New secondhand pickup hookup wire too short..

KevS · May 2022

Is it OK to order wire and heat shrink and just splice onto the existing wires.. ?
I am not able to do delicate stuff with pickups,,so I can't replace the wires....
Splicing is the only way I can think of,,is it OK to do this.. ?
It may not be pretty but will the sound quality suffer... ?
I would have preferred if the wire was there of course.. Sh*t Happens..

It is just plastic coated wire on Fender Strat single coils...
Not the cloth wire..

What wire could I order that would be cheap and plentiful..
Or do I need special wire..? Groan..

WezV · May 2022

Splicing is fine, no disadvantage to it other than a slight reduction in reliability compared with an intact wire. That shouldn't be an issue if done well

KevS · May 2022

WezV said:

Splicing is fine, no disadvantage to it other than a slight reduction in reliability compared with an intact wire. That shouldn't be an issue if done well

With me done well depends on what way. the wind is blowing..

All I see is wire that is cloth covered and sold in small lengths,,
hand rolled on the things of Virgin Amazons....
I am looking and it says 22 AWG..
Is the wire sensitive about what capacitance it is.. ?
There has to be something I can buy that is not expensive to buy a small reel..

ICBM · May 2022

For the wiring you need inside a guitar, gauge is irrelevant - the currents are so small that it simply doesn't make any difference. Capacitance is also irrelevant for plain wire, it's only shielded cable where it applies.

A good source of wire for guitar work is an old Scart cable - they contain about a metre each of various thin coloured wires, which will keep you going for some time!

KevS · May 2022

ICBM said:

For the wiring you need inside a guitar, gauge is irrelevant - the currents are so small that it simply doesn't make any difference. Capacitance is also irrelevant for plain wire, it's only shielded cable where it applies.

A good source of wire for guitar work is an old Scart cable - they contain about a metre each of various thin coloured wires, which will keep you going for some time!

I have violated a Scart cable..Very thin wire..Difficult to strip off the coating....
I think I can manage it...Thanks for the tip...

TTony · May 2022

KevS said:

Difficult to strip off the coating....

That wire is too thin for cable strippers.

Use a sharp blade, very gently. VERY gently. You’ll feel the difference when the blade finishes cutting through the plastic and gets to the wire underneath.

normula1 · May 2022

If it's really thin I sometimes strip it between a thumbnail and index finger

LastMantra · May 2022

normula1 said:

If it's really thin I sometimes strip it between a thumbnail and index finger

That's what I was going to say. Or teeth.

ICBM · May 2022

LastMantra said:

Or teeth.

Can be unwise... I cracked a tooth doing that and ended up helping to pay for my dentist's new PRS.

LastMantra · May 2022

BillDL · May 2022

If you can find an early 80s Made In Japan scart cable you will find that the insulated cables give you much sweeter tones

@KevS ;; If you find the wire from the scart cable a little too thin to work with let me know roughly the thickness of the existing wires on the pickups compared with some everyday thing around the house and I can put a few lengths of slightly thicker wire in an envelope and hope that Royal mail don't intercept it as a suspicious device. I have bags of wire in loads of different gauges that I have saved from various sources over many years.

Funkfingers · May 2022

All this talk of cannibalising video cables, with inner insulation that is too skinny for easy stripping, makes the prospect of simply rewiring with new conductors at the bobbin soldering eyelets seem so much easier that it counts as cheating.

KevS · May 2022

First soldering Iron Burn in a few years..
I just pushed on..Now I have a stiff and burny finger..
It is still burning away..
Like I've been stung by a hundred foot Wasp..
Well maybe not quite..

The scart cable just wouldn't take the solder..
I found some other cloth wire luckily..

I think I am going to invest in flux..

I done two hooked U shapes in the wire,,then pressed it flat to join it,,
then I soldered that....Then covered the joint in heat shrink..

No way did Fender trim the wires that short..
This is what was claimed..
Even with a swimming pool rout the bridge pickup wire wouldn't have reached the switch..
I had to lengthen all the wires so the wres would go down the middle rout channel..

Also with the Stone tone pickups,,not only was the pickup wired wrong..
The switch is knackered too..
it wasn't quite before but it is now..
It is intermittent between neck pickup,,or neck and middle pickup..
When you get the neck pickup the inbetween position is silent..

I am just hoping everything works with strings on..
I only done the tap test on the pickups...

So i will need a new switch..
HMMM!! THink I have one I can Salvage..
Another day though,,my head is mince..

I think I will sell my Stonetones on..
No offence against them,,they are just not what I am looking for..

I have many pickups not in use..
Time to sell them on soon I think..

prowla · May 2022

Since you're going to buy some heatshrink, you might as well buy some 22 awg hook-up wire at the same time.

LastMantra · May 2022

"I think I am going to invest in flux".

If you're planning on doing any soldering...definitely!

KevS · May 2022

prowla said:

Since you're going to buy some heatshrink, you might as well buy some 22 awg hook-up wire at the same time.

I have heatshrink....I am dead modern me like..

Although the same pickup set,,these ones don't sound quite as free and open as my other ones
I already had...A little more squashed sounding..
Don't know if they will open up a little..
I'm sure someone will say,,that's impossible,,scientifically it can't happen..Burn him..

LastMantra said:

"I think I am going to invest in flux".

If you're planning on doing any soldering...definitely!

If there was a tin of Flux that someone could recommend that would be good..

KevS · May 2022

Recommended Flux Anyone.. ..?

Funkfingers · May 2022

KevS said:

I think I am going to invest in flux.

Might as well get a capacitor to go with it.

Fire up the DeLorean!

BillDL · May 2022

Kev's flux question here:

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/228188/flux-for-soldering-dont-know-what-to-buy

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

New secondhand pickup hookup wire too short..

Comments