Pickup question for the guitarists

Hi. Any of you guys swapped pickups in a 335-style guitar with no rear access? I just want to swap the stock pickups in my Gibson for a 57 Classic set. Can I just cut the wires on the old pickups and solder the new ones in their place? I really don't want to have to fish around in the f-holes and all that.

Any advice gratefully received.

Martin

I've done a pickup swap on a 335-type guitar (in my case, and Epi Sheraton). It was a major league PITA. Finally gave up, took it the shop, and gladly paid the $85 they charged.

I suppose you could splice the leads, particularly if it's Gibby stock being replaced with Gibby 57 Classics. The concerns would be screwing up the polarity/phasing (north, south, etc.), and of course getting a good splice. The latter shouldn't be too much of problem if you take your time, the former would be a problem is you were swapping to another brand of pickup. Presumably, the Gibby's wiring would be same so just match colors.