original pickups and clarafing what changes you want. Do you want a Brighter/Darker pickup, More gain to drive your Preamp, More or less pressence and then comparing the specks of your pickup to specks of the ones you think may be what you want.

Alot of the desition will come from the tonal range of your guitar and what you want to bring out of your guitar. Your system will have alot to do with pickup selection also. Mesa DR or TR amps are notorious for the difrences in pickups to get a good tone out of the amps. Nothing a booster or eq can't fix though.

 

[JamesD]

thanks for that website, i will definitely give it a read through later on tonight.

I will check out the pearly gates later on as well. The duncan design pups that are in it are ok, but there is just a high range or something of that sort that i don't like about them. I was thinking also about possibly tremonti's or the setup of JB at bridge, SH-2N Jazz in the neck. Just gotta make my mind up on that stuff still. I don't want the pups to be too bright but not too dark either, just a nice balance.

I appreciate the help!

 

[Kilted Guitar Player Dude]

If you can solder well, work on your guitar is pretty easy and can save you some cash since you don't have to take it to a tech. Most replacement pickups have the schematics included, so figuring out the proper connection points is pretty easy.

 

[Ken j]

Here is another link for wiring: http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/wiringresources/

Pablo 1234 thanks for the above link.

 

[Hobo]

If you are looking for PUs that clean up nicely I would go with a lower output PU.
You can make a lower output PU sound really dirty with today's high gain amps but it is hard clean up a high output PU. YMMV

 

[Jak0lantern01]

Actually, the pups in that guitar are lower output. I own one, and it has significantly less gain that other guitars with different pups that I own. Personally, I like them since I find my sound to be much cleaner with them. As for that tone nob you want to replace, just be aware it's a push/pull knob, so you'd have to replace it with the same type of knob if you want to maintain the full capability of the guitar. I've messed with a lot of pups over the years, but have taken a little bit of advice that I recently received to heart: when I aksed a guitar tech what pups he uses, he told me always stock. He would never buy a guitar that didn't sound right to him prior to purchase. Just food for thought, but personally, I think my amp sounds the cleanest with those stock pups.