Pots and caps for a Les Paul.

papersoul

papersoul

New member
Hi Guys,


I have a totally stock 2003 LP Standard other than the aluminum tail piece. This guitar has the Burstbucker Pros. I have been through a few wiring changes, pickup changes, and even pot/cap changes but never one at a time so I kind of feel I am starting from scratch.

This LP is bright, lively, and rich in tone. It does not need more high end clarity, but the current pots/caps do very little! I was going to replace the stock electronics with CTS pots and Orange drop caps while using the exact same values as currently in the guitar, because to my ears it works. But, I want the better functionality, jence the better caps/pots, etc. I will be reaplcing the two stock 300 linear volumes with two CTS audio taper 300 volumes and replacing the tones with CTS audio taper 500ks. I also have the stock ceramic disks which will be replaced with orange drops. Since, I think the stock values give good tone, I want to keep things constant.

I thought about various wiring diagrams, 50s, kits to tame treble, using a 300k in place of the bridge tone, etc. I am fearfull that changing anything in the standard wiring will give me something I don't like. I kind of like the stock pickups, but I just want better components.

I am hoping this does not have to go to my tech and that I can do this myself! I hear it is tough to get the pots situated in the Les Paul plate that sits in the cavity. True?

Any advice would be great guys!

I am not ruling out the possibility of swapping pickups in the future and hopfully something like the Duncan C-5/59 will work with the 300k volumes. I know plenty of guys like gearjoneser who have installed Duncans and not changed the pots/caps so I should be fine.

Thanks guys! :)
 
Re: Pots and caps for a Les Paul.

i just rewired my guild bluesbird with better components like you. I found it easiest to just gut it and start with the lead and ground from the pickup and the wires that go to the switch. Just follow the diagram and you should be fine, though i would use 500k pots for the volume as i think they give you better control over your volume and i don't know what value the cap is in your paul but i am really liking the .22 orange drop in my guild.

Someone else will have to advise you on the plate thing cause i don't have one in the bluesbird, but i wish you luck
 
Re: Pots and caps for a Les Paul.

Thanks, the only reason I want to keep the values the same is because this guitar seems to work best with less annoying highs when using 300k values.
 
Re: Pots and caps for a Les Paul.

I use a bigger cap fot the bridge of my LP than the one for the neck. I have a .022 for the neck and I beleive it's a .047 for the bridge.

BTW, I like 50's wiring myself.
 
Re: Pots and caps for a Les Paul.

benjy that is a good idea to use two different value caps on the the different pickups. I may have to try that to tame some of the high end in mine. Time to open her up again, maybe.
 
Re: Pots and caps for a Les Paul.

i suggest swapping your pickups with paf style HBs with alnico II magnets(antiquities,seths, A2pro, BB1,BB2,BB3, 57classics , tom holmes etc.) or change the BB pro A5 mags with A2. And use 500k pots and orange drop or bumbblebee caps. your lp will sound sweet . i also recommend converting your bridge to abr-1.
 
Re: Pots and caps for a Les Paul.

mrfjones said:
benjy that is a good idea to use two different value caps on the the different pickups. I may have to try that to tame some of the high end in mine. Time to open her up again, maybe.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jonesy! :)

BTW, I also use a 250k pusk/pull pot as the bridge tone control. i use it to split the PG's I have in my Paul. I initially used it because that was the only value I hade readily availabe, but my bridge pickup seems to really like that combo. it still has a lot of air and chime without getting abrasive (to my ears, at least).
 
Re: Pots and caps for a Les Paul.

bryvincent said:
i suggest swapping your pickups with paf style HBs with alnico II magnets(antiquities,seths, A2pro, BB1,BB2,BB3, 57classics , tom holmes etc.) or change the BB pro A5 mags with A2. And use 500k pots and orange drop or bumbblebee caps. your lp will sound sweet . i also recommend converting your bridge to abr-1.
Click to expand...

If I'm not mistaken, I thought he said he liked his current BB Pro's. :burnout:
 
Re: Pots and caps for a Les Paul.

from the first post(last paragraph)he said there's a possibility of swapping pickups in the future
 
Re: Pots and caps for a Les Paul.

Try the 50s wiring...I Just wired a forum member's Les Paul with the 50s wiring and it really kept the highend for him with his Alnico 2 Pro humbuckers,though the 50s wiring never works quite right in my own Les Paul for some reason?

I Like to use a .022 Orange Drop at the bridge with CTS brand 500k pots and a .015 Orange Drop at the neck... .047 is too dark for me in my Gibson instruments...

John
 
Re: Pots and caps for a Les Paul.

I could be wrong, but I doubt you'll hear much of a differance. I think if you want to hear your pots do more than "very little" you need to make some changes...not keep them virtually the same.

1. Personally, I'd do the 50's mod John mentioned. That's very simple. All you do is connect the tone cap to the middle terminal of your volume control instead of to the same terminal the pickup is attached to.

2. I'd go ahead and swap out the disc caps to a pair of .02 Orange Drops, but if your current caps are .02 you probably won't hear much of a differance...unless you do the 50's mod described above. But the diff will come mostly from connecting the cap differantly...not from changing from a disc cap to an orange drop.

3. I'd go with all 500K CTS audio taper pots...

4. You may not like any of the mods in #1, 2 and 3 because all of them will tend to bring out the highs and add more clarity to your guitar's tone...and you don't seem to be after that kind of change.

Lew
 
Re: Pots and caps for a Les Paul.

bryvincent said:
i suggest swapping your pickups with paf style HBs with alnico II magnets(antiquities,seths, A2pro, BB1,BB2,BB3, 57classics , tom holmes etc.) or change the BB pro A5 mags with A2. And use 500k pots and orange drop or bumbblebee caps. your lp will sound sweet . i also recommend converting your bridge to abr-1.
Click to expand...

Mine does have the ABR-1 bridge but my tech says the Nashville is a little better.
 
Re: Pots and caps for a Les Paul.

papersoul said:
No, because I haven't spent much time on the LPs with the Nashville bridge.
Click to expand...
LP Standards come with nashville bridge stock since '77. did you changed the bridge immediately after you bought it?
 
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