Vultite

I can't express how happy I am with these pickups. I also finally got some EMGs in my les paul. They sound pretty crazy. I can't believe how hot they are. I think I may have a kill switch installed. Even with the volume all the way down on my guitar, it puts out a little clean sound.

I will find copper shielding and see if that helps. It's not really that bad of a hum but it's the typical noise you hear unless you rest your hand on the bridge.

BTW: does anybody know if you can replace the pickup covers with "generic" covers or are they glued in there and stuff? I can find this out myself but I don't want to waste a set of fresh strings.

I just got some installed and I do still hear some noise. Its no where near as much as my other pickups were. I would say the difference between 60% idle noise versus 10%. I was just wondering if this is normal and if I could fix the last bit of hum. Could I put some copper shielding in there or something?

link to pickups.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fen...-Set?sku=301632

If I were you, this is what I would do:

All of EMG's wiring harnesses and diagrams are available online at their site.

I would go there any study your butt off until you have identified EXACTLY what you need, and you are fairly understanding of what's going on and why.

EMG's are a different animal than your normal HB, and you need to follow their instructions pretty carefully.

Don't have a good wire source for you, but that will keep you busy until you do get some wire.

Follow those diagrams until someone can say 'Blue Wire' to you, and you can spit out where both ends of that blue wire go and why.

Seriously, you want to do this the right way the first time, and that will only happen if you understand how EMG's are wired, and by that I mean how the preamps are powered, why all grounds come together, how the battery gets connected/disconnected, how the switch is wired in and why it's done that way...actually understanding these elements will give you Big Kahuna Mojo in doing your wiring job successfully the first time out.

More times than not, I have to integrate more than one diagram together, because I will use different switches than they do, or I'm using several different products all blended together...you HAVE to understand the whole thing to make it go whoopee!

I use their stuff all the time on lots of guitars, and I do my own customized wiring, adding in their specialty pots, and every single guitar I have wired came out perfect from the time I plugged it in the very first time, because before I even heat up the soldering gun, I have gathered all the diagrams I needed, thought it out, plotted in my head what exactly is going on, what comes first and why, so on and so on...it really pays off compared to rushing it and having it come out like ass and you have to go back in there and start pulling things apart, that will make for a very BAD experience, I can Gu-Ran-Tee you that.

:D

I was ready to follow the diagram exactly. I was unprepared because the guy in the store told me "everything you need is in this box"

so I thought this would be a simple way to learn since it came with everything, but he was wrong or he lied. I did buy the pickups before stripping the guitar. I didn't notice until I started putting the EMGs in the rings that I was short about 3 wires from the diagram.

Sorry if I'm asking stupid questions. I didn't get to learn any electronics in high school at all. Nothing.

You should had waited until getting the EMGs to do any removal on the guitar. The Korean wiring is perfectly fine to use, there was no need to cut or remove anything other than the pots and the output jack. And since you have no electronics background, I suggest you take your time and practice soldering before installing your set and messing up the wires on the EMGs, if you heat too much the shielded wire you can melt the internal wires and have them short out. as of what wire to use, go to the same link that you posted and do some searching around...

I won't be soldering alone. I will at least have guidance there. Which wire should I be ordering on stew mac? I don't want to order the wrong one. That's what my question is.

Are all wires the same? Do I need more than 1 type of wire?

So I finally got EMGs for my Epiphone Les Paul. I took out all of the butchered korean electronics out of the guitar. The guitar had nothing left in it.

So I get this "Zakk Wylde" set because it supposedly comes with extra stuff than just buying each pick up alone. I was told in the store "this box has everything you need to install the pickups." so I open the box up and the first thing I notice is that the guy behind the counter was simply wrong. It didn't have a new switch. It didn't have a lot of wire either.

I happen to have a new switch because the original made-in-korea one broke in half. This is the one I currently own.

I didn't think I would have to reuse my original guitar wire to install these pickups. So now I've cut the original wires out and they're too short to reach.

So I guess I've got to buy cable. I have no electronics background to speak of. I have no idea what cable to buy. I have to order it online because none of the shops around here carry any.

If you got that guitar from Molson, you should send them a link to that video with the Molson logo on there somewhere. I bet they would get a kick out of it.

They're like explorers mated with that Paul Stanley guitar.

/jealous

http://www.washburn.com/products/electrics/maya/index.aspx

I could see doing it in plaster. the playdough is too soft to get detail without screwing it up.

I should make a guitar cake

You should grab some white playdoh and throw some binding on that thing, that would be cool. J

LOL... thats a good idea. I have alot spare that I could dye.

I have a drawing of my headstock design on the computer. I liked it but I was still unsure about it, how it would translate to the real thing.

So I whipped up a batch of play-dough yesterday and got to work a few minutes ago. It doesn't have very good ratios, but the shape is correct. The idea of the shape comes across really well. So I decided to stick with the shape and will use it if I ever make this guitar.

Sometimes it's just easier to see a 3d thing, not a 2d plan of one. I could get cad software but I'd rather stick with photoshop. I plan on trying some ideas for a new body shape too. And the scent of the strawberry tea I added was "inspiring" ... or ... something.

More picutres -> http://picasaweb.google.com/nylisk/HeadstockSculpture

Would a copper pick guard interfere with the pickups on a Les Paul? Just a standard shape, screwed down in the usual place.

Well I can save it as a gif, which makes a 200k file. (remember this thing is huge!)

anyways, I could really use the help with figuring out how to do the angle of a neckthru. When you look at the file it will be strange but you can see what step im on, which is the side view.

For example if you zoom in you can see I planned out the location of the bridge exactly, even down to the strings hehe.

My major questions are

How do I figure out the angle of the neck? I'm confused on this part, I'm not totally brand new to the topic.

This is the book I have:

Make Your Own Electric Guitar

I also want to know about fretboard height and nut placement. The stuff I have now is just kind of "there"

It's been awhile since I've worked on this file. I got really confused and then lost the money to continue with the project.

RIGHT CLICK, Save As!

I've been planing on making an explorer for so long now. I have the template almost done! Would anybody be willing to look it over to see if I'm totally wrong or if everything looks good? This is very detailed, it's a very large file. It's like 300 dpi 1to1 scale.

I think this winter my father and I may actually make one.

What type of wood are you planning to draw on? Soundboard/back/sides/neck/fretboard??? Is the wood bare and unsealed right now?

The guitar is a standard, well taken care of washburn acoustic. I was thinking of writing on the top or maybe on the back, not on the pick guard.

I'm feeling like I want to draw with some sort of marker on my acoustic. I've searched and it seems like I should use a paint pen and seal it. Paint pens are easy to come by, but I'm not sure what sealer to use. I assume I must use some sort of spray can for the best finish.

The thing is that I also don't want to ruin my guitar. How can I test this without using the guitar? What surface is ideal to test on?

Im in way over my head :-(

When they arrive in the mail I will continue to ask more questions or see if I can find a local guy to do it.

Hi Vultite

If you used a double pole / double throw switch (DPDT), it has 6 terminals on the back...2 sets of three...you could use one side (set) to kill and the other to turn off the batteries...that way you'd only need one switch on the guitar, just make sure you "kill" it when you leave it...

The reason I want a kill switch is because I hate having to silence one pickup and use the switch as a one.

What I would like is the LP switch in its usualy place, doing its usual job, but the other 4 knob locations to be like

Switch, switch

knob knob

(I forgot to mention, im not going to use the tone knobs. I hate them.)

You can have a kill switch to the battery AND mute the guitar at the same time? That would be neat, would it cause problems (such as crackles and stuff) when you switch it? I really would like to prevent any crackles and stuff.

If you think that doing a battery + mute switch will work I can do a 2 volumes, tone, and switch on it.

Series just means one battery running into the other, so

-ve  ----- -ve///ve+ ----- -ve///ve+ ----- +ve

If that makes sense (blue batt#1, red #2)....

I don't understand what that means at all. :-(

1: No u dont need longer pots, it only Gibson LP u need longer pots for as the controls are mounted on a large metal plate.

2: Yes. Easy just wire a little switch that sends the Hot/Output to Earth(ground) and yes just use another switch to disconnect the battery.

3:Easy, remember hidh school physics about series and parallel? Just wire the batteries in series.

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I never had physics, I spent most of my days in rooms that had things like oil paints and stuff like that in them. I've never had any electronics classes ever. :-(

My brother gave me his Epiphone Les Paul. I want to replace the pickups on it. I want to go EMGs. I think I will get an 81 & 60.

Now heres where I have some questions.

Pot lengths.

Do I need to get extended length pots for the body of the Les Paul? If so what type of pot? Arent you supposed to use a lower value one like 50k or something?

Kill Switches.

I want a kill switch. Its just my personal need to have something to instantly mute the guitar. How would I go about wiring one in there? Also is it possible to install a switch that will disconnect the battery so I can leave it plugged in without worrying? This is going to be my "beater guitar" so I want to be lazy.

Dual Batteries.

I want to try this second battery thing. How do I go about installing that?

Im sorry to sound so hopeless about this, but electronics where I have very little knowledge. Sorry for asking so much, graphics is just my area. (I'm going to build a custom explorer. I have a high-res blue print in photoshop. Thats where I know what I'm doing)

I just recently changed out the pickup switch because the stock one broke in half.

Maybe I should just replace all of the electronics and the neck pickup too and start fresh. The guitar is using mostly stock epiphone stuff, which im sure isn't that great of quality.

epiphone les paul. Stock issue neck pick up (god do I need to get something good in there)

Duncan Distortion in the bridge.

damn I didn't even realize it. It doesnt happen nearly as easily in the neck. It will happen if it "idles" and builds up. As soon as you switch the bridge it WILL whistle LOUDLY no matter what.

Im easily getting the whistle feed back. I tried using my sucky onamp distortion and its doing it to. So Its not my pedal setup.

Any help self diagnosing?

Thanks guys. As usual, you've all been very informative.

I think I will just stick with putting a neck in the neck and a bridge in the bridge.

They're just pickups.  It'll work fine.

Bridge pickups are usually optimized for the bridge position by producing higher output to make up for the lower output generated by that position.  If you put a bridge pickup in the neck position, it'll have even hotter output.  That's about it.  Also, avoid using an f-spaced bridge pickup for the neck position or the polepieces will be out of whack.

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So would a neck pickup be less hot in the bridge?