How difficult is it to change pickups, pots and switch in a semi-hollowbody?

[jpervin]

Last week I bought an Epiphone ES-175. I'm going to swap out the stock humbuckers for a set of BG H-90s (see link) and the switch for sure. I'll at least remove the pots, since they'll probably need some rewiring, but if they're full size and decent quality (such as Alpha) I may keep them in.

Having never owned a (semi) hollowbody guitar before, how difficult is it to swap out these items? There's no access from the back, and only the f-holes in the front.

Here's a pic of the Epi (mine looks exactly like this)...
http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/0/9/2/402092.jpg

Link for the H-90 pickups...
http://www.bg-pups.com/h90.html

[wgs1230]

Get yourself a spool of fishing line. No joke:
http://www.stewmac.com/tradesecrets/electronics/ts27doria/ts27doria.html

[Quarter]

Get yourself a spool of fishing line. No joke:
http://www.stewmac.com/tradesecrets/electronics/ts27doria/ts27doria.html
Good call wgs1230 :)

jpervin ... you are going to love those H-90's! :AOK

[GeorgeSunset]

I did it with a Ibanez AS83 (335 type) http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=289449

it's a real pain... hope you have small fingers :-)
but use the trick with the fishing line... it works pretty well (except you have to get a LOT of wire in there, like i did... then it's pretty useless)

[jpervin]

jpervin ... you are going to love those H-90's! :AOK

Do you have these pickups in your guitar(s)? If so, how do they sound to you?

I listened to the clips on the BG website and thought they sounded great! Very woody, old-school P-90 tone.

[Navigator]

I replaced the bridge pickup on one of my semi-hollowbody guitars. I used thread which I tied to the volume pot in order to be able to lift the pot back into its original position after having taken it out through the f-hole to solder. So yeah, fishing line, thread will work, but add patience too!

[Quarter]

Do you have these pickups in your guitar(s)? If so, how do they sound to you?

I listened to the clips on the BG website and thought they sounded great! Very woody, old-school P-90 tone.
Yea, I've tried them in a couple solid bodys and really like them a lot.
They do have a very woody open character. Sweet cleans and a nice raunchy vibe, very dynamic and articulate with great note separation.
I don't have a semi hollow, but I have no doubt the character of the H-90 is very well suited.

Another BG Pup I've been wanting to try, in my Rosewood MusicMan, is their Lizard neck pup (http://www.bg-pups.com/hb.html)
The custom DiMarzio in it is good, but the Lizard clip sounds just so sweet and buttery, Lizard Clip Here (http://www.bg-pups.com/clips/lizard.MP3)

[jpervin]

Yea, I've tried them in a couple solid bodys and really like them a lot.
They do have a very woody open character. Sweet cleans and a nice raunchy vibe, very dynamic and articulate with great note separation.
I don't have a semi hollow, but I have no doubt the character of the H-90 is very well suited.

That's exactly what I'm looking for! :AOK

[wgs1230]

Fairly entertaining reading, btw:
http://www.bg-pups.com/about.html

[MartinPiana]

How's the neck/action/buzz/dead spot playability of that Epi 175?

[jpervin]

How's the neck/action/buzz/dead spot playability of that Epi 175?

Neck is a comfortable medium C-shape. Action is fairly low off the shelf but probably could be lowered just a hair as personal preference. No buzzes and no dead spots that I could detect. Very playable/capable jazz/blues guitar, and will be much more so once the new pickups go in it.
Cost was $499 out the door and the store threw in a hardshell case for free.

[jpervin]

Get yourself a spool of fishing line. No joke:
http://www.stewmac.com/tradesecrets/electronics/ts27doria/ts27doria.html

Thanks for that link, wgs1230!

Now off to Google to find out how to tie that knot. :crazy

[leofenderbender]

A length of surgical tubing on each pot shaft works best...

[musicofanatic5]

This is not a semi-hollowbody, it is an entirely-hollowbody, and breeze to do the p.u./pot swap compared to an actual semi-hollowbody. Drag the entire harness out of the bridge p.u. hole, with surgical tubing or string attached to the pots prior to removal. Make an actual size patern of where the pot holes are for a soldering jig and solder it up, stuff the whole mess back in the p.u. hole, and fish your controls back into place. The same job on a semi-hollowbody is much more difficult with the solid block of wood in the center of the body leaving you much less of an egress.

[K-man]

Make sure you make a template before you wire it up (I use a piece of cardboard), otherwise you may have wires showing in the f-holes.