# How much $$$ for Pickup swap at guitar center???



## ProgShredder73 (Oct 8, 2011)

im thinking about buying an ibanez RG1527 prestige, but i know the stock pickups are lacking. im thinking Dimarzio D-Activators, but ive never changed pickups before, and i would definitely want a tech to do it for me. anybody know how much they charge? they are passives, just to clear that up, because i know passives are cheaper than actives. thanks


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## Michael T (Oct 8, 2011)

It's super easy to do yourself. Save tons of money in the longrun also. 
You can pull up the DiMarzio/Ibanez wiring diagrams online and just follow them. 
I'm sure there are some instructional videos on YouTube. 

THIS IS SOMETHING EVERY GUITARIST NEEDS TO KNOW  

.......and it saves you money for more gear 

Practice makes perfect, and personally I find it enjoyable to do, it is a skill that will allow you to experiment with all kinds of wiring options.


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## MistaSnowman (Oct 8, 2011)

In Chicago, GC charges $45 as long as the swap does not require routing (in your case it wouldn't). GC's in Seattle could differ in price.


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## mountainjam (Oct 8, 2011)

You could have called gc and asked them in the amount of time it took to post your thread. Just saying...


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## ProgShredder73 (Oct 8, 2011)

Michael T said:


> It's super easy to do yourself. Save tons of money in the longrun also.
> You can pull up the DiMarzio/Ibanez wiring diagrams online and just follow them.
> I'm sure there are some instructional videos on YouTube.
> 
> ...


 

i might, its just im no good with a soldering iron, and frankly i dont know anyone who is. which is understandable because im only 14 haha.

and this will be my first 7 string -- theres nothing i dread more than fucking it up.


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## AySay (Oct 8, 2011)

Man when I was 14 I was getting them to replace single broken strings for me. 
In time you'll learn to do this stuff on your own, but since it's the first time, and the first 7 just take it in to GC.


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## ProgShredder73 (Oct 8, 2011)

AySay said:


> Man when I was 14 I was getting them to replace single broken strings for me.
> In time you'll learn to do this stuff on your own, but since it's the first time, and the first 7 just take it in to GC.


 
thats what i was thinking  and then maybe later ill figure out how to swap the pickups on my 6. then ill be able to from there.


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## Michael T (Oct 8, 2011)

While there ask the Tech if you can watch while he does it. You can learn a lot from watching people. also since your still in school I'm sure there is a vocational class you can take that teaches some of these skills. 
I taught myself through trial & error, now I'm the go to guy for wiring and such. Don't feel bad I've got buddies in their 30s that cannot wire/setup a guitar


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## Jzbass25 (Oct 8, 2011)

AySay said:


> Man when I was 14 I was getting them to replace single broken strings for me.
> In time you'll learn to do this stuff on your own, but since it's the first time, and the first 7 just take it in to GC.



Haha! That's pretty funny, but I sort of agree to learn how to solder. At 14 I was soldering friends' xboxes to mod them =P. I think I JUST started playing guitar at 14 and didn't know or care about swapping pickups though, but it is easier than a pcb board since it isn't as easy to break the thing lol


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## ZXIIIT (Oct 8, 2011)

Way too much.

Buy yourself a low wattage soldering gun and practice on old circuit boards or electronics.

I used to be like you, paying for setups and pickup changes, but once I saw how easy it was, I started to do it myself on a Squier Strat, looked up training videos and read up on the subject.

Just because you're 14 is not an excuse for not trying, trust me, once you know, people will come to you for help and you will save money in the long run with your guitars.

I'm no pro at it, but I have replaced a lot of pickups on my guitars and for friends, not to mention the fact that soldering skills can be applied to many things like fixing cell phone chargers, gaming controllers, automobile circuitry and mask making (well in my case...)


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## Thep (Oct 8, 2011)

There are probably tons of how-to videos on youtube about it. 

Its not hard, but does take practice. Your first job will almost certainly like shit, and you'll be tearing your hair out figuring out why its not working, but you'll get it eventually, and learn in the process!

And like the post above me, soldering is a very useful skill to have. You can make and repair your own cables for cheap!


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## ProgShredder73 (Oct 9, 2011)

ZOMB13 said:


> Way too much.
> 
> Buy yourself a low wattage soldering gun and practice on old circuit boards or electronics.
> 
> ...


 

thats actually a really good idea, using such a cheap guitar to practice on. i have an epi les paul in my garage, maybe ill give it a shot


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## Xherion (Oct 12, 2011)

I felt I should also add a few pointers should you decide to soldier the pickups yourself.

1. Before you even take out the existing pickups, take pictures of the existing electronics cavity. Make sure that whatever you do, diagram out exactly which wires go where. This will be your saving grace should you not know where a wire goes after you desoldier a few wires.

2. If you're changing the output jack (which you wouldn't be since you're not going to actives), make sure you note where the hot wire attaches to the output sleeve. I realized this after I already desolidered my Ibanez barrel jack and was going nuts over trying to figure out why I got no output.

3. Buy a soldier wick. Nothing is more annoying than having old globs of soldier on your pots and leads.

4. Take note of how the existing switch is wired. For reasons beyond me, every wiring diagram seemed to have diagrams of a switch that I've never seen that has strange lead configurations. This is especially important in blade switches.


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## Sephael (Oct 13, 2011)

masking tape flags on each wire are not a bad idea the first time either, label each wire as to where it goes before you remove a single one.


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## GhostsofAcid (Oct 14, 2011)

Xherion said:


> 1. Before you even take out the existing pickups, take pictures of the existing electronics cavity.



This 1000x over. Take several pictures from different angles so you know where every connection was.

Be careful where you hold the iron as well, it's easy to accidentally hold it against a wire and burn through the insulation.

Soldering/guitar setups aren't super complicated, it just takes curiosity and a willingness to learn. I taught myself this stuff from reading online guides and I slowly gained a reputation as a "tech" among the musicians I know, which is a good way to make a few bucks.


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## DanielVE (Oct 14, 2011)

Michael T said:


> It's super easy to do yourself. Save tons of money in the longrun also.
> You can pull up the DiMarzio/Ibanez wiring diagrams online and just follow them.
> I'm sure there are some instructional videos on YouTube.
> 
> ...



totally agree, best thing i ever did was to learn how to change pups myself. Not only you save tons of money, but you can experiment with a lot of pups on different guitars (before i would not experiment because every pup swap was like 50 bucks).

To the op, buy a soldering iron, is pretty cheap, and wach this video and the other 2 from this guy, that's how i learned, its a pretty good video.

Les Paul Pickup Swap pt 1 (introduction and soldering tutorial) - YouTube


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## MobiusR (Oct 14, 2011)

i learned to solder when i was 12 or 13. I bought my first pickup (Lil 59) for my shit shitty guitar that i had. But after that i pretty much was curious and started doing other cool jobs for my guitars. Im 16 now btw and everyone on my facebook comes to me and asks me a question weither its about the simplest switch to the most complex one.

Just look at some youtube videos. Then when you switch pickups just do it with the diagram around then poke and switch . Not to mention doing your own jobs weither its a pedal cap switch or whatever i feel that DIY jobs is the best thing a person can learn cause now i make my own shit or w-e.


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