I screwed up my guitar yet again

[lazybum]

Well, i am cursed with screwing up every guitar i ever owned, multiple times.
I own a Yamaha RGx 420, which is a pretty cool guitar with dual humbuckers.

I have this problem with my neck pick-up. the last pole (High E), can't be screwed up to elevate it. If u do, it'll get buried. So what i do usually i use a pair of tweezers and dig underneath the pick-up to push the pole up. it works usually. but today it killed my pick-up!

My humbucker, i think, is coil-tapped (its second hand). So in the first pick-up position, its neck-hum, second position, is neck-single.

So now my neck-hum signal is really weak! What's, worst, my excessive sweating has rusted my screws beyond repair. I can't remove 2 of the screws of the pick-up holder. So, i can't open up and see if some wire connections are dead and solder myself. I'm not willing to drill holes into my screws just to unscrew them and kill myself.

So, i think i will have to send this one to the shop. Where is the best place for setting up fixing my pick-up at a decent price (not cheapest, decent price = some quality)?

Let's say i wanna set-up my whole guitar again. Meaning, replacing rusted screws and polishing up rusted parts (floating bridge is terribly rusty). its quite sad cuz when i bought second hand it looked brand new haha.
Please help, i'm so sad. And what do u think is the problem? i'm thinking its a dead wire or sth. I hope its repairable by just soldering (its stock-pick ups but its soldered and its pretty strong/versatile for me)

 

[eugen3]

gah. for the kinda money you gonna spend, you'd rather sell your guitar at cash converters and get a new one. set up at malcom if im not wrong is 160+ for a really good job. and do your pickups at beez. he can check whats the problem with it. or you might wanna consider changing pickups.

 

[lazybum]

sell it? no way! i really love this guitar haha.

I dun mind not setting up, but the least i wanan do is fix my pick-up. i really think its just a screwed wire that needs resoldering. Because if the pick-up is dead, the neck-single coil should be dead as well. But it works fine.

The next thing i wanna do would be to at least replace rusty screws so i can fix up things myself. So beez? Where's beez actually and how much do u think it would cost bro?

 

[eugen3]

beez is at g77.he's the man for pickups man. shd be about 30+? im not too sure myself.

and for screws, go to davis and find some that are fitting for your guitar. you may wanna change the whole bridge which can increase sustain/better tone. or use naptha(lighter fluid) to wipe down the bridge. takes alot of work but quite effective.

 

[lazybum]

ok thanx abt the pick-up deal. I think i will pay that guy a visit soon. As for screws, the problem lies in the fact that, i can't unscrew myself. And from reading some sites, there's the manual way. Which involves removing the rust with WD-40 or kerosene, and then applying a lot of pressure and unscrewing. But most of the time, ppl end up drilling a small hole thru the screw. I'm not willing to undertake that kinda of a risk. I'd rather pay a proffesional to do it and screw him up if he screws up cuz i paid good money.

Thanx a lot dude. U're a life saver!

 

[eugen3]

I'd rather pay a proffesional to do it and screw him up if he screws up cuz i paid good money.

Thanx a lot dude. U're a life saver!

haha that sounds really wrong... 8O

no prob dude. good luck with your guitar!

 

[Everdying]

yea i did the hard way of applying lots of pressure and unscrewing.
but you will need a good screwdriver also, else that will get stripped too

 

[lazybum]

ok wait, alternative route. My dad is some sort of handyman himself. So assuming i managed to remove the rusty screws, by a miracle of God, and then i get to check out whats wrong with e pick-up, what u think would most likely be wrong.

the neck-pick up is a coil-tapped hum. In the first position, its supposed to be a hum but now it gives weak signal. But in second position it becomes a neck-single coil and gives strong response. Do u think i busted a wire? and all i need to do is prolly resolder?

 

[lazybum]

and yes that did sound wrong. with full-hearted intention

 

[thor666]

http://soft.com.sg/2006/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=17629&highlight=screw

There you go. There're some other threads on soft addressing the same problem on removing the screw, but you gotta search it.

 

[Phil]

You must be David,

I suggest you just take it down to G77 for Beez to check out. I've had experience with them and it's highly recommended, as many around here would concur.

And imho, getting Malcolm to set up might be a tad excessive, although it's without doubt that he's exceptionally good. So is the idea of changing the floating trem.
I think all you need is a trip down to G77, decent prices are assured.

You might even consider getting your pups changed. I've seen you with the Warlock, but not your Yamaha.

Cheers, :wink:

 

[lazybum]

You're Philman from IJC rite? ok...its always freaky when people discover me on boards. anyways, i intend to keep costs to a minimum and i think i can fix the thing myself (not being arrogant btw) if i can open the screws. I think its just a wire that pulled out from the pickup. a solder job shld do the trick.

My pups are not extremely sweet/strong blah blah tonewankery. But it gets the job done so far. Better than done in fact. At least i'm contented with them now.

Thanx for all ur help guys. An expert friend of mine is gonna help me out actually.

 

[Phil]

Philmon here.

Glad to know it's fixed, see you around. :wink:

 

[lazybum]

Do you actually solder the wires that were initially attached to the pick-up coils?
Because when i opened up my humbucker, the black and red wire (start and finish wires i'm right) came out where as i checked the other coil, the wires were firmly in place. I did some simple playing ard (yes i know its a bit insane to fiddle with pick-ups) and the humbucker seems to be working. Its faulty wiring. So, is there some soldering i need to do? Any knowledgeable soul?

 

[lazybum]

u know what guys? i feel like getting new pick-ups now haha!
Maybe end of year at swee lee sale. I always wanted to, but i didn't feel the time is right but i think God took an extra step by screwing up my guitar (just before A levels). As a result, i took my whole guitar apart and cleaned up every rusted part.

But i still wanna try to repair my hum on my own. Haiz. Swee Lee sale here i come. Since i'm on the issue of new pick-ups, what would u knowledgeable softies recommend for someone who wants strong smooth distortion for thrash and heavy metal at the same time being able to play other styles of genre. Versatility with oomph is what i want.

I think the X2N is definitely taking the bridge position. But for neck? i'm at a lost. A creamy neck pick-up would be nice.

Any place where i can get good pick-ups at decent prices? Do u guys recommend second-hand pick-up purchasing?

 

[Phil]

Daniel would recommend you those Stan Hinesley's, (www.has-sound.com)
I have the Hellion in the bridge, which I use for metal in general.
It's high-output, but still retains the dynamics and sensitivity, which I appreciate.

My choice for creamy necks would go to the Dimarzio Air Norton. I've always liked how fat and smooth it sounds.
Having a nice creamy Air Norton in the neck should compliment your X2N pretty nicely.

2nd hand pups are value-for-money, but make sure the wires are long enough.

I don't think you should pin too much hope on acquiring the pups of your choice at the Sweelee sale, unless you intend to camp overnight and be one of the first few into the store.

I ordered some Duncans from this local online store a year back, which provided good and fast service with resonable prices. But right now I can't remember the bloody url. Hopefully someone else can point you to it or other sites.

Hope this helps, cheers. :wink:

 

[worldwithoutlines]

Local store?I assume it must be James Bay's right?

http://www.gain10music.com/home.php

 

[ShredCow]

Daniel would recommend you those Stan Hinesley's, (www.has-sound.com)
I have the Hellion in the bridge, which I use for metal in general.
It's high-output, but still retains the dynamics and sensitivity, which I appreciate.

A Hellion in the neck with an X2N. How's that?

Yes, HAS Sound pups. Quite a few converts here.

 

[Santa]

hey shredcow, how much is a viper pickup and one varitone od knob?

i need to save up during hols to get a new guitar and thus new pcikups

 

[ShredCow]

www.has-sound.com

Take a browse.