Basic Les Paul Wiring Questions

[NT02]

I recently purchased the RS Guitarworks Premium LP Wiring Kit, that comes with it's own "special" wiring diagram that is supposed to fix the limitations of the modern and 50s wirings. Here are the differences between them as far as I can tell:

1. Modern wiring - the way my stock 2002 LP Classic is wired
2. 50s wiring - moves capacitor lead to the middle tab on volume pot instead of the same tab that the pickup is wired to (like modern wiring).
3. RS Guitarworks special wiring - moves the capacitor lead to the outside tab of the volume pot, the one that is grounded to the pot body, opposite of the tab the pickup is wired to.

Please, someone, tell me - what are the differences between these three different wiring schemes?

The kit comes with 4 500k CTS pots, Hovland .022 caps, and an optional high pass cap/resistor circuit. I'd also like to know how this optional high pass circuit will work with any of the three wiring schemes.

I am looking to purchase a set of Seth Lovers or Antiquities based on advice from those in this forum, and would like to compliment this decision with the best wiring choice, for soft cleans to hot rocking tones with a good dose of blues in between, played through my Peavey Classic 30, POD, Randall RG75.

Any and all responses are most appreciated. Thanks.

 

[John Wymore]

Re: Basic Les Paul Wiring Questions

The main advantage of the wiring RS uses is that there is less roll off of highs as the volume control is turned down. We use the same wiring in our kits and it does make a difference. The question really comes down to what you personally like better.

Just FYI, the 500K pots will improve clarity and add some brightness to the guitar. The quality caps will make your tone controls more useful. The treble tamer circuit is basically just a treble bleed.

Hope this helps ...

 

[NT02]

Re: Basic Les Paul Wiring Questions

Cool, thanks for the response. I'll probably upgrade the electronics this weekend, then upgrade the pickups next weekend. That way I can see how the individual upgrades affect the tone, so I'll know what to play with if I ever wanna change the tone.