Like I already wrote in my first story about my new ESP LTD SA-2 Richie Sambora was that I was not too thrilled about the sound coming from the neck pick-up on my new guitar. (read it here). The pick-up’s installed on the SA-2 are ESP LH-100’s. I have seen and heared better quality. The neck pickup is roughly 14K ohms and that the bridge pickup is 15K ohms. They are two-wire pickups with a copper base.
So after doing some investigation regarding new pick, and being a fan of the DiMarzio sound, I again went back to my local music store, Timmer Muziek. I knew that he had some pick-ups in store. Dropping by to order some other stuff (will come to that later… 😀 ), I decided to see if there were any of my favorite pickups in store (DiMarzio).
I ended up buying the DiMarzio PAF classic (DP195). I initially aimed for the Gibson Burstbucker Pro, but these were a little bit more expensive and harder to find…and not DiMarzio. I decided to try the DiMarzio instead. I bought it at the same price as where I could buy it at Musik-Produktiv or Thomann so that was exellent.
Especially since I did not have to place a mail order or drive all the way to Germany…. and I like buying gear at local shops!
DiMarzio PAF Classic Neck
Now, hardest part was not to get the pick guard off. I have done this approximately 4 times now, since I tried to insulate/shield the wires of the pick-ups.
Shielded?
naturally, no luck with that. Anyway, I started open-heart surgeory.
Inside the SA-2
The Knobs
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The the RED and the WHITE wire should be soldered together;
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The GREEN and the BLACK should be soldered together.
Subsequently,
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RED/WHITE should be soldered as the “hot” connection;
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GREEN/BLACK should be soldered as the “ground” connection.
The removed LH-100
DiMarzio PAF Classic