Installing new PUPS in a P22 - difficult?

jrw32

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I've got a P22 that I love, but am considering changing the pickups. It currently has 5708s w/ bobbins, & I'm thinking of installing lower output PUPS with chrome covers. I don't have much experience with swapping electronics/soldering, & have read there are additional considerations given the piezo, such as flipping magnets in the PUPS, etc. Has anyone done this, & if so, what is entailed & how difficult would it be on a P22? Thanks for your insight.
 
I have swapped pickups in my cu22 and also my HBii+piezo
Hard? Not overly, but if you're not comfortable with a soldering iron, find somebody who is.
I took pictures along the way and printed out the schematic to refer to. Double checking every step, taking time, etc.

On my HBii I used normal magnets and now the piezo is out of phase with the magnetic pickups. Oops!

What pickups are you going to put in?
 
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I have changed pickups in my Custom 22 piezo and also my P245 (I actually ended up reinstalling the 58/15's in my Cu22p). You don't have to flip the magnets, you can wire them electrically backwards so if black is ground and red is hot, you wire the red to ground and use black as the hot wire. If you don't then the piezo and the magnetic pickups will be out of phase, but if you never blend the magnetics and piezo, you don't have to worry about it.

But yeah, in a piezo guitar, it's extra fiddly so unless you're comfortable with a soldering iron, I'd take it to someone who is.
 
You can certainly learn how to do it properly, but I wouldn’t bust my cherry on a P22. The space is tight to begin with and lots more to melt. The ribbon cable needs some extra TLC. I would watch your tech do it and choose an easier guitar to start with.
 
Soldering is pretty easy. Let the iron heat up. Wipe it on a damp sponge. It should look wet. Touch the solder to the iron. It should immediately melt. Lightly tin each wire by holding the iron to the wire near the insulation, and touching the solder on the opposite side of the wire. When it starts to melt move the solder toward the end. You want just a thin coating of solder, not a blob. Wait for it to cool. Repeat on the other wire. After cooling twist the wires together. Apply the iron and a little bit of solder. You want to see the wires twisted as one, not a blob of solder. If necessary use either a wick or solder sucker to remove excess.
HTH
 
Did a pickup change on a P24 , it is harder because it easy to get the pickups wired out of phase and its a tight spec to work in.
If I was learning it would not be the one I would start on :)
 
Thanks everyone, I appreciate the info. Sounds like I'm sticking with these PUPS after all! ;)
 
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