Changing the Pickups on a Godin 5th avenue

[PJMorton]

Hey guys,

I own a Godin 5th avenue CW which I use for my Big Band stuff. Its great for chonking away in 4-to-a-bar during the more traditional jazz stuff (Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, etc) but sometimes I just feel as though I need something hotter than my P90 pickups for guitar solos during upbeat 12-bar blues progressions. As a result I am considering changing the bridge pick-up for something that gives a more "rockabilly" sound, because I only ever use the neck pickup when I play rhythm anyway.

The only problem is that I have no idea whether this would even be possible, let alone how I would go about doing it. I would be cool if I could use a dynasonic on the bridge (a la Eddie Cochran).

Has anybody had any experience with changing the pickups on one of these guitars? What pickups would easily replace the stock ones, with minimal technical expertise required? Any pointers on how it can be done?

I'll be ever so grateful for any replies, even if they are only to confirm that it cannot be done (or that I lack the expertise required to do it)!

Best Regards,

-PJMorton

P.S. There isn't any possibility that I could use a separate guitar for different styles, as we move very quickly through the changes and I'm already always one step behind as it is!

[accokeek88]

I've got the same guitar and practised on it for over one year. I always dreamed of getting a darker humbucking neck pickup for it. I wanted a fatter , rounder jazz sound . After long deliberation, I picked a name widely reccomended on this site and ordered one. It wasn't a drop in replacement as the maker thought, and I paid to have the pickup installed , involving a cut out etc.
Long story short, I wouldn't do it over again and the difference is virtually unnoticable. I don't beleive you can really change the sound of that body very much. As it stands with the p 90's, an employee in a very large shop here in San Diego called it a rockabilly guitar, right off.
Incidentally, I just did a point blank comparison with the Godin and Eastman's new 175 type AR371ce. I was all set to buy it until I heard it and just backed off. The Godin just sounded way better. Maybe because it was well played in and the Eastman was new..
Now I'm playing a Ibanez af100 with a Fender Blues deville 410 and get a wonderful sound, finally! Hope this helped.