Julie Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 My boyfriend recently purchased a Gibson epiphone at a swapmeet. He refinished the guitar and has been having a hard time with the wiring. I have looked for wiring diagrams for him, but haven't had much luck. The guitar has 2 humbuckers, they are 2 wire NOT 4 WIRE. It also has 2 tones and 2 volumes. Does anyone have any good wiring diagrams???Please!!!! Any type...He wants to experiment with different sounds. Also what is the best way to ground it. Thanks...JULIE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth guitars Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 For two volume and two tone you can use a Les Paul wiring diagram, plenty of those around the net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bygde Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 (edited) There's a lot of sites on the net covering this, try Google. This diagram will probably work great http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/WDUHH3T2202 Grounding to the bridge is the common way of doing it. Just put a small cable from the bridge to the back of a pot. Edited January 31, 2009 by Bygde Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 On the humbucker pickups, one wire is the ground and one is the positive. Also, if possible, he wants diagrams and/or mods where the capacitor is placed differently than the stock wiring... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wood is good Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Why does he want the capacitor in different places? Second, you ground it by soldering it to the back of a pot (the volume and tone metal things) Like stated above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Hi julie...hard to explain to a third person...but good to see you back... anyway...the cap on the tone controls is a filter to back off the high frequencies...not often used anyway...a few threads have explored it. One additional very small cap can be used as a treble bleed capacitor on the volume control to preserve or even brighten the sound when the volume on the guitar is turned down...a very common mod that may even be in the guitar itself. Generally "fancy" caps make not a lot of difference to the sound, just the way the control works to turn down the treble. SO on two conductor pickups there are not a lot of mods that are possible or worthwhile really...you could put in a phase switch, perhaps on a push pull. This will give a hollowed out kind of funky sound when both pickups are selected (middle position). You could also potentailly rig up a series parralel switch with both pickups on...though I am not sure how useful this would be... However, all HB's have 4 wires inside them...if you think you/he is up to it, HB's can be taken apart and a new four conductor cable added giving more wiring options. This gives you the possibility of coil splitting (a single coil type sound) or other variations, maybe even a splitting tone control without having to add switches...or series parallel wiring within the humbucker itself. Also, be aware that it can be tricky to get things like pots in and out of a 335...generally things need to be threaded through with bits of string or wire and all the soldering has to be done outside the guitar. Often it is best then to tie cotton or something to the existing controls so that these threads can be used to pull them or new wiring back into position...fiddly work to be avoided unless necessary. For appearance as much as anything, if there are pickup covers these can be left off...they will need to be removed if wiring alterations are going to be made. Stewmac have some good tutorials on some of this stuff as it can be a little delicate...but not really hard with care. The pickup windings are extremely fine and will break...but in there will be actual wires attached and these can be connected to allowing 4 conductor wiring and all that this can offer. hope some of that helps... pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted February 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 Hi julie...hard to explain to a third person...but good to see you back... anyway...the cap on the tone controls is a filter to back off the high frequencies...not often used anyway...a few threads have explored it. One additional very small cap can be used as a treble bleed capacitor on the volume control to preserve or even brighten the sound when the volume on the guitar is turned down...a very common mod that may even be in the guitar itself. Generally "fancy" caps make not a lot of difference to the sound, just the way the control works to turn down the treble. SO on two conductor pickups there are not a lot of mods that are possible or worthwhile really...you could put in a phase switch, perhaps on a push pull. This will give a hollowed out kind of funky sound when both pickups are selected (middle position). You could also potentailly rig up a series parralel switch with both pickups on...though I am not sure how useful this would be... However, all HB's have 4 wires inside them...if you think you/he is up to it, HB's can be taken apart and a new four conductor cable added giving more wiring options. This gives you the possibility of coil splitting (a single coil type sound) or other variations, maybe even a splitting tone control without having to add switches...or series parallel wiring within the humbucker itself. Also, be aware that it can be tricky to get things like pots in and out of a 335...generally things need to be threaded through with bits of string or wire and all the soldering has to be done outside the guitar. Often it is best then to tie cotton or something to the existing controls so that these threads can be used to pull them or new wiring back into position...fiddly work to be avoided unless necessary. For appearance as much as anything, if there are pickup covers these can be left off...they will need to be removed if wiring alterations are going to be made. Stewmac have some good tutorials on some of this stuff as it can be a little delicate...but not really hard with care. The pickup windings are extremely fine and will break...but in there will be actual wires attached and these can be connected to allowing 4 conductor wiring and all that this can offer. hope some of that helps... pete PETE, YOUR AWESOME!! IT IS NICE TO BE BACK, I WAS OUT OF COMMISION FOR 2 YEARS, GOT HURT, BUT I AM DOING ALRIGHT. ONE OF THESE DAYS I NEED TO PUT ALL MY GUITAR KNOWLEDGE TO WORK AND BUILD MY OWN. AS YOU PROBABLY KNOW I HAVE DONE ALOT OF RESEARCH FOR THE 3RD PARTY (boyfriend) AND I AM PRETTY SURE I KNOW MORE THAN HIM...LOL.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted February 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 Why does he want the capacitor in different places? Second, you ground it by soldering it to the back of a pot (the volume and tone metal things) Like stated above. YOU KNOW, I DON'T THINK HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT?? I ASKED HIM AND HE COULDN'T EXPLAIN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-Doe Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 Why does he want the capacitor in different places? Second, you ground it by soldering it to the back of a pot (the volume and tone metal things) Like stated above. YOU KNOW, I DON'T THINK HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT?? I ASKED HIM AND HE COULDN'T EXPLAIN. treble bleed circuit? maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.