Help a girl wire a guitar !!! Please.

[cazzy]

Hi. I have a epiphone Les Paul and have spent forever trying to wire it up. two humbuckers two volume two tone. For some reason I can not get the bridge pickup working. Well you can just about hear it through the amp,but it is soo quiet. Can anyone give me any ideas about what I may be doing wrong? I have rewired and rewired,looked at loads of wiring diagrams and still have the same issue. I have fitted it to the neck pick up volume control and still have the same issue. Also I seem to loose the neck pickup volume when I wiggle the wire between tone and volume. I guess it may have something to do with my wiring. Id there a really simple wiring diagram I could use???
Many thanks
Caz

 

[shupe13]

Welcome to the forum. I'm sure a wiring wizard will help you soon.

 

[Stinky Kitty]

Pictures of the control cavity to see what you have now are helpful.
And welcome to MLP!

You might try reflowing the solder joins, some times a weak connection can cause this, even when it appears to be a good join.

This is the simplest diagram I have found so far:

http://www.blueskillet.com/images/Guitar Stuff/Gibson Wiring - Modern vs. 50's.jpg

 

[rallygsc]

Hello Everyone:

Cazzy: I am constantly modding my les pauls and such.

do you have a wiring diagram to go by?.

seymour duncan has wiring diagrams on their support area, stewart macdonald has wiring diagrams also.

I can help, PM me, I have a resource of wiring diagrams, I can email pics or such.

Once you wire a les paul style guitar, it's easy.

Take Care
George

 

[rallygsc]

Here's a simple one

 

[cazzy]

Thanks for the welcome and help!! I have seen some of the wring diagrams mentioned and posted. I think although i'm happy with doing the actual soldering its understanding how it all actually works that im struggling with!! As many of the wiring digrams have small differences...like capacitors in diffrent locations..Mine is on the tone pot middle lug and grounded to the top,where as many of the diagrams have it connected from tone to volume. I know this may be a simple question to some,but would really help me if someone could answer... The shielded wire from from the switch to volume I have attached to centre lug and grounded on top and I have connected to the lug and ground on switch too is this correct? I hope this makes sense.
I cant' send a cavity pic as I have stripped most of it out again!!
Cazzy

 

[cazzy]

Hi. Thanks very much. How Do I PM you though!!!!
Caz

 

[paruwi]

Hi. Thanks very much. How Do I PM you though!!!!
Caz

You need a few more posts (10?) to be able to PM

oh

and Welcome here at MLP

 

[cazzy]

Oh,right thanks.

 

[Lutherie]

Ok, first you need to built this.


Then you connect the ground from the pickup to the back of the volume you want to use and the wire to the empty end. Finally connect the wire that goes to the switch to the middle where the cap is connected.
Then the same for the other pickup on the other volume pot.

 

[cazzy]

The tone cap works to send a portion of the signal to ground. It can work in either position. In my experience, typical Gibson wiring is attached between the lugs on the volume ans tone pots, and typical fender wiring is between a lug and the pot case. That's just the typical. One can find just about everything.

In the simplified scheme I posted above, the center switch wire goes to the jack tip, and there is a lead from the ground to the jack sleeve. Also not shown is the "ground bus." This is a fairly large gauge single (non braided) conductor wire that connects the pot cases starting from the neck volume leading to the neck tone, then bridge tone, then bridge volume. Lastly there is a ground wire that runs through a small hole to the bridge.

Wiring can be intimidating at first. But once you get the hang of it, and, as you have very accurately asked, understand the whys and wherefores, it's gets easier. There is a helpful page with good information and videos by a member here named Jonesy who is a vendor of awesome electronic stacks that you may find helpful.

Jonesyblues Les Paul Wiring Tips & DIY Videos There is a really good diagram and corresponding picture of 50s wiring at this link that should help answer your question.

This link leads to modern wiring JBCS Guitar Wiring Diagrams Copyright 2011 scroll about 1/3 down to find it. There is also good background information to read through before it.

One thing to decide is whether you want to keep the modern wiring or change over to 50s wiring. This is a personal preference, something you should try to see how it works for you. There are many threads on how they each work and sound. Since I swap pick ups a lot, among the other benefits of 50s, I like that the pick up is the only wire attaching to the volume lug, so I am less likely to desolder the cap during a change out. If you plan on playing more than tinkering, that may not be a consideration.

Although irrelevant in this case, in some wiring schemes there can be a resistor and cap wired in parallel between two volume lugs. This is called a volume bleed, and is meant to correct the treble loss when the volume is rolled back. I found that this made the lowered volumes a bit shrill, and lost the nuances of tone in less that maxed settings.

It is good that you are asking as much as you need to, we're all here to help

Thank you so much for all the info. Will be very helpful

 

[Stinky Kitty]

Always happy to help as I can. Keep asking along the way if you run into something that isn't clear.

One simple quiz is to see if you can identify Lutherie's helpful post as modern or 50s.

He is absolutely right that sometimes building the circuit is much easier outside of the cavity. You'll need to make a mounting plate to use as a template while assembling to ensure that everything is positioned and spaced correctly to actually fit back in the holes when it's ready +.*

Rock On!

Edit: I just re read your original post and saw that the bridge pick up was misbehaving when attached to the neck pot as well. This might indicate a problem with the pick up. Are you certain that the bridge pick up was working properly at some recent time before you started?

 

[Rocco Crocco]

Welcome!

Let's see pics of your wiring when complete, and also of your guitar. We like lots of pics around here.

Good Luck!

 

[Dr.Distortion]

Hi Cazzy...

Check that the quiet pickup is grounded...

 

[Lutherie]

Sorry where are my manners, this is a 50's hardness. What I did to get the spacing right was to install the pots into the guitar, then I took a cardboard and pressed on to of them, hard enough to get marks. then I cut holes where the marks were, took out the pots and stuck them into the cardboard. Perfect fit
As for the ground, depending on the wires you are using to the switch, eater connect the shields together and to the switch then connect the shield to the back of the volume pots or run a wire from the "ground ear" to the back of one of the pots.

 

[NYC LP player]

for future reference

2 Pickup Guitar Diagrams

 

[kevinpaul]

Yes, we always like bright young people here.

 

[FFXIhealer]

Guitar Wiring 101.pdf
It's something I wrote up as a step-by-step for wiring up Gibson Les Paul or SG guitars. It should help you to understand the wiring harness in a controlled manner. Send me questions if you have any after looking it over.

 

[InfiniteeZ]

Sounds like you're being confused by the differences of 50's and modern wiring. Quick shots of you're control cavity will help us all solve your issue much faster.

Hope you figure it out soon and WELCOME TO MLP!!

 

[brokentoeswalker]

don't know if this has been mentioned, but i had a similar problem awhile back and it turned out that my toggle switch just needed some contact cleaner spray !! Good luck.