[How To] Change guitar pickups

[telmofmm]

Hi everyone

I've put together a quick video showing how to do a basic pickup replacement. Here it is, I hope this can help someone out!



If you're still reading:
I'm aware of the self-promoting nature of this post, but I'm really trying to add value by helping the music community to the best of my ability, and by trying to be entertaining.

So, if you enjoy this type of content I'd really like to hear your feedback, good or bad, so I can improve my videos

If, after all this, you still enjoyed the video, please consider subscribing. It'll help me bring you more content like this!

Thank you!

[Hink]

tbh I have issues with the order of how you do things, what you dont explain and frankly the craftsmanship you use.

First I dont remove the screws holding the pick up in place until I have removed the leads going to the pot. In your video you remove the screws and the flip the guitar over to remove the wires, this can allow the pup to slip out, swing and potentially scratch the guitar. But I would never post a video of me actually dropping the pup on the guitar which you do when you are removing the screws that adjust the height (not the action as you say in the video) and hold the pups to the ring which you do at about 1:37 in the video.

No offense but seriously? I have replaced pick ups for customers when I worked in a music store, if I did that it would be costing me or the store money.

You tell what color wires go where but you dont explain why or what the colors mean, for instance you say to solder the black wire to the first lug on the pot. I would explain that in this case the black wire is the "hot" and that is typically the input lug on the pot, the green is ground and not all pick ups work this way. I bought a guitar once from someone who complained after putting a duncan in he couldn't get rid of the hum. I received the guitar, opened up and the green was wired to hot. You also gloss over taping the red and white wires together but do not explain why some pups have 4 wires (conductors) plus the shield and others have two plus shield, fortunately here we have some great posts/links about this.

Another thing I would do, unless the guitar is brand new (and then I probably still would) is to take the extra couple of minutes to change the pot as well, they're inexpensive to replace, they do wear so if you're there anyhow why not replace the pot too?

Again I mean no offense but this tut is not very good and quite rushed, but nothing is as bad as you dropping the pick up onto the face of the guitar as you do...self promoting it is not

[telmofmm]

I very much appreciate your feedback, and actually do agree your the generality of your points

This is supposed to be an overview, more like a guide with all the steps. No one expecting to become a pro at changing pickups will click on a 3 minute video. I use the same justification for the lack of technical details: they don't have a place in a 3 minute video, and the target audience is likely to not understand the jargon.

As for the "care" I have with the guitar: jesus man, take a chill pill my guitar has a couple of dents and scratches, but every one of them has a story. The little dent I made when I drop the pickup marked the time when I gain courage to expose myself to critics like you (I mean this in a positive way).
Also, it's not that kind of wear and tear that will ruin a guitar, some of us just want to get the goddamn new pickup in and have fun with it.

Circling back to the beginning of my post, I really do appreciate your constructive criticism and will surely take it into account in the future