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Epiphone Nighthawk ST3 wiring diagram URGENT help required


martyboyo

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I have just bought a used 3 pickup nighthawk ...the guy who had it before me made a total mess of the wiring as he only wanted one pick up working .......so 90% of the wiring is disconnected I am in urgent need to sort it out ....Does anyone have a diagram or can anyone send me a pic of their wiring so that I can follow that ??? there is some kinda coil on top of one of the pots .......the pick up configuration is mini Humbucker in Neck ......OBL single in Middle and OBL Humbucker in Bridge ....there is a 5 way selector switch and also a micro switch which I think may be for a fcoil tap on the Bridge ???????????

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  • 2 weeks later...

marty,

 

were you able to figure out the wiring? I just picked up a used st3 myself in pretty sad shape electronically.

I am going to do some digging and probably tear the whole thing apart and start from scratch... probably add a second tap switch for the neck miniHB and see what happens.

If you want, I will diagram it out and I can send you a copy when I get it drawn up... I am going to wire it similar to an Ibanez Prestige that I just rewired, with the addition of the taps. I can honestly say that that was/is the best sounding guitar I have heard lately... I wish it were mine...

I'd recommend changing out the stock 5-way if you can though, if yours is like mine then it is pretty pathetic.

 

Dan

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That's a good schematic drawing but it's not easy follow, because the switches

are not shown in a physical representation of the switch..only the contacts

for that switch.

 

Here's one from GIBSON. You will need the magnifier tool in your browser to

expand it more clearly, as the reduced schematic isn't as clear as it could be.

 

Might be easier to follow if he still has the original switches, as in the Gibson

3 p-up version. Finding your way around the 5 way selectors can be a be quite

a challenge if you haven't done this before.

An ohmeter is a must in this kind of wiring.

 

http://www.gibson.com/Files/schematics/nithawk2.gif

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The Seymour Duncan website has another great resource for pickup wiring diagrams... I've used it many times in the past. It has just about any combination of pickups and switches that you can think of, and explanations of lots of different switching options. The only thing you need to watch out for is the fact that different pickup manufacturers often use different color schemes on their wiring harnesses.

 

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/

The HSH + 5 way + push-pull is a good place to start for the ST3. It's not going to give you the exact factory ST3 switching pattern but by examining the diagrams and using your multimeter (or by trial and error if you don't have one) you can customize it to your taste.

 

Dan

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  • 4 years later...
  • 4 years later...

I currently own a 1996 Epiphone Nighthawk (ST3 replica-like) with Translucent Amber finish I believe it is called, and I have had to deal with the wiring and such. The 5-way switch that comes with the thing is plastic and over a few years of playing, this thing wears out where contact stops being made between the terminals of the switch. Not a huge issue, as you can replace this with Fender 5-way switch no problem. They are much better and easy to understand as you can easily see where contact is being made in each position selected. Well, in the midst of replacing this in my Epi-Hawk, I had to understand the wiring of the guitar, so In have done some web scouring and I believe this thread is important to see if you want to see the schematic - not wiring diagram - schematic.

 

http://forum.gibson....diagram-wanted/

 

I have done some mods of my own over the years for better or worse, but once you understand the circuit and components very well, you can create combinations for custom applications very easily. Nonetheless, some are interested in "factory only", so the link I shared has this information contained.

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