Working on the electronics of a hollow body for your first outing will either make you or break you.
 
Does it have an access hatch on the back or are you going to have to go in through the F Holes and Pickup cavities?
 
 
best regards,
mike

It has some access possibilities on the backside. It will still be difficult to reach the tone pot.
Maybe I'll need help from a 3 year old kid, whose hands can reach through these accesss holes.
So first priority is to find the child........
There's also the possibility of fishing the new pots into the holes with a wire.
 

No you don't need small hands.
You need to tie string to all the pots so when
you pull them out  (probably through the bridge pup hole) and replace whatever
you're replacing you can then pull them back to their location.
 
A few things to watch out for; The ground wire from bridge and not to pull to hard because wires may be secured to a keepers inside the body- you may need a small mirror to determine.

spacey
No you don't need small hands.
You need to tie string to all the pots so when
you pull them out  (probably through the bridge pup hole) and replace whatever
you're replacing you can then pull them back to their location.
 
A few things to watch out for; The ground wire from bridge and not to pull to hard because wires may be secured to a keepers inside the body- you may need a small mirror to determine.

Now that is a cool tip!

There are parts of a job like this that following little tips
can be very important for a job well done.
 
I'll share some thoughts for consideration;
 
1. I want it done right the first time and I want it done so that there is nothing but the results I was after to indicate that anything was done.
What that means to this job is- I don't want one mark made on the instrument or the components. That means down to the screws- I don't want that screwdriver slipping and marking the head of the screws...more less slipping and marking the finish. I don't want one mark on the finish of the guitar because I didn't protect it and drug or dropped something on it.
 
2. I want to know what every wire is- where it's coming from and going to and it's purpose before messing with them. ( pictures come in handy)
 
3. The pups- how they're wired. Their polarity. Not all pickups are created equal and not all color coded the same with their wiring. That's a biggy when it comes to . Some have two,three and four wires and one has to know why.
 
4. Knowing about the pots, switches and capacitors. How they work, types of and how to wire them.
 
5. I don't want accidents or trouble because I didn't think about something and screwed things up.
I know that with a job like this I have to understand or be ready to learn about the components and how to make soldering connections correctly, perform it without incident and do it right the first time.
To have patience. Stop when I know there are questions and I don't have the answers.
 
 
Taking things apart such as the output jack and not knowing how to install it is not a way to perform the task. Questions such as: How I do I tighten it back up after I fish it back to it's location? Will it try to turn when I tighten on the nut? Can it break the wiring solder connections if it turns? How do I hold backup to stop it from turning? If one can't answer...get the answers before doing the job.
Every step has questions. One must know and understand the questions and then the answer that works for you can be used.
So every step of the job needs to be known.
All questions to each step need an answer that answers it correctly. ( that answer can be different for folks- not everybody does things the same way)
 
Sometimes all the questions aren't known. They arise during the job. Maybe something like: Which hole is the best to pull the components out that will make it easy to do the task and then fish them back to their location? Maybe you thought the bridge pickup hole before you started and found out that for some of the controls it would be easier to go throught the "f" hole because of wire anchors attached inside the body. That is when patience and awareness can make or break your performance.
 
I'll stop. Sorry for the wind but I hope it's a nice breeze. I'm at work and did this quick but mistakes and bad grammer probably would have been made anyway :)

Sounds like a good deal.
 
I used to play 95% of the time on the neck pickup on my SG for the same reason..... it sounded so fat and righteous. Slam that through a mesa tube circuit and it was liquid gold coming out of the speakers.

I have some questions for you Zonno.
 
What size of soldering iron is "right" for this job?
What type of solder do you use?
Do you need any special tools that will help perform the tasks?
Why do some humbuckers have two wires and some have four?
Are all the four wire humbuckers from different manufacturers color coded the same?
Do you know what all the four wires are for?
Are all humbuckers the same size? If not, how are they sized and why?
 
You don't have to answer....but you probably need to know the answers.
 

Thanks Spacey, you put me to the test....
Sometimes I wish I just could could bring the guitar away to a good guitarbuiler and let him do the job. But there are not many around, and I don't know whom to trust. Besides, I want to learn something from this.
 
I understand now more than ever it needs careful investigation, preparation and planning. It will take a couple of weeks before I begin this project. And I will get help from Leo, a friend of mine who has a lot of experience replacing electronics and pickups. 
 
I do have experience soldering and I do have an adjustable soldering station. I admit I do not know about guitar pots, pickup and schematics. So I will have to investigate.
I also found that a lot of useful information is out there that answers some of your questions, Like this:
 
So you helped me. I'll keep you posted......

Thank Buddah I never tried to replace pick ups myself.

 
I use my 2 wire/4 wire guideline: I have no interest in a humbucker that requires extra wires for use as a contingency plan just in case the humbucker sound sucks so bad that someone might want to see how bad a single coil of it can sound.
 
I grew up during the era where work shops made the very worst sounding hum buckers of all time... and then they wired them up to sound horrible.
 
I am glad that someone remembered how good a pickup can sound and decided to re invigorate the traditional recipe.
 
If you confine your choices to "2 wire" humbuckers... the wiring is a lot less confusing.   ;-)
 
I don't trust the color codes 100%. I like hoping they are correct but I've encountered exceptions that leave me wanting to investigate further before I make any conclusions about which lead is going where.
 
best regards,
mike