Wiring Options - Opinions Wanted

[VTX-XTC]

I'm getting ready to install some new pickups in my Epi Dot. It's basically the same pickup and control configuration as a Les Paul (2 humbuckers, 2 volume, 2 tone).

Here's the situation....I can connect things up the standard way. With this configuration, when the pickup selector switch is in the middle position (both humbuckers on), turning down either volume control affects both pickups and can completely shut the sound off. An alternative configuration allows the volume controls to act independently as "blend" controls and turning the volume of one pickup down doesn't affect the other pickup's volume. The difference between the configurations is that, in the first, the hot wire from the pickup goes to one side of the pot (terminal 1) and the wiper (terminal 2) feeds the selector switch. In the second configuration, the hot wire from the pickup goes to the wiper (terminal 2) of the pot and the selector switch is connected to one side of the pot (terminal 1). On both configurations, terminal 3 of the pot is connected to ground.

Anybody had experience with both wiring configurations who can offer an opinion as to which is more useful?

[walterw]

i think its established wisdom here on TGP and certainly my experience as well that you sacrifice a lot in terms of vol knob usefulness, pickup tone, and excess noise for the minor advantage of being able to turn one vol all the way off with the switch in the middle.(so put your pickups on the outer lug, not the center lug.)

[VTX-XTC]

Thanks for your quick reply. After doing the post, I did a Google search on the issue and found several informative links which all said basically the same thing you said.

I swapped the P/U's last night and did a "conventional" wiring configuration, with the exception that I added push-pull coil-cuts for each tone control, allowing the splitting of individual P/U's.

BTW....the P/U's I used were the Stew-Mac Golden Age humbuckers. So far, I'm very pleased with the sound. They aren't Lollars, to be sure, but, for the money spent, they are a great upgrade. I especially like the sound of the neck humbucker in split mode. It sounds very much like a Strat neck P/U.

One other thing....and I'm going to call Stew-Mac tech support on this one....the wiring diagram that comes with the P/U's and is also on their web site is not correct. Here's their diagram....



Their suggestion for coil-cut is to wire the P/U so that the Red wire is the hot wire and the bare wire is ground. Then, your coil-cut switch should be connected as shown here...



This is not correct. When connected this way, when you do the coil-cut, you end up with the "slug" coil active instead of the "adjustable polepiece" coil. I ended up changing the wiring as follows....

Red wire connected to terminal 1 of the volume pot. Center terminal of the push-pull switch connected to ground.

Now, when you pull up on the push-pull switch, it grounds the white wire and the "adjustable polepiece" coil is active.

This was a really annoying error, since, to fix it, the electronics have to come back out the "F-hole". Anyone who has done work on a Gibson or clone "335" type guitar understands the frustration I'm talking about.

This Epi Dot, while being by far, the cheapest guitar I own, is my best-playing instrument and rapidly becoming my "go-to" guitar. Now that the P/U change has been accomplished, the only things left to do to have a truly outstanding guitar are to change the nut (I'm going with a Slipstone or graphite nut) and I'm probably going to change the bridge and tailpiece to a Tone-Pros set.

BTW.....here's my "Black Beauty".....

[unklmickey]

Originally Posted by VTX-XTC

...This was a really annoying error, since, to fix it, the electronics have to come back out the "F-hole". Anyone who has done work on a Gibson or clone "335" type guitar understands the frustration I'm talking about....

hey Ken, that's great news. we always like to hear a success story.

FWIW, the F-hole is not a Gib$on approved entry point.

an internet friend of mine went to the factory in Memphis. he tells us they consider workin through the F-hole, taboo.

everything goes in and out through the bridge pickup opening.


unk

[VTX-XTC]

Originally Posted by unklmickey

FWIW, the F-hole is not a Gib$on approved entry point.
an internet friend of mine went to the factory in Memphis. he tells us they consider workin through the F-hole, taboo.
everything goes in and out through the bridge pickup opening.
unk

Good point...on the "real" 335's, everything must come in and out the bridge pickup opening. In fact, if my memory's correct, the F-hole openings are smaller and you can't get stuff out of them very easily. On the Epi Dot's however, you MUST take things in and out of the F-holes. That's the only possible entry and exit point. From the bridge pickup cavity, there's only a small hole to route the wires to the lower cavity. That's a significant difference in the structural makeup of the two "similar but different" instruments. Hmmm....I wonder if it affects the sound in any way....

[unklmickey]

Originally Posted by VTX-XTC

...That's a significant difference in the structural makeup of the two "similar but different" instruments. Hmmm....I wonder if it affects the sound in any way....

i think it wood. (pun intended)

[VTX-XTC]

Originally Posted by unklmickey

FWIW, the F-hole is not a Gib$on approved entry point.

an internet friend of mine went to the factory in Memphis. he tells us they consider workin through the F-hole, taboo.

everything goes in and out through the bridge pickup opening.


unk

That may be true on more recent models, but I was watching the video about the Eric Clapton ES-335, where they have the guitar in Gibson's custom shop and found this to not be true on older 335's. At about 13 minutes into the video, they pull the bridge P/U and point out the 1/4" hole that runs from the P/U cavity to the control cavity. He stated that up to the mid-60's the cavity and wire routing was done that way. Then, they changed and starting routing out the area under the bridge P/U which allowed removal of the control assembly through the P/U cavity. Prior to that, the control assembly had to be removed through the F-hole.

BTW....here's the link for the video....it's really interesting....

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...07652331081865