Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

[ccrandall88]

Hey everyone,

I just installed a new Whole Lotta Humbucker in the bridge of my 2013 LP standard. Few things, it was pretty quiet, I had to raise the pickup way high and lower my neck pickup pretty low to get a balanced sound out of it. It also gave my guitar an INSANE amount of treble. Has anyone else had this experience with them?

 

[El Supremo]

Re: Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

Absolutely not.
Have you soldered red and white together and made sure they're insulated? If they accidentally touch a grounding point, only one coil will be heard. This might well be your problem.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

I've definitely not had an issue with very high treble. It seems to be very even across the spectrum to my ears.

 

[ccrandall88]

Re: Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

See that's what it sounds like too, that its going in parallel, but I dont think so, I watched the guy at guitar center wire it (im too afraid to do anything on my own). It had one of those gibson "quick connect" burstbuckers or whatever in it so what he did was cut the end off of it that plugged into the board, soldered the wires together, insulated them, and called it a day. But the volume disparity is insane and I can't get over how insanely bright/trebley it sounds.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

Where he's soldered the wires together, can you map out which wire has been soldered to which? We should be able to determine whether it has been done correctly from that. Also a photograph of the wiring would be helpful too.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

I watched the guy at guitar center wire it ... It had one of those gibson "quick connect" burstbuckers or whatever in it so what he did was cut the end off of it that plugged into the board, soldered the wires together, insulated them, and called it a day.

Gibson and SD output conductor insulation colour codes employ the same four colours but in different orders. Your tech has connected up the SD pickup according to the Gibson convention.

Consequently, the phase relationship between the coils is wrong.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

See that's what it sounds like too, that its going in parallel, but I dont think so, I watched the guy at guitar center wire it (im too afraid to do anything on my own). It had one of those gibson "quick connect" burstbuckers or whatever in it so what he did was cut the end off of it that plugged into the board, soldered the wires together, insulated them, and called it a day. But the volume disparity is insane and I can't get over how insanely bright/trebley it sounds.

he's wired it wrong and hes both sloppy and lazy. He does not give a stuff about you or your guitar and just wanted to get the job done quick and nasty and take your cash.
This is a good opportunity actually:
take pics of the inside and document his process, and explain the outcome - and then get your money back. Tell them that you do not want him to fix things. get your money back.
with the cash in hand, go to your local electronics shop and pick up a cheap soldering kit. Order some nice 500k pots and a pair of .022uf capacitors.
Google "how to solder" - or even better "how to wire a les paul". then get the wiring diagram from the SD website for a les paul.
Do it yourself.
You will have learned two new things:
1. How to do your own wiring
2. That its not worth paying someone else to stuff it up for you.

Wiring and soldering stuff is easier than you think. If you make a mistake you can always un-solder things and fix it up. A little googling and perhaps 10 minutes of practicing soldering/desoldering some components on an old dead radio or cd player and you are good to go.

 

[ccrandall88]

Re: Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

Thanks for all the help everyone. I'm having my guitar tech buddy come over to take a look at it and give me some pointers (I dont know why I didnt go to him first). I really appreciate all the quick responses.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

Thats a heck of a mess to start learning on though, if you're talking about the quick connect and circuit board crap Gibson is putting in them lately. I'd gut the whole thing and start from scratch with normal pots if it was mine, but that is a lot of wiring for your first time. Just take it back to the shop and tell him to fix his mistake. He obviously has it wrong. Those pickups sound fantastic in a Les Paul.

 

[ccrandall88]

Re: Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

Thats a heck of a mess to start learning on though, if you're talking about the quick connect and circuit board crap Gibson is putting in them lately. I'd gut the whole thing and start from scratch with normal pots if it was mine, but that is a lot of wiring for your first time. Just take it back to the shop and tell him to fix his mistake. He obviously has it wrong. Those pickups sound fantastic in a Les Paul.

Yea, it's the quick connect. The first thing I thought of when I saw it was "hmmm, I should swap that out." What do you need to swap that out? SOrry for all the questions, I'm just so naive when it comes to this kind of stuff.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

Here is the relevant SD Support page. http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=color_codes

 

[ccrandall88]

Re: Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

Fixed the problem and HOLY BALLS it sounds awesome. Love the pickup now that it's all fixed up. Huge thank you to everyone that helped out.

 

[El Supremo]

Re: Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

Fixed the problem and HOLY BALLS it sounds awesome. Love the pickup now that it's all fixed up. Huge thank you to everyone that helped out.

Almost had the first negative review scoop there. Glad you got it fixed, it's an awesome pickup.

 

[SJ318]

Re: Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

Hi,
ccrandell88- take heart! I had to learn soldering the hard way. My L.Paul bridge pick up broke one night on the road, I was very young and had never fixed anything. That night after the gig I took everthing apart, took the pickup tape off with shaky hands and lo and behold-I saw two wires that were loose, they looked like they should not be hanging exposed like that, the "copper" wire color matched, and all else looked ok, at least from what it looked like. So I had exactly your problem, just for a different reason.
Only one coil was working, so there was a hardware shop and the guy said, I don't know what it is -but you need to solder those guys together. I still have the same soldering iron (not gun), and I soldered them together with a faint heart at 10 the next morning and bang, everything worked. If I can do it by educated guessing, you got it all wrapped up.
Any questions, the forum guys'll fix ya right up.
SJ

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

Fixed the problem and HOLY BALLS it sounds awesome. Love the pickup now that it's all fixed up. Huge thank you to everyone that helped out.

Excellent news - all is right with the world again. For a moment there, I thought we has a crisis on our hands...

 

[ExplorersRock]

Re: Question about the Whole Lotta Humbucker

Welcome to the forum! Glad you were able to get them fixed. The WLH set is really an incredible pair of pickups.