USA s-500 pickup change.

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surfco
Posts: 27
Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2010 10:49 pm

USA s-500 pickup change.

Post by surfco »

Hello everyone.
After 6 years of playing my USA s-500 with the MFD pickups I have decided to change them.
They sound good, but I'm after a classic S-style, early Leo designed pickups.
I know the MFD's work in conjunction with the rest of the wiring.
Should I just yank the .001uf cap and drop in the new pickups in?
I don't want to yank everything out just to change the pickups.
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Craig
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Posts: 11349
Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:52 am
Location: Either Coto De Caza, CA or Paso Robles, CA

Re: USA s-500 pickup change.

Post by Craig »

surfco wrote:Hello everyone.
After 6 years of playing my USA s-500 with the MFD pickups I have decided to change them.
They sound good, but I'm after a classic S-style, early Leo designed pickups.
I know the MFD's work in conjunction with the rest of the wiring.
Should I just yank the .001uf cap and drop in the new pickups in?
I don't want to yank everything out just to change the pickups.
Take a look at this member contributed wiring diagram in our Gallery, 1992-present Legacy PTB Controls with Expander Switch.
It will allow you to retain the pickup expander function of the S-500 and shows the wiring for the Legacy,
with single coil Alnico pickups in replacement of the MFD single coil pickups of the S-500.
It also retains the PTB system of both the S-500 and Legacy.

Hope this helps
--Craig [co-webmaster of guitarsbyleo.com, since Oct. 16, 2000]
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dhgleaves
Posts: 281
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 3:54 pm
Location: Adelaide, South Australia

Re: USA s-500 pickup change.

Post by dhgleaves »

surfco wrote:Hello everyone.
After 6 years of playing my USA s-500 with the MFD pickups I have decided to change them.
They sound good, but I'm after a classic S-style, early Leo designed pickups.
I know the MFD's work in conjunction with the rest of the wiring.
Should I just yank the .001uf cap and drop in the new pickups in?
I don't want to yank everything out just to change the pickups.
It sounds as if you're after the CLF-100 sound of the pickups in a Legacy. If it was me, I'd keep the S-500 and get a Legacy (I did the opposite; I had a Legacy first the got an S-500, and I play both of them). Or, you might be able to find someone interested in swapping the loaded pickguard from a Legacy for yours. There are some people interested in making the opposite change.

David
surfco
Posts: 27
Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2010 10:49 pm

Re: USA s-500 pickup change.

Post by surfco »

dhgleaves wrote:
surfco wrote:Hello everyone.
After 6 years of playing my USA s-500 with the MFD pickups I have decided to change them.
They sound good, but I'm after a classic S-style, early Leo designed pickups.
I know the MFD's work in conjunction with the rest of the wiring.
Should I just yank the .001uf cap and drop in the new pickups in?
I don't want to yank everything out just to change the pickups.
It sounds as if you're after the CLF-100 sound of the pickups in a Legacy. If it was me, I'd keep the S-500 and get a Legacy (I did the opposite; I had a Legacy first the got an S-500, and I play both of them). Or, you might be able to find someone interested in swapping the loaded pickguard from a Legacy for yours. There are some people interested in making the opposite change.

David

No, thanks. That's not what I asked, by the way.
Read the post and you'll see my question.
fendertweed
Posts: 43
Joined: Sat May 22, 2010 8:06 am
Location: Mid-Atlantic / DC Area

Re: USA s-500 pickup change.

Post by fendertweed »

My S-500 has had 3 Joe Barden pickups since ~1999 or so, with the 7-way switching capability. Wonderful. 8-)