Les Paul 2014 - Coil Tapping Modification

[Breezin]

Could anyone tell me if the op's mods would work on a PCB
from a 2016 LP standard?

I don't see a s1 or s2 on this board.

 

[jeffy]

Could anyone tell me if the op's mods would work on a PCB
from a 2016 LP standard?

I don't see a s1 or s2 on this board.

Those blue boxes are your caps. Judging by the trace, the thicker ones look like they're the tone caps for the regular circuit.

The skinnier ones look like they're for the Fat-Tap caps. The one for the neck is in the middle of the board while the bridge is on the left.

You'll want to take the board out and see if you can follow the traces on the PCB to make sure they're going where you think they're going.

 

[Robert Davies]

Breezin I cannot tell for certain, but this is an educated guess.

There are four blue blocks on your board.

Let's call them North, South, West and East by approximate position.

North: Almost certainly the neck tone cap.
South: Almost certainly the bridge tone cap.
West: Probably S2
East: Probably S1

In the OP's first pic the fatcap tone caps have already been removed and substituted with a wire link. (S1 and S2)

I strongly recommend removing the circuit board for a closer look.

Oh a quick acknowledgement to jeffy's contribution - he done typed quicker than me!

Again, I remind you, these are my best guesses based on what the traces and positions of the components on the board would suggest.

 

[jeffy]

Breezin I cannot tell for certain, but this is an educated guess.

There are four blue blocks on your board.

Let's call them North, South, West and East by approximate position.

North: Almost certainly the neck tone cap.
South: Almost certainly the bridge tone cap.
West: Probably S2
East: Probably S1

In the OP's first pic the fatcap tone caps have already been removed and substituted with a wire link. (S1 and S2)

I strongly recommend removing the circuit board for a closer look.

Oh a quick acknowledgement to jeffy's contribution - he done typed quicker than me!

Again, I remind you, these are my best guesses based on what the traces and positions of the components on the board would suggest.

Looks like Gibson has a new revision since the OP's a Rev 2. He still has regular caps and the Bridge 'Fat-Tap' cap is in a slightly different location. The bridge cap is now next to the switch plug and not next to the ground. (which makes more sense.)

 

[Breezin]

Those blue boxes are your caps. Judging by the trace, the thicker ones look like they're the tone caps for the regular circuit.

The skinnier ones look like they're for the Fat-Tap caps. The one for the neck is in the middle of the board while the bridge is on the left.

You'll want to take the board out and see if you can follow the traces on the PCB to make sure they're going where you think they're going.

Here is a pic of the backside, dont really know what to look for.

BTW I'm clueless when it comes to electronics, and I appreciate all your help.

 

[jeffy]

Here is a pic of the backside, dont really know what to look for.

BTW I'm clueless when it comes to electronics, and I appreciate all your help.

This is what I'm seeing...

 

[Breezin]

Well I decided f-it and just went for it.
I took the little buggers out........and it worked
It sounds great now.

I didn't try changing the wire locations in the plug,
I thought maybe they might have corrected that
on this version and I don't know how to tell
so I'm leaving it alone.

Thanks, you guys.

 

[jeffy]

Well I decided f-it and just went for it.
I took the little buggers out........and it worked
It sounds great now.

I didn't try changing the wire locations in the plug,
I thought maybe they might have corrected that
on this version and I don't know how to tell
so I'm leaving it alone.

Thanks, you guys.

This is the reason for switching the pickup pinouts. If it doesn't bother you then you don't have to do it. Also, strange that my post has a missing attachment pic, like yours. I did a superimposed image of both the top and bottom of your PCB with C1 & C2 labeled.

"If you want to have as single coil "split coil" with the screws coil, then you need to re-arrange the connector like this picture."

 

[Ed hunter]

This is a simple before and after photo of the PCB, you will also need to swap the pins in the pickup connectors like the first post.

Before:


After: the yellow wires are new which replaced the capacitors.


Hope this helps

So all that was done is to remove the mallory(2nd wire top of pot) and replace it with a regular wire? sounds simple enough but i don't get the why you have to have the screw coil to be that stays on when it is split?
Every Humbucker i have ever split always has the slug coil as the active single coil.
I am doing a repair for someone and they have this PCB and he wants to be able to split the two inner coils of the 490R and 498T.(both slug coils)
So from what i am gathering from this post/pic above is to just replace the mallory with a regular wire,but leave the pu's wire scheme alone?

 

[jeffy]

So all that was done is to remove the mallory(2nd wire top of pot) and replace it with a regular wire? sounds simple enough but i don't get the why you have to have the screw coil to be that stays on when it is split?
Every Humbucker i have ever split always has the slug coil as the active single coil.
I am doing a repair for someone and they have this PCB and he wants to be able to split the two inner coils of the 490R and 498T.(both slug coils)
So from what i am gathering from this post/pic above is to just replace the mallory with a regular wire,but leave the pu's wire scheme alone?

I suggest you look at the first post. The OP switched from the poles from the screws to the slugs. There's a color scheme to change the pin outs.

 

[buschfsu]

ok now im confused. the OP says that Mr G is a bad guy because he activated the studded half and not the screws half. so which should be on? if i leave it stock (i assume that means no screws) will that hurt the tone?

 

[Woodekm]

I don't have a PCB for mine, but have the same exact Push/pulls. What are the top 2 each wires for? (1 new yellow for? and 1 new white for?). Thanks!

 

[Axomann]

ok now im confused. the OP says that Mr G is a bad guy because he activated the studded half and not the screws half. so which should be on? if i leave it stock (i assume that means no screws) will that hurt the tone?

I my opinion the screw coil sounds better if you split the humbucker, but this is only my appreciation of the sound. There are many people who did this change and they are happy with this modification. I can only say, test it

 

[ajay]

I have a 2014 PEACE THAT CAME FROM THE FACTORY WITH NO PCB. Any idea how many came this way from th facotory. In other words, do You know the serial number cut-off for hand-wired? I just thought since You're up on these things You may know. I've been trying to find out for three years now.

 

[doctadre]

Hey guys, revitalizing this since I have a 2016 les Paul standard t, with the pcb. First off, this thread is great because I totally don't like the standard tuned split thing and would rather cut coils, which this will help.

Here is a new question: my tone knob for the neck stopped working. How does one replace the pot? I can't find the exact replacement part, since it has a board with a side tab for switch terminals. I can't find a matching CTS pot. Anyone have clues or info?

Thanks,

Dre

 

[jeffy]

Hey guys, revitalizing this since I have a 2016 les Paul standard t, with the pcb. First off, this thread is great because I totally don't like the standard tuned split thing and would rather cut coils, which this will help.

Here is a new question: my tone knob for the neck stopped working. How does one replace the pot? I can't find the exact replacement part, since it has a board with a side tab for switch terminals. I can't find a matching CTS pot. Anyone have clues or info?

Thanks,

Dre

If you're the original owner then you could also contact Gibson and get it covered by the warranty. I doubt you'll be able to find one ay a guitar store of any sort as they are PCB Mount style which isn't common. If you have the part number then you could probably order one from Mouser or any other electronic component warehouse. So you might also want to contact CTS and show them pics of the potentiometer and see if they can tell you the model number. Gibson won't tell you this info.

 

[doctadre]

Thanks, that actually helped me in taking the part number from the pot itself and searching around. I found something I think is a match. The Part number is 450S3796-L 1536. Not sure what the last 4 mean but I found a close match on ebay. This will make my life a little easier, just need to carefully desolder the old one.

I was going to take a normal consumer CTS push pull and attempt to switch out their board for the board on the Gibson pot. It seems straightforward too but this is one less step. Depending on how hard it is to clean the solder from the old one and take the part out, it might even be easier to leave the small board connected to the large PCB and remove the pot from the small board.

Thanks,
Dre

 

[doctadre]

We'll, I got the part and tried to remove the old pot out to replace it. It was such a pain in the butt to remove the part. Such tiny solder joints and hard to remove enough to get the part out. I finally got it but not enough to have clean holes for the new part and I'm trying to get that one in slowly. Not sure I can get it.

Why did they have to make these a pain to change? Any tips for getting the new pot in? It's sorta stuck and I keep having to heat up each pin to get it in a little but it's not there yet. Not even sure it will work after it's installed, this thing got messy.

Thanks,

Dre

 

[jeffy]

Are you using solder braid or a solder pump to remove the solder? You really need to clear out all the solder to get the whole thing out. Otherwise you'll be there forever reheating the solder to wiggle each leg out a little at a time.

 

[doctadre]

I was using solder braid, and it helped but was still difficult to use and couldn't get it all out. Probably need a soldering iron tip that is thinner or something special. Is there a specific way to use the braid I might have missed?

Well now I'm trying to heat each pin to get the new one in, it's somewhat tricky. I could try to get it out and clear solder more, but I also wonder if heating too much ruined any pads or something on the board. It's very hard to tell.

Dre