Tamayo Posted March 7, 2011 Posted March 7, 2011 So... I just purchase some SD Phat Cats and am waiting for their arrival. I'm the DIY kind of guy for the hands on experience and like saving money! I installed pickups in my Tele not too long ago but semi hollows bodies (535) look to be a different animal. Frankly I don't know where to start. So here I am looking to the experienced pros for help. I'm also searching all over youtube for instructions and have searched the Heritage past forums but didn't really find anything. Thanks for your help ahead of time!
tbonesullivan Posted March 7, 2011 Posted March 7, 2011 So... I just purchase some SD Phat Cats and am waiting for their arrival. I'm the DIY kind of guy for the hands on experience and like saving money! I installed pickups in my Tele not too long ago but semi hollows bodies (535) look to be a different animal. Frankly I don't know where to start. So here I am looking to the experienced pros for help. I'm also searching all over youtube for instructions and have searched the Heritage past forums but didn't really find anything. Thanks for your help ahead of time! Semi hollow guitars like the 535 are wired pretty much the same as any other guitar. It's the fact that they put the wires in through either the bridge pickup cavity or the F -hole that is the problem. You've basically gotta tie strings to all of the pots and other stuff, and then pull them out of their mounting holes, and then out the F-hole. Then you have to unsolder the current pickups, and pull those out. Then you need to put in the new pickups, and get the wires from those out the F-hole. Or maybe through the bridge pickup route. I can't remember, and I have never done it, and don't really plan to.
H Posted March 7, 2011 Posted March 7, 2011 I saw a pretty good YouTube vid recently where the guy used aquarium tubing (the clear plastic stuff) over the pot tips to pull them into position. I'll try to find it. Great choice in the Phat Cats by the way! I have them in my 150 and love them. Care to post some clips when you've finished the swapout?
H Posted March 7, 2011 Posted March 7, 2011 YouTube post is from RS Guitarworks - here it is. It's one of five or six so you might want to find the other related ones.
Tamayo Posted March 7, 2011 Author Posted March 7, 2011 I saw a pretty good YouTube vid recently where the guy used aquarium tubing (the clear plastic stuff) over the pot tips to pull them into position. I'll try to find it. Great choice in the Phat Cats by the way! I have them in my 150 and love them. Care to post some clips when you've finished the swapout? Thanks for the input! That's kinda what I was thinking too. And yes, once I get them I'll post a video.
602a Posted March 7, 2011 Posted March 7, 2011 YouTube post is from RS Guitarworks - here it is. It's one of five or six so you might want to find the other related ones. That is better than what I do. I've been using fishing line. This looks alot easier. Gonna Change some in a Hamer next week saved me some time for sure.
Steiner Posted March 7, 2011 Posted March 7, 2011 I used fishing line through the F-holes ( now I know why they call them that!). Next time will be the tubes.
TalismanRich Posted March 7, 2011 Posted March 7, 2011 One thing to be careful about is when you are pulling the harness in, if you kink the tone cap wire, it's possible to break the wire from the cap (voice of experience). Of course, then you just pull the whole harness back out and do it all again with another capcacitor. You'll know if you broke the wire when you turn the tone control down and it doesn't change a thing! I ended up putting the cap on one end, and running a flexible wire to the volume pot, rather than trying to span the leads across like you see in a solid body with an access panel. That way you don't put any stress on the capacitor lead, plus the wire is insulated so you can't ground anything out. As Ringo sang so many years ago.... "It don't come easy, You know it don't come easy!"
nuke Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Use painter's masking tape and mask off the inside and edges of the F-holes. On the factory line at the G*****n plant where they make a similar semi-hollowbody , they have all the touch up paints, ready to go. Much safer to protect the holes if you don't have the touch paint on hand.
Tamayo Posted March 9, 2011 Author Posted March 9, 2011 Thanks for the help, mates! I'll be installing them in the next few weeks. Can't wait!
Tamayo Posted April 16, 2011 Author Posted April 16, 2011 Alright, friends. Here is a short video of my 535 with the Phat Cats. Sorry for the wait. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C88VQ9sDsCY
FredZepp Posted April 16, 2011 Posted April 16, 2011 hey.. great tone on that vid. And that is a fun tune also...... It seems like your enjoying the Phat Cats !!!
kidsmoke Posted April 16, 2011 Posted April 16, 2011 Nice Playing Tamayo! And a good looking 535. Since you just dug into this project, can you tell me whether you went through the f holes or the cavity. On my 535, the cavity through the bridge pickup opening is enormous, lots of room to pass things through. This is completely different from another semi 335 clone that I had, which had a very small hole for the pickup wire and nothing else. What did you find?
Tamayo Posted April 16, 2011 Author Posted April 16, 2011 Nice Playing Tamayo! And a good looking 535. Since you just dug into this project, can you tell me whether you went through the f holes or the cavity. On my 535, the cavity through the bridge pickup opening is enormous, lots of room to pass things through. This is completely different from another semi 335 clone that I had, which had a very small hole for the pickup wire and nothing else. What did you find? I ended up going through the F-Holes. Be sure to prep the edges of the holes with tape or something. It was quite simple but time consuming. Glad you liked it!
H Posted April 16, 2011 Posted April 16, 2011 Well done Glad you got it done and can now enjoy them. Thanks for the follow-up video too - great tune and nice playing!
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