NPD. Just got in some probuckers from ebay, but won't be able to install for a bit...

[cgm]

I have an Epi Black Beauty that is at my Luthier getting fixed... HERE is a link w/ pics .

Once I get it back, I am hoping to put my probuckers in the neck and bridge positions and put a humbucker-sized p90 in the middle. From what I have read and had confirmed by one of the vendors here that specialize in wiring harnesses, it is likely I will never get a true p90 sound from the middle... but that is another question for another time. I am hoping to come across a gold PB2 to put in the middle as a back up plan.

My new PB's have the five wire plugs to go into the push pulls. I will likely cut off the connectors and install them into my current harness for a bit before I decide what to do with the middle pickup.




What is the deal with the thick black wire going into the 5 pin connector? Is that the "bare" wire? Would I just twist it with the ground wire (I think the thin black wire) and solder both to the back of the pot?

Do the Epiphone wires match the colors of a Gibson 4-wire Pup?

Is it possible for me to test these with a multimeter with the connectors on? Could I just test each individual coil by putting the red multimeter lead on the red "North Start" wire on the pup and the black multimeter line on the white "North Finish"... then repeat down the coils? I am a little nervous that the leads might have been pulled out

 

[TheAce93]

Nice looking Black Beauty you have there!

I just got one the other day, I'm happy sound I'm getting from the stock Alnico Classic pickups... for now. I was thinking of changing to a Dimarzio PAF/PAF/Super Distortion setup one day though.

Were you not happy with the stock pups? Or do you just prefer the Probuckers?

 

[cgm]

When it is time to install them, does this look right?

 

[cgm]

Nice looking Black Beauty you have there!

I just got one the other day, I'm happy sound I'm getting from the stock Alnico Classic pickups... for now. I was thinking of changing to a Dimarzio PAF/PAF/Super Distortion setup one day though.

Were you not happy with the stock pups? Or do you just prefer the Probuckers?

Thanks! I can't wait to get it back after getting the neck refinish done. My luthier said that the fret board is rock solid. He fixed it 9 months or so ago and then my guitar got lost amongst the stuff in his shop after he had hand surgery. I don't mind waiting because his work is excellent and I get friend prices... and that was before he dropped the ball on my guitar. In the end, he is more than making up for it, so I can't complain. I checked it out a few weeks ago, it looks great, he just needs to spray the finish, then fret dress and set it up.

I never really loved the stock pickups... nevermind the fact that the neck pickup literally falls apart when I take it out. My old Epi had BurstBucker 2 & 3's and I really liked those pickups. I sold the BB's and put stock pups back and sold the Epi when I got my Gibson Studio which has gold hardware. The Probuckers were $26 shipped to my door, so I feel like there isn't a ton of risk in trying them out. I have been watching ebay for months hoping to find a deal on gold BB's but haven't had any luck. I started to think about the DiMarzio 36th Anniversary PAF's, but for a fraction of the price, I will try the PB's first.

 

[TheAce93]

Sorry I can't answer your questions about how to install your Probuckers, I'm sure one of the experts here will be able to help.

For $26 I may have to try out the Probuckers myself... very tempting

What made you want/need the neck refinishing?

 

[cgm]

What made you want/need the neck refinishing?

There were some finish cracks arounds the fretboard running down to the 2nd-3rd frets.



I learned not to drive for over an hour each way to trade guitars two days after a vasectomy. I was blinded by the super clean Black Beauty and in a ton of pain, so i took a gamble on the damage being a simple fix. It had a horribly cut brass nut on it, I was hoping the finish cracks were a result of the finish not being scored around the nut before it was tapped out. The fretboard did not move, so i figured this was a safe(ish) risk. In reality, I probably could have just left it as it was and played with it. I was planning on selling it, and wanted to make sure that it was in good shape.

It really is a nice guitar, so I will probably keep it for a while. If I can get decent sound out of a p90 humbucker in the middle position, then it will be a swiss army knife of a guitar... Humbuckers, p90 and a Bigsby. If I do sell it, I know I will regret it.

 

[Pflug]

Swapped a few of these out- the wiring follows the "Gibson" on your chart and it looks like you have it correct- "big wire" is the ground, red pickup "hot", black pickup ground, then green and white together for normal series hookup- grounding the green and white will give you the coil split

 

[cvrle1]

Those look familiar Man they arrived fast! HNPD

 

[cgm]

Those look familiar Man they arrived fast! HNPD

Thanks again for passing these along! They were at my mailbox on Friday when I got home from work. The Ebay seller was almost as good as Amazon Prime for shipping time.

Now I need to figure our how to test these so I can confirm that the wire didn't get ripped out. The seller had each pup supper-tightly wrapped in bubble wrap, then the bubble wrapped pups were then bubble wrapped again... to be safe, there was even more bubble wrap between the pups in the box! The seller was great so I want to give him the positive feedback, i jsut want to see if I can confirm that they function first.

 

[Vinkuhippula]

Just measure between start and finish on each coil, you should get a resistance reading.

 

[cgm]

Just measure between start and finish on each coil, you should get a resistance reading.

I am guessing it doesn't really matter which multimeter lead I put on start and which one on finish, right? Is it safe to assume that as long as I get a reading, on each coil, then the lead wire didn't get ripped out?

 

[cgm]

I took out the multimeter I got for free at Harbor Freight and decided to see what I find! Here are my results for the first time trying to use a multimeter... this should be an indicator of how new I am to all of this stuff. Google told me to have the black lead on "com" and the red lead on "v Ohms mA". The dial is set to 20k ohms.

Neck
north coil: 4.05
south coil: 3.87

bridge
north coil: 4.35
south coil: 4.22

I am pretty sure the stock resistance of the whole pickups should be around 7-8 k for the neck and slightly hotter for the bridge, so i think i am good there. Am i missing anything? Thanks everyone, I think you helped me answer all of my answers for now...

 

[Vinkuhippula]

You can, if you want to, check the coils in series by connecting the green and white and then measuring between red and black. But sounds like the pups are good to go.