ansil Posted November 30, 2006 Report Posted November 30, 2006 you know i read alot of posts here when i am coming and going, between the breakins and the moving of my various places and an insane work schedule lots of things get missed which i appologize for and am rectifiying. however with all the wiring questions and pickup swapping going on i was wondering in todays modular world and with active manufactors like emg doing it why do people insist on wiring up the old fashioned way. personally i had a guitar that i was a pickup demon on but i liked the wiring setup in the guitar and it had an ultra thin cavity on it. so i wired it up the way i wanted it and put molex style plugs on everything. alittle bit of heat shrink tubing and you can swap your pickups out in no time. i am looking for a pic right now, but they make these great four pin connectors on older powersupplys for computers that were the aproximate size of a dime. hey what do you know some dead header pins heat shrink and you can put plugs on the main parts of your axe. imagine if you will a regular pot with terminals on it a plug slides on it. a five way switch that has a plug wired on it. i have played around with various methods for years and despite throwing a guitar across the room into the wall i have yet to see one shake loose. just wondering. i mean it saves so much time in the long run and still allows you to test each pickup out with minimal work. i will post some pictures later as soon as i find a camera. ed Quote
psw Posted November 30, 2006 Report Posted November 30, 2006 Plugs are great...some types even lock and will never come loose...not sure of the ones you are talking of, but for semi-permanent, almost any plugs (like headers) could be used and taped or shrink wrapped secure... I typically use sheilded cable so it might be a little tricky for a lot of stuff. I did put a plug and socket of some sort in my sustainer strat from the scratchplate to the body jack and earth wire...make it much easier to get the guard off and on to wire up...just depress the trem till strings are slack...wiggle the guard, pickups and all out, plug that in to test, then replace without fiddling around... +1 for plugs Mr A... pete Quote
lovekraft Posted November 30, 2006 Report Posted November 30, 2006 Have you found a good, cheap source for those Molex connectors? I'd use 'em in everything if they weren't so expensive and difficult to buy in small quantities. Quote
crafty Posted November 30, 2006 Report Posted November 30, 2006 (edited) For me, the most time consuming part is removing pickguards and covers to access the electronics and fishing the new wires through the guitar. I trust the solder simply because it's less likely to suffer the effects of corrosion and mechanical breakdown. Having said that, I really did love installing the EMG-SA set in my Strat. Only solder joint was the output jack and leads from the battery box. Edited November 30, 2006 by crafty Quote
Robert_the_damned Posted November 30, 2006 Report Posted November 30, 2006 my answers would be: 1) *most* guitarists never ever even open up the backplate on their guitar let alone change their pickups or anything that involves wiring so most people wouldn't have any use for connectors. 2) connectors are limiting. If you can only connect things in one way to a switch it limits you to what you can do with the switching options. 3) some guitars have tiny little holes to poke your wires through I can't emagine trying to wire up a les paul where every wire had a molex on it! just my opinion on the matter Quote
ansil Posted December 1, 2006 Author Report Posted December 1, 2006 actually a lespaul would be easy to wire, with it. keep in mind i am talking about the smallerconnectors. and once the guitar was wired the connectors would stay in place ie through the body. and the pickups would attach in the cavitys and the switch at its cavity ie etc. as far as limiting know its actually liberating. think about it for a second. 1.3 way switch wired up standard strat 1 five way heavy modded. changing a wirein setup would be easy. each plug has all of the wires so its only a matter of changing the switch. but then again i did buy a plethra of switches and pots when carvin had a blow out a few years ago. 3.99 for a five way strat style switch is great. ed once i get pics posted it will be a little clearer. however i agree lk on the supplier but i am not mass producing them i find enough in junk that i can reuse for nearly everything i own. now if i can just get some hardwood for my axe i am good to go. that or i need some inlays done, but i may have that fixed. Quote
da_free_runner Posted December 1, 2006 Report Posted December 1, 2006 ummm ahv u guys seen the EMG site?? emg do the same thing for the connections on their pickups, but they use connectors not unlike the jumpers on computer mainbaords jus thought i would say will Quote
ansil Posted December 2, 2006 Author Report Posted December 2, 2006 ummm ahv u guys seen the EMG site?? emg do the same thing for the connections on their pickups, but they use connectors not unlike the jumpers on computer mainbaords jus thought i would say will not to sound rude but yes, if you look above i mentioned them in the first post. and thats what i am talking about. putting the connector on the pickup end and having one stretched between the cavities Quote
da_free_runner Posted December 2, 2006 Report Posted December 2, 2006 haha apologies for mi noobiness, i was very tired when i read this post and i jus skimmed over it good luck wi the idea, im planning to use this on some of mi next guitars will Quote
psw Posted December 2, 2006 Report Posted December 2, 2006 Hey, Mr A...how about a link to the type of connectors your thinking of while you search for your camera... I will be doing another guitar in the future and have always liked this idea but nor really found anything that really suits me, always harder to solder to the connectors than to the components themselves... as far as limiting know its actually liberating. think about it for a second. 1.3 way switch wired up standard strat 1 five way heavy modded. I miss-read this post and thought you meant something different, but actually kind of clever... With different plugs, perhaps you could have different switching wired in and just change the plugs over, I had thought of some kind of switch system before (in the trem cavity perhaps) but this may be easier...any thoughts... pete Quote
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