Hey guys-- longtime guest, but finally joined the forum as I need some help. I recently got my first Gibson Les Paul used, and unfortunately there was something funky going on with the pickups/electrical. I decided to replace the entire "guts" and pull out the PCB innards. I went with a StewMac "Golden Age" kit with everything there for a traditional Les Paul setup, plus push/pull for single coil operation (as I've heard great things about the JB and Jazz split).
Long story short, the shop I bought the guitar from offered to install the kit free of charge since the previous electronics had an issue. I have installed some pickups before (SSL-1s in my Strat), but never did a total gut job. I figured, why not have them do it free and not worry about it? However, when I went to pick up the guitar, the tech seemed very confused about the modern/50's wiring differences. I had told him I'd prefer "modern" (it's just what I'm used to), and he said he set it up that way-- but removing the panel reveals something a little different than what I expected for modern wiring.
In the diagram from StewMac, it looks like the MIDDLE lug of the tone pot should be where the capacitor is connected, and that the 3rd/right lug should be soldered back to the pot itself. It would appear, to me, that he has it all set up right regarding the capacitors connections on the volume pots, but that with the tone pots he has left the middle lug soldered to the pot (this is the way the StewMac kit came) and used the 3rd/right lug to connect to the capacitor.
Now I'm a little out of my league here, so when I asked the tech about it he seemed unsure, but he also kind of stuck to his guns and said he thought it sounded fine. I'll admit the pickups DO sound fine to my ears overall-- but it did sort of seem like the volume pots "die off" quick. By which I mean it seems to drop off a ton of volume between like 10-7, and then 6-1 is all very similar/almost silent.
I'll attach some pics for those of you better than I to analyze. I feel relatively confident he did the rest of it "right" but please let me know if you see anything amiss. I can always get better pics if something needs more clarity, as well. Thanks in advance for any help!
EDIT: The black pots are push/pulls on the tones-- so that should help with orientation for the photos. I didn't realize until I posted them that some are "upside down"-- sorry!
Long story short, the shop I bought the guitar from offered to install the kit free of charge since the previous electronics had an issue. I have installed some pickups before (SSL-1s in my Strat), but never did a total gut job. I figured, why not have them do it free and not worry about it? However, when I went to pick up the guitar, the tech seemed very confused about the modern/50's wiring differences. I had told him I'd prefer "modern" (it's just what I'm used to), and he said he set it up that way-- but removing the panel reveals something a little different than what I expected for modern wiring.
In the diagram from StewMac, it looks like the MIDDLE lug of the tone pot should be where the capacitor is connected, and that the 3rd/right lug should be soldered back to the pot itself. It would appear, to me, that he has it all set up right regarding the capacitors connections on the volume pots, but that with the tone pots he has left the middle lug soldered to the pot (this is the way the StewMac kit came) and used the 3rd/right lug to connect to the capacitor.
Now I'm a little out of my league here, so when I asked the tech about it he seemed unsure, but he also kind of stuck to his guns and said he thought it sounded fine. I'll admit the pickups DO sound fine to my ears overall-- but it did sort of seem like the volume pots "die off" quick. By which I mean it seems to drop off a ton of volume between like 10-7, and then 6-1 is all very similar/almost silent.
I'll attach some pics for those of you better than I to analyze. I feel relatively confident he did the rest of it "right" but please let me know if you see anything amiss. I can always get better pics if something needs more clarity, as well. Thanks in advance for any help!
EDIT: The black pots are push/pulls on the tones-- so that should help with orientation for the photos. I didn't realize until I posted them that some are "upside down"-- sorry!
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