Official Luthiers Forum!

I bought neck and bridge vintage wound Strat pickups from GFS to use in a Tele body.
The wires are too short to reach the control plate. The pickups have two discrete wires.
Can I snip the wires near the pickup and solder them to a shielded cable, or is it best to solder discrete wires to lengthen them?
Thanks,
Dan

_________________
wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Thanks Chris!

_________________
wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Das too much soldering arround...just get ?admas Special Handy Dandy Wire Stretcher.

20 bucks, in an envelop C/o dis here web site.
and Lance will send it right on out to you.

_________________
.

Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


.

Thanks Padma!
Do you take wooden nickels?

_________________
wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Ouch. Was that really necessary?

that 43-44 gauge pickup wire is fine as a hair, and equally easy to break....i'd be inclined to leave the bobbin contacts alone, and splice further on down the line. if you break the bobbin wire, the pickup is toast, until you unwind a loop or two, scrape the laquer off the wire with fine sandpaper, and manage to resolder....but i'm not sure what you mean by discrete wire. coax?

maybe not necessary, but apropos.
...nor am i innocent myself; those who continually act the fool/are combative/demeaning/or just plain full of $hi7 deserve a smackdown from time to time

_________________
.

Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


.

i've encountered people who have been doing things for 20-30 years, and yet they still do a mediocre job, and can't even answer basic questions about the "why" and "what" about their produce. experience(and age) are not default worship cues, in my book- not all old people are wise, i assure you. not all of the young are stupid, either.

.

Show pics or shut up.

_________________
.

Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


.

Hey Padma, just some advice which you can take for what it's worth......if you want people to take you serious as a craftsman and a mentor, you may want to consider improving your communication skills.......it's hard to take anything serious when it's communicated in a way that shows the presenter to be of the same mental and verbal skill level as the cookie monster from sesame street. I mean no offense, but that's an honest observation from someone who does not really know you.....that is how you appear to a lot of us, just a buffoon here for comic relief and not to be taken seriously......JS.

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

I agree. If one can't rewind pickups or not prepared to replace them it's best to stay away from the eyelets/bobbin wires.

Those GFS pickups are pretty shoddily made. I'd splice some wires first before messing with the bobbin.

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!

The wraps on the eyelets don't mean a thing. They are there to help keep the wire taut while making them. One is still dealing with a single wire at the eyelets.

If the lead wire is damaged one has a shot at soldering more coil wire to it, if they have some, and if it doesn't get broke off at the coil-your sure not going to get more lead wire than whats exposed.
If the end lead breaks then it may be possible to unwrap some...if it's been potted then more trouble to deal with...

Just not worth the risk if one isn't prepared to rewind or replace the pups. Those that want to push their luck...go for it.

.
Pre-emptor Normaly me respond to this type of comment in PM. However since it was posted in open forum, me responding in kind.






Yo Brian dude,

me choice of verbage be me choice... so me ask, who the $HIT are you to pass judgment on me communication skills and offer me advise on my being? Hmmm? You god or sumpthin?


Non the less, regarding me Englishes....did you know that the late grate u s of de a don't gotts no official legal language? Thats right. Perhaps maybe thats why they hazzing so much problem communicatin with the rest of the world. Me, well me country gots 2 official languages and me is quite fluent in both plus a few others.

Ya comic relief, right on Brian....you gets it...give the man a ceegar.

Unfortunately you not yet be a member of dis here forum when ?adma joined and right up front in me very first thread, declared me intent, purposed and methodology of posting me communications with the brotheren. Sorry you missed that thread.

Listen up dude...your highly regarded on forum as a very knowledgeable builder...even learned a thing or two meself reading yer posts.

Now you and me both know, well maybe you don't know, but all of me build threads have off the wall views or hits...not to shabby for someone who be not taken seriously eh. And yours? Right!

Seems its getting time for Padma to post another build thread. See Brain, when ever me hazzent posted for a while me starts getting love PMs from me followers, and hate mail from the newbee members who don't know shift from putty, and then there is the unsolicited, self invited, "holier than thou arn't" type messages that start like yours did with "just some advice " But at least they have the courtesy to insert the word 'friendly'.

Brian, your a highly respected and very knowledgeable builder in me eyes. Me friendly suggestion to you is really simple ~ mind your own buisness, unless of course, we is talking about loofering, then me would be most interested in reading what you be laying down.


blessings
?adma

_________________
.

Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


.

The problem isn't really the wire in this case, it's the plastic GFS bobbin that melts really easily unless you have a pointed solder tip at the right temp.
Easy enough to do if you've done a few or want to experiment and don't mind buying a few pickups, but it sounds like the guy bought a used GFS to save money an simply wants to lengthen the wires.

The least risky and most reliable way would be to simply splice the wires longer where they're at, which is really what his question was.

Frankly it's NOT controversial!

And Padma's builds are usually the most interesting ones on here!

I've thought many times about posting ANOTHER carved-top set-neck wooden-binding solid body electric to add to the multitudes of existing builds here and on other forums, but frankly, as flawless and nice as my execution is, it wouldn't really add anything that other luthiers haven't already re-made and reposted as if they were the first ones to ever do it before.

When I'm doing stuff truly as artistic and requiring of extra-super luthier skills as Duh Padma, THEN I'll start denigrating and insulting other luthiers who have done nothing more than post an off the wall comment on a simple topic.

If all I'm doing is posting builds and instructional videos of something that's already been done a hundred times before me, then I'll try to be polite and ignore people that annoy me.

Really, how small is it if you have to whip out and wave it around on THIS topic?

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!

Yes, the bobbins are plastic - looks like molded styrene.
I'm not sure I can re-solder wires without melting the bobbin.
The pickups are new - I'm putting them into a Tele body and the wires are too short to reach the control plate.
My question should have been more specific:
I want to splice a shielded cable rather than splice single wires.
Will this adversely affect the pickup performance?
I have minimal experience using single-coils.
Sorry for the confusion,
Dan

_________________
wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

The shielded wire will have minimal, if any effect, reducing noise, which is why most single coils don't get them.

You should be fine splicing new 22gauge stranded wire to the ends of whatever you have.,

Humbuckers typically get shielded wire because of the design, and the braided outside shield is soldered to the metal chassis as well as the final ground lead off the coil, and the chassis is usually soldered to a metal cover, and the whole contraption is thought to provide some shielding as well as hum-cancelling capabilities.

Your typical single coil has NONE of that, and so doesn't require shielded cable, unless you just want some for comfort

And the way you asked the question has NOTHING to do with any of the responses you've read beyond helpful info.

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!

Thanks Whisperer.
I would enjoy seeing posted pictures of your builds.
I get inspired seeing the great builds here, and sometimes I'll see details and methods to help with my learning.
Dan

_________________
wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Dan I lived in Texas for many years and miss the heck out of it.
I'd like to go back some day.
My wife doesn't share that desire so much, as the Florida winters are so mild. (Especially THIS year, comparatively!).
I know, off topic.
I'm sure someone will be along shortly to administer the scourging.

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!

Well I, me, and ?admas humbleness is honoured by your flattery of me unbounded ego. And we all know what flattery begets. Thank you.

May your camel never wander.


blessings
?adma

_________________
.

Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


.

Then you must agree that if things go south, and a very real possibility, then one must be prepared to rewind or replace. Simple.
And if you wind then the you should know that the wraps coming unwrapped is not the issue at all. It's a novice melting the single lead wire(s).
You recommend to take a chance... I recommend extending the wires and stay away from a melt-down if one can't rewind or not prepared to replace them. nuff said.



still trying to learn how to type

If you don't have the chops nor correct soldering gear to rewire a Strat-style pickup...no matter what the bobbin is made of...and/or you can't afford to pay for screwing stuff up in the learning process, you probably shouldn't be messing with this stuff.

Most...or all of us who are pros have learned by doing, and that means daring to do what we have not done before...and paying the consequences when we screwed up. If you can't get behind that, then just don't do it at all.

There are dues to pay, no matter what you may learn on the imperfect Internet.

Just learn to solder correctly.

I don't think I stated that I don't know how to solder.
I've been soldering electronic components for 40 years.
I don't want to risk melting the plastic by applying heat to the eyelets.
I'm going to splice the wires. And I will cover the splices with heat shrink.
I will use single wires rather than shielded cable.
My query has been answered.
Dan

_________________
wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

He wasn't asking about how to solder, he was wondering if it would be worth it to attach a shielded cable to the pickup, or if he should simply lengthen the leads a little.

It doesn't really seem like you guys are reading the posts before you type.

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!