Changing pickups/covers and wiring..........

Barrivee

Maybe not strictly making or modding but better here than elsewhere I reckon. I want to chop and change some humbuckers between guitars with different colour hardware. I'm looking to remove a set of Seth Lovers with gold covers and replace with an existing set of Lollar Imperials from another guitar with Nickel covers. I'm not much of a tinkerer so I've never really considered this before, but are the covers interchangeable (assuming dimensions are the same) - if so how do you remove and replace them - are they push fit or soldered or something else? And while I'm here, neither set are coil tapped. Am i right in saying if they were not originally wired for it they can't be subsequently wired correctly? Thanks in advance - I'm threatening to get my "used only once" soldering iron out and set to with it, so expect more posts down the line..................

GuitarMonkey

Covers are soldered in place, you'll see when you remove a pickup. I usually cut through the old solder.

If the pickups have only signal and earth connections (i.e. braided cable) then you'll have to re-cable them to split the coils. Probably not a job for a second-time solderer.

OilCityPickups

Right, swapping pickup covers is not as simple as it first appears. Firstly they are soldered on, and you need a big, powerful soldering iron ... I use a 150w one with a half inch tip ... so that you apply a lot of heat for a VERY short time. next you will need a tool to separate the cover and the base while the solder is molten ... I use a polished stainless steel blade the solder won't stick to.

Possible issues: 

1.You use too much heat for too long and damage the bobbins

2. your separating tool catches a winding and you wreck a bobbin and it has to be re wound.

3. Your covers are not the same spacing ... there are 52mm, 51.5mm, 50mm, and 49.2mm.

Personally I would NEVER try on expensive pickups without knowing exactly what you are doing. Instead try on some cheap Chinese pickups to get your hand in. 

Oh I have a jig I built to hold the pickup down firmly while I remove the cover ... otherwise it will slide about when you try and apply the heat.

Barrivee

Right, I'm glad you picked this up @TheGuitarWeasel as I'm possibly looking to replace the removed Lollars with some H/B sized P90's or maybe winteriser ll.'s. I'm not looking to do it just yet but maybe I'll talk to you about a cover change and purchase "package" nearer the time !

OilCityPickups

Happy to dude ... I always worry when the inexperienced tackle pickup covers ... a rewind costs £30 a coil ... even if not part of a 'deal' getting a cover changed professionally is cheaper than a knackered pickup.  

It's definitely a skill worth cultivating is cover removal and replacement ... but as I say, find some cheapo buckers to make your initial mistakes on. :-)