Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

Stratman

Stratman

Guitaris Maximus
Now that Gibson uses a printed circuit board with Bournes pots and fixed capacitors and wiring jacks.

Electronically, the 2008 has a BurstBucker Pro 1 at neck and a BurstBucker Pro 2 at the bridge and Bourne gold-plated pots visible through a smoked translucent control cover; also new is the Neutrik locking output jack tidily inset into the guitar's rim.

How many are willing to take that stuff out and replace all of it with Seymour Duncan pups, and old fashion pots and caps?

Come on, what do the rest of you think about Gibson's latest (2008) trend to use circuit boards that can not be changed?
 
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Re: Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

since they're not (yet) available aftermarket, i would just take it all out and put conventional ones. and just put it back if i have to sell it.
 
Re: Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

As for pickups swaps, it shouldn't be a problem.
Just get some connector ends from radio shack and put them on the ends of your
SDs wire ends.
Then it's just plug and play.
No soldering required.

As for swapping pots and caps.
Well, your best off just starting over and removing the whole unit.
Then installing traditional pots and caps.

One thing I've heard is Gibson will eventually offer more boards with different
pots and cap values. So, you'll be able to just swap out circuit boards.
Again, plug and play.
But, it'll be interesting to see what they sock you for them.

There's an ideal for any of you electronics gurus or even SD.
Make different aftermarket replacement boards with different values to compete.
 
Re: Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

They also have the "Traditional" model, which has your standard style pots, caps and connections. There's really no reason to buy a Standard and rip out all of the internals, just get a Traditional.
 
Re: Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

This kind of parallels the thread regarding Gibsons and coil taps. Most of Gibson's market isn't going to care enough to replace the stock electronics, so if they can install a printed unit for less than the cost of paying an American laborer to solder in pots and caps, they're going to do it. Modders be ****ed, I suppose. Hopefully no one will be foolish enough to replace the stock board with an aftermarket board... I'll bet when those come out they'll be double the cost of 4 pots and a couple capacitors.
 
Re: Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

Was there anything really wrong with the old technology? The answer is NO.

The change is for Gibson's convenience, and not for the end user. Whether it makes sense for the end user is debatable.

This new configuration would allow Gibson to farm the work to other nations. Whether they are planning to doing this, is pure speculation on my part. A trial period to build 100% of them in the USA, could lead to a stepped progam of farming out a larger portion of them, until that number reaches 0% USA. < This makes sense, actually...we ARE talking about Gibson.
 
Re: Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

I don't see the fuss. For year Gibson has mounted the pots on a metal plate- pre wired outside the body, and the only soldering connections once the plate is put in the guitar is to solder the pickups to the pots... If you wanted to replace a pot, you'd have to rip all knobs and all 4 pots out. The prior Gibson pots were gorrible, so the bourns pots and boorad are an improvement. I'm you're looking to do mods, buy a Studio or Traditional
 
Re: Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

Gibson has obviously made this move for financial reasons but couldn't it be possible that there might be some ancillary benefits? One of my strats is wired completely on a circuit board, the entire area under the pickguard is a circuit board with the pickups mounted right on it, their leads cut about a 1/2" in length. The guy who came up with the design did it to increase noise rejection and that guitar indeed has less noise than any in my collection.
 
Re: Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

As long as everything works, continues to work and sounds good I wouldn't rip the stuff out. My 81' Les Paul still sports it's original pots........I'm about to swap them out for new ones soon, they're 27 years old and I want to go with 500k and maybe a push-pull or two.
 
Re: Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

The only problem I see is in repairing them. Now I have to buy special pots to work on some new Gibsons.

I tend to gut all my personal guitars so those dont matter.
 
Re: Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

We must remember that there is nothing wrong with pcb's *IF* they are good quality ie. plated thru holes and strong enough copper so it won't get ripped off when soldering iron more than shown to them. It would be actually easier to swap pickups since there is no need to heat the back of the pot and it's better for making a good grounding schemes and no extra wires will be hanging inside the cavity. Then again, if it's bad, all the serviceability is thrown out the window. This is something that good be excellent or horrible, especially horrible since the cost diffirence is mere cents with guitar size pcb's. We'll see...
 
Re: Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

PCB mounted controls aren't really new. A number of Asian guitar companies have been using PCB's since the 70's. Old Univox guitars had them. It makes sense from a mass production standpoint since the process of creating PCB's can be automated. It makes modification difficult but not impossible.
 
Re: Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

I've got a stock Yamaha SBG200 with a circuit board for the controls. It kicks royal boo-tay.
 
Re: Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

You guys crack me up.

If there wasn't already a Traditional, you'd all say "they should make one without all this bull****."

THEY DO!

SHUT UP!
 
Re: Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

bryvincent said:
since they're not (yet) available aftermarket, i would just take it all out and put conventional ones. and just put it back if i have to sell it.
Click to expand...

That's what I've done for three customers already, no big deal.
 
Re: Gibson's Les Pauls Bourns Pots and Circuit boards

ImmortalSix said:
You guys crack me up.

If there wasn't already a Traditional, you'd all say "they should make one without all this bull****."

THEY DO!

SHUT UP!
Click to expand...

that's the funny thing...you have to specifically spend an extra $600 for a Standard with the upgrades...if you hate the modern ****, save your money and stop crying cuz the Trad is the SAME ****IN THING.

sometimes i think of these forums as giant kleenex that wipe up the tears and spittle of the "VINTAGE ONLY" crowd.
 
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