How to remove a humbucker pickup cover (Our Method!)
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- Quick video detailing our method on removing a humbucker pickup cover. This video features several tips and tricks and our main recommended method to get your cover off. Great for a cover change, or to go with the exposed bobbin look.
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Oh, well the zebra was a nice little surprise..
Cool, i opened up a 70s Humbucker due to the coil wire sticking out of the gap between plate and cover (possibly grounding out) and the slug coil came out, the screw-poles side stayed in (due to the screws clamping it to the cover. Surprise !) I taped the connection and repositioned it better. It was a 2 wire pu, but now I know how to coil split it later if I want. So early examples may be separate bobbins (from a '75-ish Univox es-175 copy). 😊
very nice! sometimes you just have to open things up to see whats inside! eventually it became a business for us haha!
Thanks, I found some nice pickups under the 16yr old covers... loads of wax, the pickups were completely covered but looks and sounds awesome now. thanks again!
Good to hear! Some if them are really caked with wax and when cleaned off, they can really open up
PorterPickups it sure has cleared it up, raised the pickups slightly too. Its an epiphone black beauty.
my epiphone pickups was drowning in wax.. any tips to start removing it?
Appreciate the video. The razor knife separating the solder joint was all I needed to see. Thanks!
Using a solder sucker seems the most reasonable way.
you0nlylivetwice or wick
@@liljuanito123I came to say this. It is def the best way.
My first instinct would be to set some solder wick over the joint, touch the iron to the wick. The wick should suck the solder from the joint quickly and cleanly. Solder, in it's melted form, is attracted to the heat, so it will cling to the wick. If you are worried about the wax, just use quick momentary contact, and repeat until the solder is completely gone.
That's what you would use when you need to remove solder from a connector and have it be almost as good as new.
that works for some of the joints for sure, sometimes there's some that gets down on the inside edge of the baseplate so it can be helpful to have a few different approaches depending on what you run into.
excellent video! Easy to follow and understand and good camera work.
WOW that was so easy, the video I needed. Thank you!
Thanks buddy. Very helpful. I have a Duesenberg Starplayer TV Phonic and the noisy P90 is driving me crazy
a few times I heated a table knife or steak knife on the stove burner (while holding it with an oven mitt) until it's hot orange and then slipped it in the solder cavity. Works like a charm but don't get burnt!
yikes! seems like that could go wrong a number of ways! haha
A valuable and helpful tip - thanks.
For the hefty solder job use a big utility knife or a high wattage soldering iron/gun & a razor blade .
You should never use A soldiering gun near the electronic of the guitar.
i melted my pickup trying to do this, the solder wouldnt come off and the bobbins all disintegrated like plastic, the whole pickup felt red hot all around and i broke them output is low fuck
resorted to cutting through the solder with an angle grinder that worked though, lost a 498T though
some bobbins are going to have trouble with heat for sure. We've seen solder joints that are pretty trough to get through and that might be time for a small saw or something like you tried. Sorry to hear about the pickup.
thanks.know i figure it out of how my custom shop sounds cheap
I've heard that the exposed bobbin look came about because earlier artists thought the guitar sounded better with no covers; what is your experience? Do you notice any difference in sound with the cover off?
a small more open/airy sound slightly cleaner but its not super drastic
The history on that was Leo Clarence Fender believed the Metal (causing a Faraday cage) would attenuate Icepick spikes in Neck Position of Telecasters. Even utilized some metal called German Silver which would allow soldering top to base. Apparently PAF's Seth Lover (over at Gibson) was on the same program for some sonic enhancement.
use a solderpump to remove the solder after heating
it can work in some cases and for others it's down in the seam and need this method.
Thanks! Once the cover is removed, any advise for removing excess wax on top of the pickup without melting the wax over the coils?
you can try just light scraping off with something that won't scratch the coils, like a old credit card or something!
@@PorterPickupsor a guitar pick
It's faster and easier to just take a single edge razor blade and lightly tap it with a hammer to cut though the solder. Works every time without a problem.
also a good method! we use a rigid razor in the shop all the time
Do i have to disconnect the humbucker from the actual guitar first? Because i’d rather not if i can help it.
you don't have to, just make sure you protect the guitar, and the heat can cause issues with parts
Thank you for this. Do you suggest reapplying wax before putting on a new cover, or would whatever wax is on there be enough? i.e., simply swap one cover for the other, and you're set?
Ideally, re-waxing is a good idea to make sure any voids have something in them. If it's one of those humbuckers thats really caked in wax, you might be ok. If you do wax pot, install the new cover first, soak in paraffin wax for about 10-13 mins. Let it dry upside down on some wax paper, frequently cleaning off excess that spills out with a paper towel, but always keep the humbucker facing down.
desoldering braid is a beautiful thing.
Julian Wells it is! Sometimes the solder gets down in the edges, so the blade can help. Otherwise the braid is an excellent method!
Dumb question, but does this affect the tone or something within the pickup sound?
not a bad question at all. Some say it sounds more open or more high end. We feel it's subtle but a lot depends on how the pickup is wound underneath.
A question about adding covers to pickups with no covers . Let's say the pickup I buy is already wax potted , when adding cover on it do I need to put anything else on the pickup before placing the covers?
+Koki Zuniga Make sure the string spacing is right and that you can attach the cover with solder (You might need to scratch the inside of the cover's plating near the baseplate to get a good connection). you'll need to raise the pole prices a bit, and depending on how potted the pickup is, you might need some new wax to prevent extra noise with the new cover.
I have Seymore Duncan's JB6 and SH2 jazz on mine. Will it have that cool zebra covers? That's the look I want.
Dave Saenz we are not sure what’s under the cover on other brands, it usually varies. Contact us if you’d like us to build a zebra set
Do you have to use pickup tape to go around humbuckers or is electrical tape ok?
+Sean Antley Electrical tape is fine, pickup tape is nice since it's already correctly sized!
Pretty detailed and educational. So, the other way around, besides the soldering part, would just be cooking the covered pickup in beeswax and paraffin?
+ArcaneStrawman You'll want to wax it after the process to keep down on the noise
with the humbucker facing down i suppose?
+ArcaneStrawman yep!
Ok so Ive just done this and it seems my bridge pickup no longer works properly. The sound is very "thin" and there is almost no resonance i.e the strings do not ring for very long only about 2 seconds. The neck pickup is absolutely fine just the bridge isnt working.
Sounds like there was some potential damage to the coil.
@@PorterPickups What would cause that though? I didnt press hard at all when removing the solder with a knife.
@@techgamer1597 it's hard to say, sometimes even some solder joints get cold when things shift around with the wax heating up. We always run into a couple mysteries a year even after building a lot it pickups. You can check the pickups with a multimeter and see that they are reading
Are Gibson PAF's typically wax potted as well?
Some of them are i think it really depends!
Does this work with EMGs too?
Flying V idk
I have a huge problem, my solder mass just won't melt. What do I do?
you may need to get a higher wattage iron, or get a smaller/thin saw blade to cut through it. Sometimes a larger box knife can work, just be careful lining it up to cut through the solder
It can seem strange, but sometimes it helps to add new solder to help melt the old solder.
Can you remove a cover from one pickup and put it on a new one ?
Yes as long as you make sure you know the string spacing of the poles. Ideally you will want to wax pot it as well, but it’s optional.
Thanks Ryan. Love to Kelly
Do i have to disassemble the pickup before doing this or does it really matter?
if you just want to remove the cover, the pickup can stay in tact without any disassembly. When you are removing it, you just need to be careful you don't puncture the side of the coils underneath.
I hope my burstbuckers pro aren't zebra, I got this Les Paul custom from another person, so I don't know 😅
sometimes its hard to know whats underneath!
Would it work to heat up a diffrent knife with a lighter ( Down own a "iron")
It would be good to have to be a thin blade, we often use a box knife as well with no heat.
I own a set of pickups with cover and split coil can those pickups be witout splitcoil
@@jonatanblundguitarchannel6857 they can wired to stay full humbucker if you just leave the coil finish wires soldered together.
Thank you!
thanks a lot for the video🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
happy to help!
what about plastic covers? (emg)
many of those have epoxy attached covers so they aren't coming off anytime soon :)
Allrighty! thanks dude. Now where do I get an "iron"?
We highly recommend the hakko fx 888d. It’s a little more cost wise, but if you plan to do a lot of soldering it’s well worth it for quality and adjustable heat levels.
@@PorterPickups Any tips on heat/temp to do this? I'm new to soldering, my covers have gigantic blobs of factory solder I turned mine up to 750F and still couldn't really get the blobs to fully liquify - I must be doing something wrong lol 🧐
@@jarcidiacono1 we often use a box knife and you can do it with little to no heat even if it’s a sturdy one
@@PorterPickups Appreciate the response, I’m really just wondering though what temperature you guys are using on the soldering iron?
@@jarcidiacono1 at least 600, and some we run higher on the production stuff. The a larger pools of solder some times need to be cut vs trying to get it all to melt
perfect, thanks!
Everything went well till I finally set the pickup. Now, my pickup output is extremely low. What to do? Did I damaged my pickup? Pickup was heavily waxed so I used a blunt screwdriver to remove it. And taped it with a electrical tape. What did I miss?
I removed the cover because bobbins looked cool. Help. Bro.
hard to say what may have happened. Do you have a multimeter? you can check the pickup resistance and see if anything has changed.
maybe you got the magnatic parts too hot for too long and they lost magnetic strength?
same thing happened to me
Thank you bro!
I have a pair of DeArmond humbucker that I love to death and are the best set of humbucker pups I played. I do want to change the cover, but the bottom is covered in wax. Like almost half an inch of wax. Is it possible to change the cover or should I just leave it?
theArchive1O It may be possible to change the cover if you know the string spacing and can find a direct replacement. If its a more non-traditional type or measurements on the cover, you may find limited options out there for a new one. Feel free to email us at info@porterpickups.com and we can guide you through a few things to check before you go digging!
Thanks for the feed back!
Well made video thanks
thanks!
If my pickups have plastic cases, can I put on metal covers ???..
+Saúl Espinoza you can if you know the string spacing for the holes and dimensions of the pickups to make sure replacement metal ones will fit
Thanks a lot !!!... You guys rule !!!...
so satisfying video
Here's a dumb question. I removed the nickel covers on my Epiphone hoping for cream bobbins to match the rings and bindings. Turns out they are black. Is there a thin veneer or cover you can use over the black to change the color? Sort of like the plastic covers for Strat style single coils, but just the face. Something tells me though, that in order to get cream pickups, I'm going to have to buy cream pickups.
HOLY MACKERAL
Buying cream pickups is your best bet. You can buy some cream colored vinyl wrap and do it that way. You can get good coverage with the wrap if you use a cigarette lighters to lightly hit the edges the shape the contours. A heat gun is best. But not everyone has those laying around. But hobby lobby, michaels, or eBay. Should be able to find cream or bone wrap. Just gonna be some work exposing the bobbins. Better be crafty with an x-acto knife or have a hole punch and hope it’s the right size. It’ll still play fully covered. But won’t look all the great. Or maybe it will? But new pickups can be found at a reasonable price if you’re not feeling it. I think they might even sell colored decals for pickups. Good luck
you can do some type of insert over them possibly!
Someone should make them. Find a need and fill it. Huh?
@@holymackeral456 yeah, we do some pickguard and wood inserts over our pickups with an open top ring. it looks pretty sweet!
@@holymackeral456 get a 3D printer or find someone online who you can pay to print them and send them to you
very helpful
I just removed my covers and noticed a hum, do I need to ground the base plate?
a wire from the hookup wire should be connected to the baseplate. There could be something else going on there, but it's hard to tell.
so when I broke the solder from the cover and plate should I have ground the pickup baseplate
The hookup wire should be connected to the baseplate for the ground. You can see if thats the case by looking under the bobbins, or gently unscrewing the coil. The solder to the cover is on;y to connect it with the baseplate and hold it in place.
What i'd like to know is having taken the cover off, what is the best way to clean all the wax off the pickup itself, as i have done this and it is all over the pickup ie the sides and on top?
Brian Holden we use paper towels for that, Making sure they are nice quality so they won’t scratch anything. I Deleigh you can remove that when the wax is warm
I used paper towel and a Q tip to get around the poles.
How do you remove a cover where the humbucker is glued to the cover with epoxy? Some vintage guitars are not waxed only drenched in epoxy
that may be a bigger challenge there. not sure other than a small saw, but even still you may not have luck!
Actually in case like this you can just cut the solder with blade.. why botherng with iron..
that also works well!
Use the sharp end of a 5 in 1 putty knife. One easy hit with a hammer and the solder joint is cleanly broken. It takes about 2 seconds.
havne't tried that, as long as you have some padding and don't cause any other damage with bad coordination (That would be our luck) ha!
That's standard way that all the pros have been doing it. Generally done with a new blade for a utility knife.
can u do this without taking off the pickups for the guitar?
it depends on if your wiring has enough slack to get safely out of the way. It's not the ideal way, just to protect the guitar finish it's usually good to un solder and work on it away from the guitar!
do we need to rewax?what type of wax?paraffin?
ideally you should re-wax if you're keeping a metal cover, but if you are just removing it, you shouldn't need to re-wax. Just paraffin is fine!
@@PorterPickups Ok thanks..replacing a pair worn out 1998 paf gold covers.
Does this affect tone? Covered vs uncovered
we find the uncovered is a little more open/airy sounding but it's not a huge difference. Less wax is generally good in our opinion, sort of the best of both worlds.
I just recently took the cover off of my guitar, there is an excess of wax residue on the outside, the humbucker has so much wax all over it. Is there a way of removing the wax without damaging the plastic on the pickup, the pole pieces, and the magnets?
+Guitars 77 some pickups are VERY heavily coated in wax. It's possible to re-melt it in new wax to get most of it off, but that will still require clean up. It's maybe a longer process that way, but easier to get the heavy wax removed. Otherwise it's just chipping away gently with some non sharp tools/rags but that is very time consuming!
+PorterPickups Thanks so much. :)
***** I used musical notation and created wax paper... I forgot the paper towels when i did this... it was messy.
I hope mine are zebras 😃
were they?
Thank you Sir🇺🇸🎸🤘🏼⚡️⚡️
Idiot I am.
Always figured that they could just be screwed on and off 😂
that would be nice in some ways!
wtf my pickup was full of wax
many of them are vacuum potted with wax which fills them completely. It's amazing how much can be in there sometimes!
fucking wax man.. mine was drowned in a sea of red wax and after fighting a little I just gave up afraid of braking a wire or something.
sounds like a mess. wonder why it was red? we've also seen some that were absolutely stuffed with wax. it gets a little crazy!