How To Change The Bridge Pickup Of A Stratocaster

Introduction

A few weeks ago I have decided to change the bridge pickup on my Fender Stratocaster. Like a lot people I found that I didn’t really like the sound of that pickups and that I wanted something that could handle a little more distortion. After shopping a bit online I have found a DiMarzio Chopper pickup that looked pretty cool. So I have ordered that pickup and I have installed it by myself. At first I wanted to take some pictures to make sure that if I had failed something I could look at the original settings. But once I had the camera out I taught that I could share my experience with you.

Changing a pickup is a really easy task and if I have been able to do it properly, anybody can do it. There is an excellent tutorial that was made by Marcus Siepen ( https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/changing-pickups/ ) and I recommend watching it before trying to change your pickups. Even though I liked that tutorial I have decided to make one especially for the Stratocaster since a lot of Stratocaster owner have replaced or want to replace their bridge pickup.

Tools

The first Step you have to do is gather all your equipment I hate starting a job and need to find a tool later on.

For this job you will need to gather a few thing around

Guitar (obviously) New pickup Good lightning Screwdriver and pliers A soldering iron Computer (for online reference) Electric tape Bucket (to keep all your screw in a safe spot) Pen and sheet of paper to note the old settings The picture is my Mojo; this guy is a crazy local guitar player (Jean Leloup)

Changing the Pickup

Once everything is done the first step is to take all your strings off. Then right after, you have to remove the pickguard, only take off the screws that are around the pickguard. The six screws around the pickup are set for the height adjustment. In the next picture it is the biggest screws that are made for the pickup adjustment.

Before putting the pickguard upside down, you should put a cloth on your guitar to prevent any scratches. The back of your pickup should look like this.