swapping pups

[Funky Dunky]

Just out of curiosity, roughly what do shop techs charge to put a new pickup in a bass these days?

Since I'm punting my Sterling, I might as well beef up my trusty ol' Squier.

[LukeFRC]

more than the cost of a soldering iron....

[Funky Dunky]

Thank you, that's very helpful.

[fretmeister]

If it's an easy swap about £35 ish.

If there is routing or wiring changes, then it's more.

[edpirie]

Not sure if these prices are up to date, but I don't know a better workshop than The Bass Gallery and they are quoting from £20. Worth a call if you're anywhere near London.

[url="http://thebassgallery.com/workshop"]http://thebassgallery.com/workshop[/url]

[Funky Dunky]

Thanks fellas.

Wow, £20? Not shabby! Pity I'm in Scotland

[Matt P]

I think the soldering iron line was a nod towards how easy this job is to do yourself, the tools will cost you about the same as the job will and you'll end up with a useful skill at the same time.

there are plenty of youtube tutorials to teach you soldering, or there might be a helpful Basschat member locally who would teach you.

if you were local to me then I'd happily teach you the skills and help you swap out a pickup or two.

Matt

[Paul S]

Tbh you don't even need a soldering iron - a screw terminal block does the job, if less elegantly.

[Conan]

Have a try at doing it yourself!

For years I paid other people to do my tech work, then earlier this year I bought a soldering iron and a KiOgon wiring loom and swapped the pickups in my J&D jazz bass. I was shocked at how easy it was!

You can get a decent soldering iron for about a tenner on Amazon. And you get the lovely smell of solder too... (or maybe that's just me ).

[CamdenRob]

The Gallery are currently putting a pair of new pickups in my skinny string and they charged £20... Well £20 for the pickups bit, I'm having some more stuff done to it so that price may have been part of a deal.

But yes, being in Scotland that's pretty useless information...

Edited June 26, 2015 by CamdenRob

[Funky Dunky]

Yeah, I know I'm sorry I responded to that so bluntly, I didn't mean to be rude.

I'm genuinely terrible at stuff like that, and yes, I should learn - but if I screw up I'm snookered. I'm terrified of wiring, hence my reluctance to try it.

[Lozz196]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1435314696' post='2807542']
Tbh you don't even need a soldering iron - a screw terminal block does the job, if less elegantly.
[/quote]

Yep, or a Ki0gon wiring loom. Quality kit, makes swapping pickups a doddle.

[Funky Dunky]

Yes, John's been in touch

[Thunderbird]

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1435351767' post='2808115']
Yes, John's been in touch
[/quote] Think that is the way to go good gear well made at costs less than a tech will charge you most techs charge between 20-35 quid to put a new pup in and as said before routing will cost a pretty penny

[mikebass84]

I would go the diy route. I am not the best with a soldering iron but I've changed pups and it's pretty easy

[Jimryan]

A local shop near me charges around £40 for a 15 minute job, after that I bought a soldering iron and it lived in a drawer for ages until I forgot about it. It was only after I wanted a neck and bridge rewire with a DPDT active/passive switch included and got a quote of £90 that I remembered I had one an started doing my own wiring/soldering.

[geoham]

You're realistically looking to solder two wires to fairly large points. You don't need an overly steady hand - it's probably the easiest electronics job you can do.
If you mess it up, it's unlikely to damage more than a pot costing a a fiver at most. Have a go!

[paul_5]

I'd say have a go yourself. There's loads of diagrams available on the internet to show which wires go where - one of the most useful is this one: Basses are about half way down the page...

[url="http://www.buzzardsbass.com/electronics/wiring/diagrams.html"]http://www.buzzardsb...g/diagrams.html[/url]

There aren't any dangerous voltages or currents at play, and it's a brilliant way to dip your toe in the waters of DIY 'fettling'.

Edited August 14, 2015 by paul_5

[steve-bbb]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1435254752' post='2807061']
more than the cost of a soldering iron....
[/quote]

strip connector is your friend

[FinnDave]

I changed pick ups in my P bass yesterday, took about 10 mins (with a break to rant about the imcompent b*ggers who ship pick ups out with screws too big to fit through the pick up cases!).

[steve-bbb]

which Squier are you beefing up? if its one of the cheap and cheerful affinitys like mine, and a J to boot, then you may possibly run into an issue as on the affinitys one of the cost cutting mechanisms was to place two neck sized pickups on the guitar instead of a neck and bridge where there is about 3-4mm diffference in overall length - easily solved with the judicious application of a nicely sharpened chisel all depends on how keen/capable you are with mods - personally im happy to attack my two squiers with all manner of mods but the status and trb i would hesitate and pass complex jobs over to someone with a bit more experience in such matter

if tis a classic or vm you shouldnt really have any trouble just swapping the pickups over