Post Type Archives: SWD

A friend of mine had the same problem and the first thing I did was to remove the metal claw that’s around each pickup. When I removed it you could really hear the difference. The pickups are wound hotter than the traditional Stratocaster so you can get a pretty neat sound out of them. The…

No matter what old pickups you have and if you don’t like the sound, always try and keep the pickup original. I would try find a source to get another pickup that may be broken but could be wound to the sound you are looking for. A good pickup builder usually has supplies to make…

Removing the pickup covers would be difficult and the coils will be inconsistently covered with epoxy. Using a vacuum system will void air pockets inside the pickup and allow the epoxy to seep better into the cavity. If this isn’t done the pickup will have an undesirable look and you can’t do too many things…

There are several fun things you can do to your pickups. You can change the length of your height adjust screws in your traditional style humbucker. The original screws are 5/40 Fillister head machine screws. They are 3/4″ long. if you use 1/2″ long screws the sound will be a little brighter. You could use…

There are several differences as compared to a stock Telecaster. The bottom plate on the lap steel are rectangular and are .062″ thick and the pole pieces have slightly different spacing. When I make the modifications the standard Telecaster bottom plate is .093″ thick which I can’t use. I punch out a blank Telecaster bottom…

I contacted the RIT Dye company and they gave me information on many colors available and we worked out the following dyeing procedures. Although RIT Dye is manufactured and guaranteed primarily for the tinting and dyeing of textile fabrics, it is also effective for coloring many other things, including many types of vinyl plastics. Light…

You can change the pole pieces as long as they are a ferrous material (conduct a magnetic field). Do not use brass or non-ferrous stainless steel screws unless you want less output from the strings. Try keeping the same thread and diameter of the screw so you don’t damage your bobbin. The stud side of…

I’ve found the easiest way to convert your standard humbucker to a single coil sound (if you don’t have any coil splitting switches) is to remove one row of adjustable poles in your pickup. By removing the adjustable poles you are using only the stud side of a typical humbucker. You actually have a stronger…

During the summer of 1967 I was hanging out at night club in New York City called the Steve Paul Scene. There I was watching a guitarist by the name of Glen Schwartz who was playing with his group “The James Gang” before Joe Walsh Joined the band. Glen later joined the group “Pacific Gas…

When buying new screws at hardware stores you have to check what you are buying. It seems the screws you bought might be plated like your old ones but the actual screw could be made of brass (non-magnetic) or stainless steel (most grades are non-magnetic). I often build pickups with dummy poles made of brass…