Installing my guitar pickup without soldering.?

Question

I want to change my guitar pickup but I'm not that good at soldering because I have a shaky hand. Is it ok if I just cut the wires and splice them?

Answer 1

Really,,the other guys are correct.

Ideally,,they should be soldered.

There's a bunch of reasons why soldering is used.

But at same time,,,there's a BUNCH of wires in the world which are spliced,,and in a lot more critical apps.

In the early days of electricity,,,"Wire Splicing" became a sort of engineering science in itself.

Different splices had their own names,,,just like Rope Knots do.

And each type had their own strengths and weaknesses.

The Prob with "Splices",,,is that casual splicing is usually done carelessly & haphazard without much thought.

Often it's done like,,,,,just twist them together to get a contact connection,,and maybe some tape to hold it together.

That approach is asking for probs down the road,,,yet sometimes it works good enough.

Here's a VERY simple splice to do.
1)Its Strong,,,and doesnt kink/crimp/weaken the wires
2)It's flexible ,,and hard to pull apart
3)The amount of Contact surface is large enough that even with a LOT of corrosion it still keeps good electrical contact.

Called a Western Union Splice

You can see there's not much to it,,,,
wrap it with some tape when youre finished so it doesnt short out on anything

Soldering is usually always Best,
But if a Splice is done Properly,,it works fine

Good Luck!

http://www.zarebasystems.com/images/illustrations/splice.gif

Answer 2

You could , but it's not as tight as a soldered connection , what i mean is that oxidation is a key factor , especially with copper wire. At best , you should follow up with electrical tape or even some shrink tubing , to seal out any oxidation from forming along the wires.

Answer 3

No. Have someone else with a steady hand do the work.. You'll be glad you did later on..