Guitar in bits...what to do?

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...bringing sexy back
Member Since: Jul 01, 2002

Got given today a disassembled fender copy guitar...with all the electrics ripped out of it, only one pick up (of the three)...no pick up selector switch and no jack plug input.

dont really wanna spend any money on it, so what luck would i have wiring up just the one pick up and messing about with it? presumably the sound would be pretty much 'on or off' and no control over the tone (short of moving the pick up)...i fancy trying it out though, just to see if i can get the wiring sussed...anyone got any experience of this?

HELP! also,any ideas of who in the uk (for all you non-yanks here) would stock the parts im missing?

cheers guys!

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Maniacal Genius
Contributor
Since: Dec 30, 2002


May 22, 2003 06:39 pm

You should be able to pick up the parts your missing for pretty cheap. I'm not familiar with a dealer for those in the UK, but I would think there must be several. I had a similar situation a few years back and I got everything I needed for about $40.

I would imagine that there must be several places on the web that describe how to put it all back together. I've taken apart and reassembled quite a few guitars and basses over the years and it's pretty easy. However, I always take the instrument to a pro after I get it together to have it properly intonated and adjusted.

Bane of All Existence
Member
Since: Mar 27, 2003


May 22, 2003 06:54 pm

barebones, you could get an output terminal and just wire the hot to the tip terminal and wire the ground to the sleeve terminal. it would definitely work.

here's a good test method that i use for things like this...take the pickup and the output and get a guitar that's all put together. plug in the output to an amp all by itself, then put one pickup wire in one hole, and put the other in the other hole. then turn on the amp, and put the pickup close to the strings of the extra guitar, and hit a few notes. if it doesn't work, try wiring it the opposite way. if that doesn't work, either the wiring isn't touching, or the pickup is dead.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


May 22, 2003 09:45 pm

Minkus has it flame. I run frankenstien with only one volume control and no tone control at all. Although it does have 3 DiMarzio pickups in it and they are all wired for coil tap, so that is how I adjust the tone. But you should be fine, I would however suggest putting at least a volume pot in there just for kicks. Eddy VanHalen did it that way for years. One pickup, one volume knob, period. Nothing else between his guitar and the amps.

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002


May 23, 2003 03:48 am

cooooooooool, thats how im gonna do it then, one pick up, a volume knob, and thats it! cheers guys, cant wait to go play wiht it now...

Contributor
Since: Sep 09, 2002


May 23, 2003 04:57 am

excellent! guitar electronics is something i've been meaning to teach myself for some time now. just havn't had the time or oportunity yet.

just remember, when you wire the volume pot (potentiometer), you'll have three poles to solder to. solder your leads to the one in the middle, and *one* of the one's to either side. which one determines which direction you turn the knob to apply resistance (turn the output volume down).

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002


May 23, 2003 08:24 am

i was wondering about that, that was the only bit confusing me...might make a start on that today as its a rainy day and theres not much else to do!

Bane of All Existence
Member
Since: Mar 27, 2003


May 23, 2003 10:49 am

the site that really got me going with guitar innards ia GuitarNuts.com:

www.guitarnuts.com

it's got some AWESOME mods for guitar, one for keeping out unwanted noise (great for recording), and some for making the tone of your guitar far more flexible (great for recording). the schematics and watching how stuff works helped me out big time. it's a shame to see what cheap parts and wiring come stock in a guitar.

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002


May 23, 2003 12:25 pm

thats a pretty useful site dude...cheers

the wiring diagrams are handy...know where all the bits should go now!

Contributor
Since: Sep 09, 2002


May 23, 2003 07:04 pm

great site minkus, took me a minute to figure out the navigation but now i'm rolling.

reading the bit about electric shock. my bass amp zaps me at certain peoples' houses :O(

you should add this link to the links section

Bane of All Existence
Member
Since: Mar 27, 2003


May 23, 2003 11:29 pm

hardware>guitar?

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


May 23, 2003 11:58 pm

I got it in there for ya. I am making a new catagory though so it will be under instruments>guitar.

Contributor
Since: Sep 09, 2002


May 24, 2003 03:11 am

oh goodie! a place to share favorite guitar sites.

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002


May 25, 2003 12:41 pm

got a new pick up for it through ebay, so im almost ready to go...once paypal stops messing about and lets me pay the seller...

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


May 25, 2003 10:41 pm

What pickup did ya get?

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002


May 27, 2003 05:58 am

ummmm, dunno, just a standard strat one i think...its gotta be better than the crappy cheapo thing in it now.

Please Note Sarcasm:
those standard ones that cost about £1 sound really good


anyways, theres a picture of it here:
cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISA...DME:B:EOAB:UK:6

dunno how great it'll be but even if its rubbish, i can have a two pick up guitar instead of one!

Contributor
Since: Sep 09, 2002


May 27, 2003 11:35 am

well it came from a squire tele. can't be too bad

7 kilo-ohms if that means anything

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


May 27, 2003 12:08 pm

Quote:
well it came from a squire tele. can't be too bad


hmmm, that would tell me the very opposite, being from a squire means it is the cheapest they could find...

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002


May 27, 2003 12:19 pm

at least its an old one!

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


May 27, 2003 08:49 pm

Its a korean squire though so it is a hot little pickup. They didnt skrimp to bad on them. the mexican ones back then were awful. The bodys were good, but the electronics stank. It will be very high output on the high end though so be ready to get some scream out of it.

...bringing sexy back
Member
Since: Jul 01, 2002


May 28, 2003 12:10 pm

cooooooooool! me likey scream!

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