#1
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"Free" Epi LP wiring
A friend handed me off his grandson's 'free' Epiphone Les Paul. Beautiful honey burst guitar. No rear control cover. A few screws missing elsewhere. One wire unhooked. I'm supposed to give it a once over.
I resoldered the one wire that was unhooked. No dice. I watched a few YT videos and rewired the whole guitar. There's a little output from one pickup and nothing from the middle position or the other way. Upon further research, it seems someone once replaced the original wiring harness with a solderless one, did a terrible hack job of trying to rewire it. And so I suspect that's why it was 'free.' I'll be attempting to put a pre-wired harness (a new one) back in it, as well as replacing the rear control cover and missing screws. I began the setup on it. Stay tuned for the results...
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As my username suggests, huge fan of Yamaha products. Own many acoustic-electric models from 2009-present and a couple electric. Lots of PA too. |
#2
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In that situation the first thing I'd do is direct wire each pickup to make sure they work correctly. It's not unusual to run into a dead pickup, and that might have been why someone replaced the original harness.
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#3
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This is a good page for standard vs 50s wiring for a LP:
https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/t.../lespaulwiring +
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Gibson and Fender Electrics Boutique Tube Amps Martin, Gibson, and Larrivee Acoustics |
#4
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be sure the toggle switch is 100% before you start chasing
One all the Epi's I've had, those toggle switches seem to be something that tend to need a bit more attention. I keep a can of Deoxit contact cleaner handy
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Ray Gibson SJ200 Taylor Grand Symphony Taylor 514CE-NY Taylor 814CE Deluxe V-Class Guild F1512 Alvarez DY74 Snowflake ('78) |
#5
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The pre-soldered wiring harness was ok. Crappy soldering job, but good enough I guess. I took the time to pop the 4 pins out of the harness so I could route the switch lead through the cavity without having to unsolder and resolder the switch. [All the experience in electronics and car audio paying off].
I got a multimeter and tested both pups. Good to go there. I soldered the ground and the pups and began checking everything again. The switch tabs were bottoming out/hitting the cavity of the body and causing things not to work. (I bet this might have been the initial issue based on how things were acting). I used a Dremel tool and enlarged the switch cavity so the switch tabs wouldn't hit the cavity. Voila. All good. I tightened everything down. A pretty nice little 'free Epiphone Les Paul. The rear control cover didn't come close to being a good fit, but it covers the controls. $30 in parts. An hour or two of my time. Thanks for all the suggestions and helpful hints.
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As my username suggests, huge fan of Yamaha products. Own many acoustic-electric models from 2009-present and a couple electric. Lots of PA too. |
#6
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I have rewired many a LP and SG over the years. I don’t care for the metal shielding plate they use in some of the 90s to current USA model Gibsons. They got away from using braided wire and went to some real skimpy small gauge wire. I ripped those whole harnesses and plates out and rewired with premium components. I’ve never regretted doing this upgrade.
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Gibson and Fender Electrics Boutique Tube Amps Martin, Gibson, and Larrivee Acoustics |