How to Change Out Pickups on Fender Telecaster

[pouckis]

u can change the pickups directly from pickups wire right? i mean ithout opening anything else... if u dont want to keep the old ones...

[stlausdeo]

@pouckis I guess I don't understand the question. You could just cut the wires and use a connector to connect them i suppose. Just make sure the metal on the connector doesn't touch anything else..

[JonathanMichaelSpain]

I'm curious, why is your tele lined with a foil inside ?

[stlausdeo]

@JonathanMichaelSpain That's how many guitars are. It's for grounding. I think I explained it in the video. All guitars need to have continuity between the pickups, strings, pots, and 1/4" jack (where the ground is dissipated) to remove hum/buzz from the line.

[adrian14752]

Great video. Just wish you had a tripod

[standardtele]

where can you buy the grounding?

[stlausdeo]

@standardtele If you're talking about the wire, you only need a little. You can use any wire, but I'd use something that's twisted and not solid (like telephone wire). Most electrical wire for household electronics would have good conductive wire for this. Use something that you don't need anymore. The metallic tape can probably be found at a home improvement store or other hardware store, perhaps - and of course you need solder and a soldering iron.

[DrProgNerd]

@standardtele - I believe you're talking about the copper shielding in the cavity of his guitar. I used this on two of my strats with great results. type 'copper shielding kit' in ebay. About 20 bucks shipped. Hope this helps.

[stlausdeo]

@standardtele You don't HAVE to have the metal (copper) lining the inside of the pickup cavity. You really just need to make sure the ground is solid all the way through the potentiometers as well as through the 1/4" cable. The ground is what keeps the pickups from buzzing when the electrical current passes through everything. You could use some metal tape from a heating & air store I'm sure, or a Home Depot/Lowe's should have some. But, again, probalby not necessary.

[ravenshield56]

Hey man, it's my fist time wiring pickups, Ive got an Ibanez RG, but with the 5 way toggle, do you solder the wires opposite to the actual Knob you use to switch pickups? Its hard to get over the internet what I m thinking, sorry. I mean like, If I where to put the toggle in the neck pickup position would I wire opposite that position on the bottom of the toggle to get the right connection?

[stlausdeo]

@ravenshield56 for some reason I overlooked this post. Really all you have to do is look at the switch as you toggle it. The posts are pretty much opposite the direction of the switch as that is sort of the laws of physics. Look up some YouTube videos on it. I'm sure someone has something that explains it a bit better. If you can't figure it out, maybe I'll make one for you to explain it. Really, though, you should be able to just look at the switch and figure out how to solder it all up! :)

[ravenshield56]

@stlausdeo :D it's alright man i did it evanutally :)))

[Raptorfy]

I got it lucky - I take machining in my tech school, so I can make these pickguards all I want :D

[stlausdeo]

@Raptorfy you should make a "how to" on it.. or make some to sell on ebay or something!

[Raptorfy]

@stlausdeo Believe me, not at home unless you somehow afforded a CNC machine.

[dancingwithcalvin]

I didnt know hank hill played a tele

[stlausdeo]

@UbicuoTheOld I'm not at home at the moment and don't remember the make/model, but you can find them (as I did mine) on eBay for about $40-$50 new. You'll need to buy tips for it. You can buy tips of all sizes, so you don't want the really fine point. You want one that is about the size of a medium/small flat-head screwdriver. If you want an iron that's top notch, I'd say just look at a few consumer sites and read reviews and see what other people say about them. That's typically what I do.

[dr34mc0d3r]

very detailed - nice tutorial.

[NJDizzle1]

that looks dangerous man! thanks for the vid tho, you should put a demo up on how it sounds now i would like to hear it.. im thinking of getting some new pickups for my tele but i think id send it to a luthier to do it because i would probly ruin the guitar!! nice vids by the way some good original songs there :)

[stlausdeo]

@NJDizzle1 Oh, haha! Thanks man! Yeah I've come to realize that not ALL people are mechanically oriented! I'll try to get something up to show you how it sounds! I'm a decent guitarist but I'm not the greatest lead player so that's why I haven't put anything up. I don't want to embarrass myself too much! Tell your friends/family of my music! I'm doing a demo March 20, 2011 -- and on the pickups, I just listend to A LOT to figure out what i wanted!

[NJDizzle1]

@stlausdeo no worries dude, i subbed anyways so ill keep an eye out for your vids :)