Stupid question - when you install a pickup and one of the the wires is too short...

JonnyBgoode

..and you do not have the skills/time to dismantle a pickup and fit a new one, is it Ok to just join another wire on by twisting the wires around each other and adding a bit of solder over the join, plus covering the join with insulation tape? Or is this asking for for trouble?

WezV

Yes.  Better with heat shrink than tape, but you can extend wires if needed

ICBM

WezV said:

Yes.  Better with heat shrink than tape, but you can extend wires if needed

This. If you need to use tape, use paper masking tape not ‘insulation’ tape, and *fold* the tape over the join so the flat ends stick glue side to glue side, not wrap or wind the tape around the wire - this will help stop it unwinding itself and leaving a sticky mess… ‘insulation’ tape usually does that.

BillDL

If you don't want to buy heatshrink tubing or don't know what diameter to buy (usually quoted as before shrinking and shrunk diameters or occasionally a shrink ratio), you can sometimes find insulation sheathing from other bits of cable that you can slide up over the joint after soldering.  To enable this you usually need to leave the bared ends of each cable short and with the filaments untwisted, and you "splice" them by pushing them into each other so that the filaments are all aligned and interleaved, then solder.  That leaves a nice straight joint marginally thicker than the outside diameter of the insulated wires and you can slide a piece of insulation sleeving from other cable over the joint carefully. 

JonnyBgoode

ICBM said:

This. If you need to use tape, use paper masking tape not ‘insulation’ tape, and *fold* the tape over the join so the flat ends stick glue side to glue side, not wrap or wind the tape around the wire - this will help stop it unwinding itself and leaving a sticky mess… ‘insulation’ tape usually does that.

...Which is exactly what happened  :-(

Ok will try some masking tape, ta.

Yorkie

I’m sure it’s not your case, so for other people coming from a search engine: make sure you’re not installing a bridge pickup in the neck position by mistake— those often have shorter cables, as well as different pole piece spacing, resistance, etc. 

Jon