59 Model set in a Les Paul

jep1210

New member
So I swapped out the stock pick ups in my Les Paul Studio with a 59 set (bridge and neck). I went with the single conductor option. The new pick ups work fine with the switch in the rhythm and treble position but when I put it in the blend position (middle) I'm getting only about 1% output from the neck pick up. I can't figure out what am I missing. Any advice would be appreciated.

John
 
Re: 59 Model set in a Les Paul

Hi John, are the 59 new or used? Besides the low volume, is also the sound quite funny thin with no bass and mids? When you put down the volume knob of the neck down to 8, the sound is quite different and more full?
 
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Re: 59 Model set in a Les Paul

Try to balance the pickup heights better, that's the first thing I do before I try to diagnose the problem as an electrical issue.
 
Re: 59 Model set in a Les Paul

A little information if it helps, I pulled the bridge pickup out and with only the neck PU installed and connected, I get a tiny bit of output out of the neck PU with the selector in the bridge position with the neck volume and the bridge volume turned up.
 
Re: 59 Model set in a Les Paul

A little information if it helps, I pulled the bridge pickup out and with only the neck PU installed and connected, I get a tiny bit of output out of the neck PU with the selector in the bridge position with the neck volume and the bridge volume turned up.
Completly normal!
With my question above i tried to find out whether your pickups are magnetically/electrically out of phase.
 
Re: 59 Model set in a Les Paul

Hi John, are the 59 new or used? Besides the low volume, is also the sound quite funny thin with no bass and mids? When you put down the volume knob of the neck down to 8, the sound is quite different and more full?

Completly normal!
With my question above i tried to find out whether your pickups are magnetically/electrically out of phase.

Sorry guys I just noticed the replies. The 59s are brand new. The sound is actually nice and full throughout the volume sweep until about 5 when it starts to affect the sound the way its supposed to.

Yes Hamerfan, I tried another Les Paul and it's with red face I realized in the middle position, both volumes control volume of both pickups on a Les Paul. I feel really stupid and at the same time accomplished :-D Sorry for muddling up the forum.
 
Re: 59 Model set in a Les Paul

If the wired correctly (core wire to hot, braided shield to pot case = ground), one of the mags was reverse installed. The cure would be to swap one of the magnets.
 
Re: 59 Model set in a Les Paul

If the wired correctly (core wire to hot, braided shield to pot case = ground), one of the mags was reverse installed. The cure would be to swap one of the magnets.

This is originally what I thought. It has happened, although rare, before. If this is the case, it was just a mistake during production.
 
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