I hate les pauls...

Indie P Bass

New member
Ok... so... I've been working on the wiring in my epi paul forever... but... I can't get it to work.
Today, I got the switch to work, but, my volumes knobs are working as tone knobs and my tone knobs are doing nothing. So, I redid my tone controls using a wire bridge instead of the caps as the bridge and it didn't do anything except mute my bridge pickup, which is now clean no matter what kind of drive I use.... this is getting rediculous and I refuse to take her in. I can't find a straight up 2 HB-2V-2T-1S single conductor scheme, either, so, I'm doing this off a composite of many schemes.
 
Re: I hate les pauls...

Go look around on stewmac.com I ordered a new wiring kit from them for Les Pauls, and everything worked brilliantly. The samescheme they send is also posted online.
 
Re: I hate les pauls...

Ashlyn Dane said:
Go look around on stewmac.com I ordered a new wiring kit from them for Les Pauls, and everything worked brilliantly. The samescheme they send is also posted online.
+1
 
Re: I hate les pauls...

that didn't help. I'm still getting four differant tone controls and a clean bridge even with my gain on 20.... something's really farked here. Thanks for the help, though, guys.
 
Re: I hate les pauls...

You didn't follow the wiring diagram perfectly.

Check every single connection one by one until you see where you went wrong.

Something is connected somewhere to something it shouldn't be!

You just have to figure that out...frustrating as it might be.

Can you post a close up digital pic of the inside of the control cavity so we can see the wiring?



Lew
 
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Re: I hate les pauls...

Thames, that wasn't nice.

Indie, check the #1 terminals on the volume pots first and make sure the terminals are solidly grounded to the volume pot chassis. Without a solid ground, the volume pot can sometimes act like a tone pot by passing bottom end signal through the resistive element.

My best suggestion for troublshooting this guitar is to disconnect the tone pots from the circuit and focus on one volume pot. The current LP production wiring connects the pickup to the #3 terminal and the switch to the #2 (center terminal) with the #1 grounded to chassis. Once you get one of the volume pots working correctly you can mirror that wiring to the other volume pot.

Once the volumes are working correctly you can add the tone pots and caps to the circuit.

Production wiring on a LP is pretty simple. The signal originates at the pickup, passes through the volume pot to the switch and from the switch to the jack and out of the guitar. If the #2 terminal is the switch and the #1 terminal is grounded, the switch will be grounded when the pot is in the "0" position. If you ground the switch and jack in this fashion I guarantee your guitar will be silent when the volume pot is in the "0" position.

I suspect a grounding problem.
 
Re: I hate les pauls...

Great advice from Robert!

Just disconnect the two tone controls for now and get your volume controls working right.

When that's done, add the tone controls back into the circuit.
 
Re: I hate les pauls...

Sorry dudes,

I know, it wasnt fair... :smoker:
But that's true, I hate stupidity. :)


Seriously, Indie dude, hating les pauls 'cause you're not handy with schematics and iron isnt really "objective" you know.

There's too much non-objective reviews on this board, and I hate when that happens.
 
Re: I hate les pauls...

Epi's are absolute pieces of ****. mine lasted a whole 4 months before the pots got scratchy, had to replace them. the bridge sucks. the tuners suck.

But you get what you pay for.

gibson les pauls are sweet. epi . . .
 
Re: I hate les pauls...

Well, that may be dew to personal experience! but i have had an epi les paul studio for just over a year, and think its fine!
 
Re: I hate les pauls...

Dooogz said:
Well, that may be dew to personal experience! but i have had an epi les paul studio for just over a year, and think its fine!


of course its 'dew' :laugh2: to personal experience. im just saying you get what you pay for. looks like you bought a nice one. i got a lemon. :smack:
 
Re: I hate les pauls...

Thames said:
Seriously, Indie dude, hating les pauls 'cause you're not handy with schematics and iron isnt really "objective" you know.
I think uhh...I think maybe he was kidding.

I hate ignorance. :laugh:
 
Re: I hate les pauls...

I'm sensing a lot of hate in here. I'm redoing everything from the ground up for the third time. I've been in the cavities countless times, trying to figure out what I did wrong. For a while I had just grounded out the switch, but, once I had the switch working, the pots weren't. So, I was pissed.
Wiring strats and Pauls are two complete differant animals.
Oh, and I'm upgrading to CTS pots, switchs and jacks, that's why I'm doing this.
 
Re: I hate les pauls...

Indie P Bass said:
I'm sensing a lot of hate in here. I'm redoing everything from the ground up for the third time. I've been in the cavities countless times, trying to figure out what I did wrong. For a while I had just grounded out the switch, but, once I had the switch working, the pots weren't. So, I was pissed.
Wiring strats and Pauls are two complete differant animals.
Oh, and I'm upgrading to CTS pots, switchs and jacks, that's why I'm doing this.

Hey Indie,

It's OK dude, I'd just step back from it for a while & let your brain clear out.
Go back at it with a renewed enthusiasm instead of of frustration. You'll get it, bro, no worries. Good luck.

Peace,

Darrin
 
Re: I hate les pauls...

wiring a les paul for me is far easier than wiring a strat. i even figure it out without any schematic diagram. the wire from the pickups go to their respective vol and tone pots and then their respective outputs go to the selector switch and to the output jack , ground the pots and the bridge and you're done. in a strat is far more complicated(3 pickups, 5-way switch, master vol, neck and middle tone control) but easier to work on with all its electronics except the plug is in the scratchplate.
 
Re: I hate les pauls...

I don't know... I guess I just have an easier time wiring a strat becuase of that one cut out... or maybe, I've just wired strats too much.
 
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