Finished my first guitar wiring project / soldering project. Guitar is an older Asian Harmony, probably from early 80s, maybe earlier. Single cut, vaguely Les Paul shape with Les Paul controls (2V/2T, 3-way switch). Neck-through construction.
Removed two mismatched humbuckers, mismatched pickup rings, original potentiometers, original capacitors, all internal wiring, replace with:
- Two Seymour-Duncan P-Rail pickups (each installed backwards per online advice)
- Two new volume pots with push-pull switches (Bourne 500k audio taper)
- Two new tone pots with push-pull switches (no-name 500k linear taper)
- Two NOS capacitors (.033uf paper-in-oil)
- Copper tape shielding in all cavities
- Kept original 3-way switch & input jack
For each pickup, controls do this:
Volume down, Tone down = both coils, series (humbucker)
Volume up, Tone up = both coils, parallel
Volume up, Tone Down = P90 (think I had this backwards on my diagram)
Volume down, Tone up = rail only (think I had this backwards on my diagram)
Using the 3-way switch to vary pickup selection and the four control knobs, there are a total of 24 different combinations with these pickups. First impressions, articulation is bright but also fat, very clear but warm. Great articulation. Some humming in most settings, but mild/acceptable (I used unshielded wiring, might replace with shielded in the future to see if that affects hum).
-Ken
Removed two mismatched humbuckers, mismatched pickup rings, original potentiometers, original capacitors, all internal wiring, replace with:
- Two Seymour-Duncan P-Rail pickups (each installed backwards per online advice)
- Two new volume pots with push-pull switches (Bourne 500k audio taper)
- Two new tone pots with push-pull switches (no-name 500k linear taper)
- Two NOS capacitors (.033uf paper-in-oil)
- Copper tape shielding in all cavities
- Kept original 3-way switch & input jack
For each pickup, controls do this:
Volume down, Tone down = both coils, series (humbucker)
Volume up, Tone up = both coils, parallel
Volume up, Tone Down = P90 (think I had this backwards on my diagram)
Volume down, Tone up = rail only (think I had this backwards on my diagram)
Using the 3-way switch to vary pickup selection and the four control knobs, there are a total of 24 different combinations with these pickups. First impressions, articulation is bright but also fat, very clear but warm. Great articulation. Some humming in most settings, but mild/acceptable (I used unshielded wiring, might replace with shielded in the future to see if that affects hum).
-Ken
