Requesting guidance on self-installed Jimmy Page harness.

[Ukukus]

Hi, hope I'm posting in the right area. I purchased and installed a Jimmy Page pre-made harness from Hoagland Bros. with 500k matched pots, Vitamin Q caps, Switchcraft, etc... in my 2010 Epi Standard Plus Top. Pickups are Duncan Pearly Gates in the neck and DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge. Both are 4-wire pups. I used a conversion chart to get the wire colors correct between the different manufacturers. I did all connections, including to backs of pots, in solder.

And it sounds great while playing. All push-pulls working correct. I've verified the correct coils are activating per switch combination by tapping the poles with a screwdriver. Reverse-phase sounds like I was expecting, tones good, volumes working good...

Ok, now all that's out of the way... sorry... the problem is that the guitar buzzes like an open ground when I turn the volume(s) down to zero. The buzz goes away when I touch any metal part of the guitar. This does not happen when the volume(s) are turned up. No buzz at all in play mode. But end a song, volume to zero, take hand off guitar, BUZZZZ!!!!

I'm handy with a meter, but what should I be looking for? Maybe resistance in ohms from the back of each pot to the bridge? I'm guessing ground circuit resistance should be near zero all the way round, but honestly I don't know guitar electronics hence my asking here.

Thank you!

 

[rayspang]

Make sure you attached the ground wire from the bridge to the back of one of the pots.

 

[tele-bastard]

Hopefully he doesnt get mad at me for name dropping... but maybe PM Mr. Drained... he is "nice with it" on the Jimmy Page mod.

 

[Ukukus]

I found it. Not by my own diagnostics, but from reading a post by Lyle Caldwell here:

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/tonefreaks/128947-jimmy-page-wiring-ground-issue-help.html

Indeed, reversing the leads to lugs one and two on each volume pot solved the problem. I was hesitant, so I did just the bridge first. Ground buzz when rolling off the bridge volume fixed.

Switch to the neck pickup, original problem still exists. Reversed lugs one and two on the neck volume pot, neck position fixed too.

Lyle Caldwell states in his post that the Seymour Duncan Jimmy Page diagram has both volume pot lugs one and two backwards. Having been through it, and following his suggestion, I agree.

My guitar works correctly now that I have reversed lugs one and two for each of the volume pots.

Thank you, Lyle!

 

[Brian in NJ]

Glad you got it sorted. So how's it sound? Was it the change you were expecting?

 

[Ukukus]

Hi Brian in NJ, it sounds great. The bridge coil-split is probably my favorite feature. It makes the guitar sound almost Fender-like. But really, it's all good. I can sit for hours and just try different push-pull combinations!

One thing I have learned is that the more distorted the amp is, the less noticible the mods to the guitar are. If I gear it to all out metal, you won't hear the significance of a coil-split so much. But when I use crunchy settings (Led Zep for example), the splits, the phase reversal, etc... all make it sound like different guitars.

My Epi LP now has all these flavors to choose from if that makes any sense!

Cheers!