blackout Posted November 14, 2005 Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 Hi All, I'm Sam, 17 years old and i live in belgium... and just like all of you guys over here i have one big passion: guitars... Now, that's enough for my introduction, I Have an Epiphone Les Paul 100 that i have for a year now or so, but i bought it second hand and it sucks like hell... there are pieces out of the body, ... Anyway, i'm planing to repair the guitar, and while i'm busy, why not give it a new "touch"... i'm planning to sand it down and keep the "wood" colour... Hereby i'm starting with the neck which i'm going to sand down and then make it black... But before i start with sanding the neck i have a question do i have to sand untill the green or blue line? I'm not going to touch my frets and the fretboard and inlay's, etc. I'm going to keep that... so i just want to sand the whole neck and then tape off the fretboard and paint it like that... So... could anyone help me find that answer (yeah, it's probably a stupid question, but hey... it's my first time i'm doing it...) Ohyeah, forgive me for my bad english, i'm from belgium like i said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackout Posted November 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 Nobody? I Assume this is an easy question? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledzendrix1128 Posted November 14, 2005 Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 I cant see your picture, im not sure if anyone else is having the same problem. But it sounds like you have the right idea. I just did a refinish, not on the neck though. The only thing im gonna tell you is this: I wouldnt sand down to the wood on an epiphone, you may be shocked at what you find. I sanded down my body until i got to the primer and repainted it (my guitar was bolt on so there was no need for me to do anything to the neck). But what im tryin to say is that my epiphone was made out of plywood, I dont know how much luck you will have with yours, some of the higher end models might be made out of real wood im guessing. I cant see your picture though, the main thing is this: If you have an epiphone, and it has a solid color, they painted over it for a reason (crappy wood). But it seems to me like you said you wanted to "keep" the natural wood look. Im guessing that means it already has a translucent finish of some kind? If you get the picture up (not sure if its just my computer) im sure people could answer your question a little better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackout Posted November 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 here? can you see them here? there are two pics, the guitar and a pic of the pic i posted here with two lines on them... Anyway, i already screwed out the pickups, and its not made of plywood i guess... there is a wood texture visible at top (as you can see on that first picture... its a real shitty burst with in the middle a wood texture) and if i look in the hole's where the pickups are in i see that the wood is in one piece... And another question... for all the hardware, can i just cut the cable's... i'm planning to buy everything new, there are going two EMG pickups in there (EMG 81 & 60) and my volumeknobs (or how you describe it, i dont know the word ) just keep turning, so i'm going to replace them to... also the input, etc. I Just need to know how i need to solder it back that it works... any schedules from a les paul? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledzendrix1128 Posted November 14, 2005 Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 And another question... for all the hardware, can i just cut the cable's... i'm planning to buy everything new, there are going two EMG pickups in there (EMG 81 & 60) and my volumeknobs (or how you describe it, i dont know the word ) just keep turning, so i'm going to replace them to... also the input, etc. I Just need to know how i need to solder it back that it works... any schedules from a les paul? ← As far as cutting the wires to the pickups, id say cut the wire close to where they are connected to the Rhythm/treble switch. This way you can re use the wire on the pickups in the future If you wanna use the pickups on another project (you most likely will, cuz like me, your gonna get addicted to tinkering with guitars). And if your volume pots keep turning, it could be a problem with the nuts you tighten. Then again, your pots could just be busted. And i still cant see your pics, but its cuz im at school and that URL is blocked. So ill check on it when i get to my home computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackout Posted November 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 Well... i checked the volume pots, and they work fine now, they're out entirelly, so i can use them again... Anyhow, is there anyone who has a wiring schedule or something of an les paul? Or is a wiring schedule included when i buy new pickups? (i heard there is a wiring schedule included, so if i find someone who can read and understand that, he can make the thing work just like normal (that won't be difficult, my neighbour is an eletrician and he loves music... ) Also i found a few wires which were not attached to a second place and a black wire which leads to nowhere (it goes in the guitarbody, and i can't place it, it's nog loose or something, and everywhere i look i can't find a black wire coming out... anyone has any idea what that might be?) But, like i said, a wiring schedule would help me a lot, but i just can't find anny... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LithiumLulu Posted November 14, 2005 Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 Like this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackout Posted November 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 Wow... thx! that's a real simple one, even i understand it, except for those arrows... but hey, i have enough time to find out what it means thx! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LithiumLulu Posted November 14, 2005 Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 Arrows? The only thing that looks like arrows to me are grounds, but I could be wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackout Posted November 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 yeah those grounds indeed... i dont have any clue what they are.. but i'll find it out for sure... (you see, i dont have a clue what's the translation, and because i'm not an electrician or something i dont have clue what it is ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemm012 Posted November 14, 2005 Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 The arrows are ground connections. A ground is a cable usually attached to the back of a potentiometer, the ground on an input jack, or the bridge. The black cable that's not loose and doesn't seem to lead anywhere is the ground. I'm not sure where the ground goes to on Les Paul style guitars. It's probably to the bottom of one of the bridge/tailpiece studs. I think you can sand to either line. It would just be easier to sand to the blue because then you don't have to worry about trying not to sand beyond the green line. Good luck. Galen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neohet Posted November 14, 2005 Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 Hi Sam, Check out this link: http://users.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/guitar.htm The section on pick-ups has a great tutorial and schematics for just about any kind of pick-up wiring combinations you can think of. HTH, good luck with your project, Matt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghwar Posted November 14, 2005 Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 Like this: ← but rememebr les paul standard is a much different (and more expensive) guitar then a les paul 100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledzendrix1128 Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 (edited) If you get EMG's they WILL come with a wiring diagram. An EMG wiring schematic will most likely be a little different than a standard wiring schematic (shown above). EMG's require a stereo jack and there will be more wires to connect due to the fact that it is an active pickup that require batteries. Edited November 15, 2005 by Ledzendrix1128 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 BELGIUM! Woohoo, I did most of my highschool there at the international school. lol Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoSo_Spencer Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 (edited) but rememebr les paul standard is a much different (and more expensive) guitar then a les paul 100 incorrect, les paul 100's are bassically les paul standards but without set neck, binding, good hardware but yes they are much more expensive. they are wired exactly the same. you may be thinking of the les paul special in which they have 2 pots and a selector switch which makes them different yes. you should sand just below the fretboard and everywhere else (bar the headstock), i assume you are trying to make you guitar look like the les paul smartwood guitar judging by the picture on your hosting site. read some of the tutorials on the main site regarding stripping paint via sanding. good luck Edited November 15, 2005 by ZoSo_Spencer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackout Posted November 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 (edited) Thanx a lot for all the replies... Yeah, the wiring is exactly the same in my les paul 100... And yes i'm planning to put 2 EMG's in it (emg 60 & 81) well, i just checked their site and it doesn't seems so hard to install them, compared to my pickups now, which are one bunch of wires... And is it possible to buy and EMG pickup without an input, because otherwise i will have 2 input's... well, not that i have to worry about it now, i have to start sanding my guitar first, but if i know it now, i dont have to waste time later on by finding that out... Oh yeah, and one final question (for now ) i started sanding my neck today, and i only have one sort of sanding paper (P150) it works fine, but i saw from most other people who did the same as me that they used different sorts of sanding paper? Anyway, thanx for the replies, you guys already helped me out a lot! Edited November 15, 2005 by blackout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoSo_Spencer Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 i dont know much at all about emg pickups so i cant answer that. the reason for different sandpaper is the difference in how coarse or fine it is... the higher the number ie 2000 the finer the sandpaper is and the smoother the job will end up, the lower the number the more coarse it gets, so if you use coarse paper the job will get done much quick but it may leave it a bit rough, thats when you break out a finer sheet then go over the areas that are rough then get an even finer sheet and repeat the process until your guitar is very very smooth hope that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackout Posted November 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 Yeah... I Thought of something like that... because with my P150 it's taking HOURS for sanding the head... guess i'll wait and go to the store tomorrow after a few different sorts of sandpaper... thx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzocchi705 Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 Start with a low grit, and work your way up to [insert your fianal grit here] using all the grits between, when you move up on the the next grit up, use that till all the scratches of the previous grit are gone. Does that make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackout Posted November 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2005 Yep... i got it... I'm finally ready with sanding my neck and headstock (damn, that headstock took me as long as the whole neck! ) pictures: http://users.pandora.be/samdegh/CUSTOM/pics/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lietuvis Posted November 19, 2005 Report Share Posted November 19, 2005 To answer your question about the input jack for the EMGs... 1. A normal input jack will not work with active pickups like EMGs. 2. EMGs come with the recquired input jack. 3. EMGs come with the wiring plan. 4. Active pickups like EMGs do not need to be grounded. I'm buying some(81-bridge, 85-neck) for my V project, so I researched all of this. Good luck with the Epi! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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