I have a SD pickup wanted to put in my strat..since I dont know how to do it im planning to send it to the guitar shop to get it done..

Usually how much they charge for the service?since the pickguard has to be opened strings need to be changed as well..that alone costs around Rm40..

Any idea where or which shop can I get the cheapest service?

It's possible to change pickups without changing strings.

Just detune, capo the first fret, then detune further and pull the strings loose after the capo.

Then unscrew pickguard and slowly slide it out from under the neck (if 22-frets) and then proceed to unsolder only 2 wires, (usually for single coils).

Screw everything back and tighten/retune strings.

I changed my bridge single coil to a hot rails type pickup myself.

not necessarily need to change the strings, but it'll make the jobs hell easier.

I want to try changing the bridge pickup like u did myself..but dont knpw how to do it..what tools do i need?

1. Guitar capo, if don't have, then use pencil and rubberband to capo the strings by wrapping one end of pencil to the other looping behind neck of guitar using rubber band. Detune strings all the way but leave a few loops on the tuner, stretch the strings after the capo to loosen and give more space for the pickguard to slide out later.


2. Unscrew all the pickguard screws, and tighten guitar pickup screws to bring all of them out of the hole and towards the top, we don't want the pickups to get stuck/hooked during sliding out process due to it being deep in the cavity. This assume you know how to set pickup action, else refer to your manufacturer specs or do it by ear to find the best pickup height, or just write down the height after measuring it before you adjust.

3. Lift the pickguard from the bridge, slowly pull pickguard towards bridge direction and then slide to the right or left out of the strings, pay attention to anything under the pickguard getting caught in the routed pickup cavity.

4. Bridge pickups, assuming single coil (not humbucker with coil tap) should only have 2 wires, one ground to the pots, the other soldered to the 5 way switch. Just remember the ground and hot wire and wire appropriately with your new pickup. Need soldering gun and lead, if you don't know how to use them then too bad.

5. If you have multimeter, use the ohm resistant values properly to check for pickup ground/hot wires and check value of resistance to make sure it matches or comes very close to pickup manufacturer specs. If you soldered correctly, when you switch the 5 way switch to the bridge, it should reflect the manufacturer's resistant specs, usually from 5.5 to 7k for single coils (vintage to hot pickups) or for example hot rails for bridge, up to 16k. You can also test by hitting the pickup poles with screwdriver and hear the sound through amp, if there's noise then it's correct.

Once done soldering, just put everything back and adjust pickup height and tune up.

Depending on where u are, Acoustic Shack in USJ is pretty decent. Or try JL Guitar