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Les Paul Master Vol Wiring Help

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  • Les Paul Master Vol Wiring Help

    So, I've been thinking about re-wiring my Les Paul so that the Bridge volume becomes a Master Volume with Two Tones and the Neck volume pretty much does nothing. I've only recently started soldering and installed my first set of Duncan pickups with the help of SD's video lesson but I still get a bit confused with wiring diagrams.

    I've found many different versions of this Master Vol wiring online but I'm not sure which one is the simplest and I gues closest to the stock Gibson way I already have now, or if I need to add or remove anything. Every diagram I've found only shows pictures so I don't really know where to start.

    My wiring has the metal plate underneath and it only adds to the confusion since none of the diagrams I've found have both that and the terminal in the middle.

    Sorry for the maybe really basic problem but I really want to try it myself before paying a tech to do it for me!
    RIFF LIFE

  • #2
    Re: Les Paul Master Vol Wiring Help

    You'd have to rearrange the wiring scheme a little bit. Basically now you are going to need to place the master volume control AFTER the switch, where before, your signal from each pickup would hit it's respective volume control, tone control, then the switch , then the output.

    Now you need each pickup to run through its respective tone control, each one of those gets connected to a terminal on the switch, then the switch goes to the master volume, which then runs to the output jack. Does that make a little more sense now? I'm no wiring master but that's how I'd do it

    Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk

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    • #3
      Re: Les Paul Master Vol Wiring Help

      This is pretty straight forward and this diagram should be pretty easy to follow (the pot at the top is mislabeled, should read "NECK" tone).

      What do you mean by "the metal plate underneath"?
      Originally Posted by IanBallard
      Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone.

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      • #4
        Re: Les Paul Master Vol Wiring Help

        Originally posted by GuitarDoc View Post
        This is pretty straight forward and this diagram should be pretty easy to follow (the pot at the top is mislabeled, should read "NECK" tone).

        What do you mean by "the metal plate underneath"?
        IIRC newer Gibsons have this metal plate which all 4 pots are attached to. Like this

        Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk

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        • #5
          Re: Les Paul Master Vol Wiring Help

          Originally posted by GuitarDoc View Post
          What do you mean by "the metal plate underneath"?
          This kind of wiring, I don't really know what the name is but I believe you have that plate instead of the ground running through each pot. Click image for larger version

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          RIFF LIFE

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          • #6
            Re: Les Paul Master Vol Wiring Help

            Yup that's exactly it
            RIFF LIFE

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            • #7
              Re: Les Paul Master Vol Wiring Help

              So, the closest diagram I found to your example was this one, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the only difference would be that in here both tones are going directly to the switch instead of the terminal first then switch, but I guess in the end it's the same thing really (Pickups-Tones-Switch-MasterVol-Output) right? And yes, now that you put an order to it, it actually makes sense to me haha.

              Also, the ground is wired to the neck volume. Do I need to move it to the bridge volume? Or is the plate doing that job already?

              Thanks a lot for the reply btw!
              Click image for larger version

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              RIFF LIFE

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              • #8
                Re: Les Paul Master Vol Wiring Help

                That diagram is exactly what I had been thinking of! I think you can continue to use the back of the neck volume pot as a ground even if nothing is hooked up to the pot itself . It'll still be part of the ground loop. So if it's easier to just leave it there, you might as well.

                Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk

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                • #9
                  Re: Les Paul Master Vol Wiring Help

                  Ok now I’m really in need for some help. I am sort of finished but I ran into a few problems. First one, as you can see in the next pic (sorry for the probably terrible soldering job) I have no way of giving ground signal to the output thats in the middle, so I connected the black wire from the selector switch (that is on the neck volume pot in this pic) in that middle terminal and now it “sounds” but neither volume knob works. Also, for some reason both tones are reversed, so when I raise either of them they have less tone and when they are at 0 the tone is maxed out.Click image for larger version

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                  Last edited by aceoftrons; 02-25-2020, 03:46 PM.
                  RIFF LIFE

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                  • #10
                    Re: Les Paul Master Vol Wiring Help

                    Sorry, I forgot to include the link to the diagram earlier.



                    Since you have the metal plate with the grounding lugs, just attach the green and bare wires from each pup to the grounding lug in the middle of the plate...no need to run wires on the backs of the pots.

                    However, if I were you, I'd disconnect everything, remove all of the solder blobs with some solder wick, and start all over again following this diagram.
                    Originally Posted by IanBallard
                    Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Les Paul Master Vol Wiring Help

                      Originally posted by aceoftrons View Post
                      Ok now I’m really in need for some help. I am sort of finished but I ran into a few problems. First one, as you can see in the next pic (sorry for the probably terrible soldering job) I have no way of giving ground signal to the output thats in the middle, so I connected the black wire from the selector switch (that is on the neck volume pot in this pic) in that middle terminal and now it “sounds” but neither volume knob works. Also, for some reason both tones are reversed, so when I raise either of them they have less tone and when they are at 0 the tone is maxed out.[ATTACH=CONFIG]103498[/ATTACH]
                      The tone pots are wired incorrectly.
                      Originally Posted by IanBallard
                      Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone.

                      Comment

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