[Leon]

hello, and welcome to another Leon Picstory.

today, i'll be rewiring Chris>Ken>Leon's RG7620 with an Evo7 and Blaze Neck pickups, with a pair of
push/pull pots, with a Telecaster style 3-way blade switch. joy!



first, let's make sure we have everything we need.



well lit workspace, soldering iron, tools, and other shit i'll probably need.



handy stripper/cutting tool from RadioShack, push/pull pots, 3-way switch, new pickups,
new knobs, and a multitool.



dig it!



boo New7's!!



a dual-wattage soldering iron (switchable between 20w and 40w, 20w is sufficient, and
good for beginners), with cleaning sponge. the sponge is key to getting quick heat to your
contacts. a dirty tip can't quickly conduct heat, so rather, it will slowly heat everything,
instead of quickly heating your contact for soldering. also, a thin rosin core solder is nice,
and makes clean connections. de-soldering braid is very nice for cleaning up contacts
that you plan on using again.



the Colonel watches over us all.



...and now, the patient. ready to rock? ha!



what's this? an electronics cavity without clutter? we'll fix that!



call me crazy, call me weird, call me OCD, but i like to keep each screw separated, so
that i know exactly which screw went in which hole.



removing the strings, tremolo, and knobs is fairly easy.



i'll use the de-soldering braid to remove the old contacts. i won't be using these old parts,
unless i get a fun project in the future, but anyways, it's just good practice. the way to
use this stuff is to put a length of clean braid on the connection you want to clean, then put your cleaned soldering iron tip ontop of the braid. once the heat transfers through the
braid and into the solder on the connection, the solder will melt, and will be drawn right
into the braid (this process is actually called "whetting").



bye bye New7's!



bye bye boring regular stuff!



now, time to consult the plans. i drew these up for the rewiring of my RG7621, and since
i'm using all the same parts and same plan, i'm reusing this.



here's the new electronics.



one pushed, one pulled.



when pushed, the bottom left two (fuzzy) contacts are connected, as are the bottom right
two. when pulled, it's the top pair that are connected. that's the essence of this switch.

...and, spooky enough, it seems my plan for the switches is clear as day in the
background. you can see the connection that connects the bottom two pins. this is a
jumper, and it connects the bottom pairs of contacts.



and here's the switch.



and the push/pull (getting camera happy about this time, i think).



this thing just...



...plain...



...rocks.



they look good! and, they look EXACTLY the same. i almost put them in backwards, if it
were not for rechecking the labels on the bottoms



Mr RadioShack Tool makes short work of these guys.



ok, back to the plans...



contemplate on the last time you did this. ask yourself, "do i really NEED to go through this again?"

say, "yes," and continue.



cut some connection wire. i did a LOT of this.



...and, one pain-in-the-ass switch is done! note the rubber-banded multitool, holding the
switch. it's handy to have something heavier than that which you are soldering to help
hold things still.



ha! got them both hooked up. now, on to the switch... but wait?



i look at it, and check out the contacts... it's different than the one from my RG7621!



a closer inspection of the diagram, looking at what worked last time, reveals that it is
indeed different. just backwards, i can handle that, and did



i kept the original jack, and just put in some new wire. the original braided wire is cool,
but the wire i'm using here is a bit thicker, which means less resistance.



wiring up the top part of the push/pull for Tone control.



...and, hooking them up together. and, time to put them through the holes, and on to the switch....



but wait... these don't fit through the holes. recontemplate why you're doing this. agree
to continue. decide course of action.



yep. the new push/pull's have a slightly larger diameter than the old pots.



FUCK.



come on, Henry, let's go.



to Meijer!



they should have a fresh circular file for widening the holes.



what's this? hammers for hippies?



FUCK. all too big.



but wait! score!



alright motherfucker. time to fit. now.



...and with some minimal removal of wood, they fit.



dig it!



they go in, as does the switch. now, to connect the switch to the pots, connect the pots
to the output, then connect ALL THE DAMN GROUNDS. that part is never my favorite.



hooked up... plugged into 15w practice amp... about to tap screw driver onto poles to
make sure it works....



* Leon grinds his teeth.



* Leon creates suspense.



* Leon hears a pop.



* Leon rejoices.



time to oil/clean the fretboard, then go to bed.



the next morning, today, i decided to give my camera a break from the guitar to take an
almost direct-into-the-sun picture of some ice hanging from our roof, just outside the
kitchen window.



now, on to cleaning/lubing the trem.



i used a sponge to remove some of the dirt and whatnot collected on the knife edges.



Ultra Slick with PTFE FTW.



when restringing, i like to use an old pack of strings to hold up the trem.







for sake of completeness, here's how i string up my axes. string it through the hole, then
on the first pass, push the excess UNDER the string.



on the second passing, make sure the incoming string goes under that first bend.



that x7, plus re-attaching the retainer bar.



and, i'm string-stretching and a set-up away from rocking out.



Big pics:

http://www.wildealien.com/ssorg_media/IM002854.JPG

http://www.wildealien.com/ssorg_media/IM002855.JPG

[The Dark Wolf]

Awesome, dude. Those white pickups and white knobs look tasty.

I like the white lead wires for connecting everything. Tidy.

[Stitch]

Awesome.

Dude, that was excellent!

[Seedawakener]

You socketed the RG7620 of Doom and put runes in it! It is now more ultimatzorz than ever! if that is even possible.




Nerd...

[djpharoah]

Positively awesome

[OzzyC]

That was awesome

[Hexer]

looking great!!!

and really cool picstory!!!

[metalfiend666]

Awesome picstory Leon!

[Regor]

Great picstory Leon! Shoulda dyed the fretboard while you were at it

My only ? is what do the push/pull pots do? Coil tapping?

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

YES, DO EXPLAIN THE CONTROL LAYOUT & FUNCTION OF EACH SETTING.
THANK YOU PLEASE