How long would it take a decent tech...

McToot

..to swap around the humbuckers of two LP-style guitars (I ie remove both sets and swap them into the other guitar)?

I had thought it would be an hour - max, but being solder-phobic, I may be underestimating the work involved. 

octatonic

Either under an hour or just over.
If it is a regular set of humbuckers then it is two solder joins per pickup.

McToot

I think both are 4-wire buckers but not connected to any coil-splitting devices (I had one of those removed) last time

octatonic

McToot said:

I think both are 4-wire buckers but not connected to any coil-splitting devices (I had one of those removed) last time

So the split wires will be soldered and taped off.
Still a 2 solder joins per pickup proposition.
Honestly, it will take more time to get the pickups out of the guitar than desoldered.

Anyone taking more than 1-2 hours for a pickup swap is taking the mick.

ICBM

Well under an hour if the soldering iron is hot and ready to go!

p90fool

It honestly depends on what the guitars are and whether any snags are encountered on the way, such as long-legged H/Bs in shallow body routs, pickup wires having been trimmed etc. 

If it were me doing it I'd quote for worst case but say the likelihood would be more straightforward/cheaper. 

Until you dig in you really have no idea what horrors you may meet. we've all been there. 

McToot

Thanks guys. The guy I take stuff to when I'm in too much of a hurry (or in this case too busy) to trail up to our man in South Croydon charged me £70. I was expecting 40-50 though we didn't agree a price before, which is my bad. 

Never mind

ICBM

McToot said:

The guy I take stuff to when I'm in too much of a hurry (or in this case too busy) to trail up to our man in South Croydon charged me £70. I was expecting 40-50 though we didn't agree a price before, which is my bad. 

That's a bit more than I would. I agree with £40-£50 unless unexpected snags were encountered. It may depend on whether he saw it as two separate jobs or two halves of the same one.

JD50

Did you get a fresh set of strings?

McToot

JD50 said:

Did you get a fresh set of strings?

Dunno - good point. I'll check. I haven't responded to the guy yet. 

TheMarlin

Depends how busy they are. 

clarkefan

Wow 70 quid...

McToot

My bad. It states the prices quite clearly on his website. It's interesting, though his charges for other work (fret filing, levelling and polishing are competitive. 

New Pickup	Have a single new pickup fitted (parts not included).	£25
+Extra Pickup	Each additional new pickup after the first is charged at a discount rate.	+£10

ICBM

McToot said:

My bad. It states the prices quite clearly on his website. It's interesting, though his charges for other work (fret filing, levelling and polishing are competitive. 

New Pickup	Have a single new pickup fitted (parts not included).	£25
+Extra Pickup	Each additional new pickup after the first is charged at a discount rate.	+£10

So he's just charged it as two separate jobs at £35 each, which is strictly correct - but it would have been nicer to make it £25 plus £30 for three extra pickups since he'll have had to work on both guitars together if he was exchanging the pickups. But it's not easy running a guitar repair shop and making money, so it's hard to be too critical.

McToot

I agree ^^

I wasn't wanting to criticise as such. Just get more of a sense check. 

One of these days I'll get over my hatred of soldering and do it myself. Last time I did any meaningful pickup changing I ended up having to pay someone to rectify my dog-chod of a job. 

sweepy

If you factor in removing strings and refitting new ones etc and as was mentioned earlier long leg pickups in a rout for shallow legs etc, it can be more involved than it first appears

mbe

I replaced the humbuckers in a recently acquired Squire Bullet Mustang at the weekend. I did not foresee snags.

The original pickups were short-legged for the shallow body and the replacements were long-legged. Holes in the pickguard had to be enlarged for the Jackson screws which had to be shortened after fitting up the pickguard. So I had to dismantle and cut down the screws then reassemble.

I would have had to go some to complete all that plus soldering in under an hour and I'm a retired mechanical engineer.

Maynehead

I think 2 hours would be fair. You don’t really want to be rushing when working around expensive guitars with hot/sharp tools...

boogieman

McToot said:

I agree ^^

I wasn't wanting to criticise as such. Just get more of a sense check. 

One of these days I'll get over my hatred of soldering and do it myself. Last time I did any meaningful pickup changing I ended up having to pay someone to rectify my dog-chod of a job. 

Soldering really isn't difficult, it’s just a knack that you have to learn. From watching guys at work making a pig’s breakfast of it, the common error is melting the solder onto the soldering iron first, then dobbing it onto the wires or component. It never sticks properly because the wires aren’t hot enough to let the solder flow and then you end up with either a dry joint or solder dripping everywhere. 

Join the wires together or hold the wire/component in place so it doesn’t move. Apply heat with the iron first, then touch the solder to the joint. Wait till the solder runs then remove the iron. Simples. It doesn’t take long for the heat from the iron to get into the joint, so don’t leave the iron on too long, but you soon get a feel for what works. 

mbe

boogieman said:

McToot said:

I agree ^^

I wasn't wanting to criticise as such. Just get more of a sense check. 

One of these days I'll get over my hatred of soldering and do it myself. Last time I did any meaningful pickup changing I ended up having to pay someone to rectify my dog-chod of a job. 

Soldering really isn't difficult, it’s just a knack that you have to learn. From watching guys at work making a pig’s breakfast of it, the common error is melting the solder onto the soldering iron first, then dobbing it onto the wires or component. It never sticks properly because the wires aren’t hot enough to let the solder flow and then you end up with either a dry joint or solder dripping everywhere. 

Join the wires together or hold the wire/component in place so it doesn’t move. Apply heat with the iron first, then touch the solder to the joint. Wait till the solder runs then remove the iron. Simples. It doesn’t take long for the heat from the iron to get into the joint, so don’t leave the iron on too long, but you soon get a feel for what works. 

There does need to be a little solder on the Iron tip to aid heat transfer so the wire or component leg will come up to temperature more quickly.

Branshen

The last time I changed a pickup, I avoided the cost of a tech by doing it myself!

Today, I avoid the cost of a tech to rectify my non-functioning bridge pickup by not using my bridge pickup!