Pickup swap and Jimmy Page wiring on my Epi LP Classic

[ChunkyB]

I have a 2003 Epiphone LP Classic. I was looking for a new tone from it, so I swapped the pickups out for some Gibson 490R/498T pickups. Since they were the 4-wire version, I figured I'd give the Jimmy Page wiring a shot.

I used the diagram from guitarelectronics.com, but the highs dropped out drastically with even a small reduction in the volume knob. This diagram is designed to have independent volume control between the pickups, but that apparently comes at a cost. So, I swapped the pickup wires and the selector switch wires on the volume pots. Other than that, I did it completely according to the diagram.

And, I love it. It sounds great, and gives lots of cool options. Granted, there are some that I will probably never use, but it's sure been fun to mess around with.

Here are some pics, since I know that's all you care about.

P.S. Should I keep the pickguard off, or put it back on?

 

[ben.jammin]

Congrats on your new pickups and wiring! Enjoy those new tones!

That guitar looks great both ways (pickguard on and off).

 

[gsmacleod]

Cool! I just did Page wiring in my Silverburst; I started with a jig and slowly going through all the connections and then toward the end, melted the insulation off a wire. Took everything apart, tried to cut the wires a bit better and although still not perfect, got everything working. I didn't notice the highs dropping out but it has certainly been fun to play with and see what the options are.

Shane

 

[ChunkyB]

Cool! I just did Page wiring in my Silverburst; I started with a jig and slowly going through all the connections and then toward the end, melted the insulation off a wire. Took everything apart, tried to cut the wires a bit better and although still not perfect, got everything working. I didn't notice the highs dropping out but it has certainly been fun to play with and see what the options are.

Shane

If you didn't notice the highs dropping out, you probably did it different than me. That's the problem with that wiring is there are about a million different diagrams for it. I did a jig too, but was lucky enough to get it on my first shot.

Also, silverburst is my absolute favorite finish. I'm jealous.

 

[LPofBorg]

I did a JP harness in a friend's Prophecy and there was no loss of highs. I used the Seymour Duncan diagram and it worked like a charm.

 

[Unsung Heroes]

I put Page wiring in a 2004 White Custom recently and was blown away by the vast plethora and quality of tonal variations! Mind you, it did have some very tasty, boutique, hand-wound pickups fitted at the same time...

 

[MCAN]

I put Page wiring in a 2004 White Custom recently and was blown away by the vast plethora and quality of tonal variations! Mind you, it did have some very tasty, boutique, hand-wound pickups fitted at the same time...

That's the cleanest Page wiring I've ever seen!

 

[Unsung Heroes]

That's the cleanest Page wiring I've ever seen!

Well, that's OCD for ya!

Thanks by the way

 

[ChunkyB]

That's the cleanest Page wiring I've ever seen!

Why thank you!!

 

[Unsung Heroes]

LOL!

Good skills

 

[MCAN]

By comparison, when I bought my first LP, it had JP wiring already done.

It looked like this:

Pretty much the only thing that worked was the coil splitting. And I think a tone knob worked backward.

 

[claven2]

FWIW, has anyone tried it with decent CTS push/pulls?

 

[ChunkyB]

FWIW, has anyone tried it with decent CTS push/pulls?

The pots I used are Bourns, which I think are pretty good. CTS doesn't make push-pulls that I could find. These ones are all 500k log/audio taper. I think they sound great.