Where/how To Cut Wires Connecting To Pickups?

[Skit]

Im going to be painting my bass in the near future.

Most of my electronics are installed under a pickguard so there easily removed in 1 piece.

However, I have one (bridge) pickup actually mounted into the body itself.

Now Im assuming a wire will go through the body and up into the bottom of the pickup somehow.

My question is, Is there a certain place / way to take this pickup completely out?

I obviously want all the electronics back how they are currently so is there a certain way to cut the wire out so that its easier for (the pros) to re-wire up my pickup?

Thanks in advance

[Mickguard]

A lot depends on how neat you want things to be....

If you're a neat freak, you'll remove the wires from where they're soldered to the pots/switch.

If you like to go easy on yourself, here's what I do (uh, this usually makes the 'pros' cringe though): I cut the wires leaving an inch or so still attached to the pots. I cut the wires one at a time and label the ends (with a bit of masking tape and a pen) so I know exactly where everything goes when it's time to resolder.

When I resolder, I know which wires go where. I redo the solder. Then I wrap the connections with a small bit of electrical tape.

Sure it ain't pretty but it works and no one's ever going to see it anyway.

[lovekraft]

Don't cut anything! It's just as easy to simply unsolder the bridge pickup leads, and you won't have any problems with short leads later on. Idch's method may work for him, but it's totally unnecessary, especially if you're going to have a guitar tech rewire the guitar - he'll know where all that stuff goes, I promise. If you're not up to desoldering the leads yourself, get your tech to remove the electronics for you.

[Mickguard]

Don't cut anything! It's just as easy to simply unsolder the bridge pickup leads, and you won't have any problems with short leads later on. Idch's method may work for him, but it's totally unnecessary, especially if you're going to have a guitar tech rewire the guitar - he'll know where all that stuff goes, I promise. If you're not up to desoldering the leads yourself, get your tech to remove the electronics for you.

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Well, the reason I started doing it this way was because I thought there were issues with getting the pots too hot?

Since I'd never held a soldering iron before ( ) I didn't want to take chances...and then I just never thought about doing it the 'right' way...

So how about that --how much of a risk is there with getting the pot too hot? I'm willing to convert!

[lovekraft]

Oh, there's no doubt that you can fry a pot with a soldering iron - it's been conclusively proven that nothing can be made consistently foolproof if a sufficiently talented fool is available, and there are those among us who can tear up an anvil with a rubber hammer, but unless you're using a 100 watt gun or some similar implement of destruction, gently heating the solder joint just enough to get the wire loose is extremely unlikely to cause any damage. Most pot damage occurs when trying to solder a shield braid to the back of a new (or dirty) pot without cleaning and roughing the pot case first, and usually involves a soldering iron that's too big for the job in the first place. In general, if you use a 20-35 watt iron and simply press a piece of desoldering braid over the joint with the tip just until the solder flows, everything comes apart nice and easy with no overheating.

Of course, you could always avoid the problem altogether and use a ring terminal around the shaft ferrule to ground the pot cases, and use a separate terminal of some kind for your star ground point. It's too slow (and labor-intensive) for any factory to tolerate, but if you're doing it yourself and you're not on a production schedule, it works perfectly, and eliminates the danger completely.

[mailman]

i had no idea i could fry a pot from the heat

thanks for the heads up

...im surprised i havn't fried any yet....wow.....

[Skit]

Thanks guys.

I think I'll unsolder it at the pots