Putting the pickups in wasn't all that tough, but the part that was the toughest was getting them to use the same output jack/volume/5-way switch. TTYTT, I would have to research it all again to remember what wires I cut/spliced into. If you are ok with using tools like drills, routers, chisels, etc. it's not that hard to do that part. You can get a loaded pickguard (or an unloaded one if you want to use specific brand pickups) from guitarfetish.com for cheap, but you have to cut it to fit the variax. The p'ups I got with mine sounded really good so I didn't bother going with one of the high-end brands. I moved my volume pot to where the volume usually goes on the strat pickguard, moved the tone pot into where the volume was and put a blend/balance pot where the tone was. This is what lets me go between the variax electronics and the magnetic pickups. There is some limitations because of the 5 way switch is wired to both. If I want to use a variax setting that is in the "neck" position, I can only blend with the neck pickup, etc. but I usually just use one or the other, don't really blend them.