Replacing an EMG with a passive pickup + recs for vintage Soloist

[Overtone]

I've got an old soloist that plays great but I really don't dig the sound of the EMG 81 I have in there, so I almost never bust it out. I'd like to swap it out. It's a single humbucker guitar. Some Q&A

As far as routing, dimensions, pickup rings, etc. what should I expect here? Is it going to be a really simple swap or do adjustments need to be made?

What needs to be replaced from the rest of the electronics? I've done simple pickup swaps before and reassigned tone knobs... is it something I should be able to do, or leave it to a tech?

Finally I'm open to your guys recommendations for pickups. I'd say that overall it would be good to have a tone that works for hard rock, and leads from that kinda dirty sound all the way down to full saturation. Duncan Custom 5 has come to mind for this... also JB.

 

[Overtone]

Ok, so I'm told that it should be a straightforward swap as far as the spacing goes. I also know it's recommended to get pots with different values. Do I need any other parts (like a new output jack) or am I set with the pickup and the pots? I'm going for a Duncan JB. Any pot recommendations?

One more question that's a little more personal preference. I have a spot with a tone knob that used to be some kinda switch. I can either keep it a tone knob or put in a series/parallel switch. Would any of you go for the parallel? I do make use of tone knob but I like the idea of S/P if it can get me better clean sounds.

 

[Konfyouzd]

I think you should be able to use the same jack actually. Just makes sure your pots are 250k+ and I think most prefer 500k.

I know nothing about switchin between series and parallel... My pups are always in straight series. I dont even coil tap. If I want a single sound I just use an axe with singles...

 

[BZM]

It's hard to go wrong with a JB. Bare knuckles are of course always a good choice.

I just had a humbucker from Tone Vault Technologies installed and the tone murders anything I've ever tried... both clean and saturated.

 

[Overtone]

Thanks guys! I really can't imagine why a jack would be compatible with only EMG's!

I am pretty tempted to get a Holy Diver but it's just so damn convenient to pick up a JB quickly and cheaply. There's still no rush so I might do it. Right now I'm still researching what I'll do with the second route (currently tone knob), which pots/switches I want, etc..

 

[BZM]

You're gonna want Black Cat capacitors if you can get them, good luck finding real enamel coated wire or anything like that, CTS pots are generally good enough. I like 500k for both volume and tone in a humbucker-laden guitar.

 

[Whammy]

JB is an awesome pickup and sounds very well suited for the sound you described.
Other companies have pickups that sound like the JB but as much as I love change if you want a JB, then get a JB

Swapping the active for a passive should be very easy.
The volume pot will need to be changed. 500k value is perfect and CTS are a solid company. There are others out there but CTS are good.
If you want to get rid of the tone pot (I'd be the same, never use the tone pot) then stick a switch in as you said. Series/Parallel is a great option to have if you want a different flavor.
There are more options, out of phase or just a single coil so you can experiment.

If you guitar already has a pickup ring then all you need is the new pickup, vol pot, switch and some extra wire.
The jack output on the guitar should be just fine.

 

[Overtone]

Awesome, thanks!

Any idea what kind of switch and wire I need?

I didn't have much luck finding those caps but I like the orange drop ones. Not all that convinced it's a big deal anyway. But I'm leaning towards the switch anyhow.

 

[BZM]

Overtone: eBay is your best bet I scored some Nylon 6/6 nuts from eBay, something that'd be really hard to find otherwise

 

[BZM]

Here's a pic of my new TVT Rude! humbucker... i wish it was closer up, but it was taken by my recording engineer, who was very, very drunk on red wine at the time.

 

[Overtone]

Alrighty then... JB on the way plus some new pots. Just gotta get my lazy ass to the hardware store for wire.

Ulitmately I think the JB is very likely to be what I want, plus it's cheap and available.

 

[Overtone]

Turns out I am a TOTAL dumbass. This whole time the old pickup I was sure was in a box in my parents house somewhere was ten feet away from me in a little hardware box I should have checked weeks ago! I guess I already had the idea to reinstall it and forgot I took it with me. It's a "DDJ" which I guess is a nice thing to still have around. I've also got the old vol knob and 2 way switch, plus the jack. All the wires are cut, but there's plenty of lead left.

Definitely gonna give the original pup a try first before I consider the JB, since I dig the idea of using the old school one that was in the guitar initially.

 

[Overtone]

Done!

I did have to replace the jack. The one that was in there was a TRS, I guess it has to do with the 9v battery. Maybe I could have just not wired the ring but it didn't occur to me at the time.

I ended up putting the old 2 way toggle back in because a regular sized tone pot wouldn't fit and I have no idea what value the mini pot in there was. Wired it for series/parallel which is nice... it just gives me another good option on the clean channel.

I tried both pickups. Oddly enough the pickup I thought was the original was not F-spaced! I looked back at emails and the guitar originally came with a Jackson J80 pickup, so I guess this was something put in afterwards. I actually liked it a lot. Extremely clear and articulate, which made it incredibly fun to play. The rhythm sound is really tight too. But it definitely has a pretty narrow range of styles. The JB is meatier and responds to my touch a lot more, and also more my style and more in line with the rest of my guitars and how I like to set my amp. I still might go back to the DD... hard to say! The spacing had zero noticeable impact on the sound and it was fun to play on, plus it could make the guitar pretty useful for recording since it nails those certain tones. But the way I feel right now is that that guitar is really special to me and needed to be revived. I'd like to spend a lot of time playing it so I think the JB will stay at least for now.

 

[groverj3]

I have the JB in one of my soloists. Great lead pickup. I like the Distortion and Custom more for rhythms but the JB has that great "screaming" quality, where some of your notes fade into harmonics.