Anyone change pickups on a hollowbody?

[Rapdog]

I have a hollowbody 2 SC that I would like to change out from 57/08 and try something else. Anybody done it? Tips? Did you go through the pickup route or the f route? Did you have to unscrew all the pots? Thanks

 

[garrettb]

I have on my HBII. You can pull the switch out through the f hole. No need to disconnect anything else.

I recommend blue painter's tape around the f hole to prevent scratches.

 

[Rapdog]

Thanks. I will try that.

 

[Mole351]

What pickups are you going to put in? What sound/type of music are you going for/do you play? I'd be interested in what changes you make and what you think...

 

[Rapdog]

i have a pair of sheptone tributes, slash sign seymour dun cans, and possibly a pair of WIZZ pickups. If it was easy enough I would try all three to see what the outcomes are. I play rock and bluesish type. I play through a HXDA 50 watt with 1/2 stack. Scumback m75 and a PRS V30 clone. Good range of tones coming from the amp. Very vintage in nature I must add., I haven't ever had sheptones in a guitar but hear rave reviews on them. If i am taking it all apart I may change to a vintage type volume/tone blend with a new capacitor/pots from rs guitar works.

 

[garrettb]

I don't think you'll gain anything with new pots and cap. I did fish mine out to add a treble bleed, though. Not sure on newer ones, but the old ones like mine also came with a resistor wired across the output jack, which I removed.

It's a pain to pull the pots, but worth it to make the guitar as you like it. I pulled them out through the bridge pickup rout, but if you have piezo, I'd wager it's easier to pull it all out through the output jacks rout.

 

[Leeric]

I use dental floss to tie around the pots and switch before i drop them through the holes. After soldering use the floss to fish the pots and switch/selector back through their respective holes.

 

[Huggy Love]

....I am watching this thread closely, have a project I'm working on that'll involve this. Hopefully OP will post his final results.
But I don't know what kind of switches you guys have cause this one is so big, no way it's going thru an F-hole.

 

[garrettb]

I'm on the third switch in mine and I've swapped pickups twice. The regular Switchcraft right angle switch will come through the f hole fine. It just takes a little bit of maneuvering to get it through. Switch number two in mine was a short straight toggle, which was definitely easier, but now I'm back to the right angle.

First time I ever dropped the pots was to install the treble bleed last year. Good tip on the floss, Leeric. I ended used some yarn with mine.

 

[Callan]

I did buy pickups to replace my 57/08"s, but ended up happy enough with the sound by changing the pickup height quite a bit. (And my Les Paul got the new pu's)

If you do change then out, make sure you take lots of photos and share them here

 

[Stevie F]

I have on my HBII. You can pull the switch out through the f hole. No need to disconnect anything else.

I recommend blue painter's tape around the f hole to prevent scratches.

Hi i fancy buying a hollow body 11 57/15 pups what are they like ? Sound quality are there any faults as the big dealers are out of stock and are not to re order is there some isdues or problems i need to know ? The only thing putting me off is the 11s guage strings i would have to change to 10s as i wont be able to vibrato them. So any thing i need to know or look for please let me know i guess not an investment money wise only play ability wise