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Newbie need Help on upgrading Epiphone Ace Frehley Signature


swishersweets

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here is how it looks in the cavity now

 

 

i want to upgrade the pots to a better 300k linear pot for volume and a better 500k audio for tone

 

want to get rid of the cheap plastic wiring in there to something better.

 

The switch in it currently is a switch craft at least so i dont need that

 

The jack and caps could be upgraded as well

 

can someone list me all the things i need to upgrade this guitar or a website that has all stuff i would need or at least say what i would or not need.

So for example this is what i have found would i need this kind of things?:

Orange drop cap

Gibson 300k linear pot Gibson 500k linear pot

4 ft. Shielded guitar circuit wire CABLE BRAIDED

2 ft. Black unshielded guitar circuit wire CABLE CLOTH WIRE BLACK

1 ft. White unshielded guitar circuit wire CABLE CLOTH WIRE WHITE

CABLE - 4 CONDUCTOR PICKUP - UNCUT (PER FOOT)

is this pretty much all that i would need to upgrade it and have it work the way it currently works or do i need something more or less?

any suggestions is welcome

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Hey there,

Welcome to the forum, hope you like it here.

 

Don't know if you've tried Ebay(worldwde) yet but, you can get entire control assembly's

for various Gibson or Epiphone Lp models. They come with switches, jacks, pots,caps and

braided wires.

 

Give it a shot. I modified my Black Beauty3 that way, and recently installed Gibson P/ups.

 

Cheers

Paul

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Guitar Electronics is pretty much a one stop shop for all you require in the US, the prices are fairly reasonable too.

 

Guitar Electronics

 

As Paul mentioned, you can buy harnesses already made up, but they are much more expensive than doing it yourself with individual components.

 

I'd recommend a Switchcraft jack, Orange Drop caps and CTS or Bourne pots, just curios, why have you specified 300K pots for volume rather than 500K ?

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Guitar Electronics is pretty much a one stop shop for all you require in the US, the prices are fairly reasonable too.

 

Guitar Electronics

 

As Paul mentioned, you can buy harnesses already made up, but they are much more expensive than doing it yourself with individual components.

 

I'd recommend a Switchcraft jack, Orange Drop caps and CTS or Bourne pots, just curios, why have you specified 300K pots for volume rather than 500K ?

 

doesnt it give it the darkness instead of the brightness from the 500k?

 

plus its what it says on the guitars schematic so i figured just go with what ace puts in it. signature guitar n all.

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doesnt it give it the darkness instead of the brightness from the 500k?

 

plus its what it says on the guitars schematic so i figured just go with what ace puts in it. signature guitar n all.

Yeah, I was just curious, that's all.

 

One thing I forgot to mention, try and get the CTS pots that have the brass tops on them, not the charcoal-grey pot metal tops, they'll cost roughly a dollar more, but they're much better IMHO.

 

Best of luck with the work, please keep us updated on your progress, pics optional (but preferred), LOL.

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Yeah, I was just curious, that's all.

 

One thing I forgot to mention, try and get the CTS pots that have the brass tops on them, not the charcoal-grey pot metal tops, they'll cost roughly a dollar more, but they're much better IMHO.

 

Best of luck with the work, please keep us updated on your progress, pics optional (but preferred), LOL.

 

Yeah, kinda right now im in dream land. I cant really afford any of this kind of things at the moment. when i can i want to be ready for whatever i need to get and so forth. Maybe learn something in the process.

and yeah i'll gladly put some pics up i want to turn my Ace frehley into a beast. Want to also put that tone pros or gotoh bridge and tail on it. I have had the guitar for almost 10 years now lol.. sad i should probably learn to play it better though. oops for being lazy.

 

Well from what i can figure, i believe my guitar is currently wired "modern" style cos of how the caps are hooked up. (learned something new today)

 

so i see alot of praise for RS guitar works, but omg they are expensive.

 

So basically if you can answer me if I was to buy pre wired kit, do you buy and use that vintage braided wire to go from your switch to your volume pots?

 

heres the schematic for the guitar

http://www.gibson.com/Files/schematics/lpafwiring.pdf

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He SS,

I'm gonna refuse to tell you anything mors until you pull your finger out and post some

nice pics of your Ace signature. Only fair I reckon. [-( ( God I'm such a sulk!) [laugh]

 

 

Get the schematics and the braided cable and then decide if you really want to

go to the extremes to get guitar you really, really want. It's up to you but, I did

much the same thing.

 

Paul

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So basically if you can answer me if I was to buy pre wired kit, do you buy and use that vintage braided wire to go from your switch to your volume pots?

That's really a matter of personal taste, I use a 2 core shielded wire from the pots to the switch, and a single core shielded from the switch to the jack, but I'm not going for any aesthetic, just functionality. If you want it to look vintage/authentic then braided wire would be the best choice.

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He SS,

I'm gonna refuse to tell you anything mors until you pull your finger out and post some

nice pics of your Ace signature. Only fair I reckon. [-( ( God I'm such a sulk!) [laugh]

 

 

Get the schematics and the braided cable and then decide if you really want to

go to the extremes to get guitar you really, really want. It's up to you but, I did

much the same thing.

 

Paul

 

ok go to facebook page cos it wont let me upload these, too big or something.

 

 

they range from the past 9 years of owning it.

 

its a I03050675. or something like that it was made in 2003 may.

purchased at paradise guitars beloit wi. now lives in rhinelander wi.

originally paid 899 plus tax, and i had to buy the case as well..

only thing changed on it now days is the back pickup switch cover is replaced, Pickgaurd, the speed knobs been replaced,

and the switch is a switchcraft and of course strings. Other than that everythings original.

Action height six string 3/32 first string 2/32

Oils used on fretboard over time, lizard spit

curently use gerlitz guitar honey, i like it alot better.

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That's really a matter of personal taste, I use a 2 core shielded wire from the pots to the switch, and a single core shielded from the switch to the jack, but I'm not going for any aesthetic, just functionality. If you want it to look vintage/authentic then braided wire would be the best choice.

 

i got a new question for you. now on my guitar. it has a ground that comes from the bushing/tailpiece for the strings n pieces to be ground to one of the pots. i noticed, on alot of peoples kits and guitars, that there is a "ground loop" going from around the volume, to the tone, tone, back to the other volume. I have the ground from the tailpiece in there but i noticed i dont have a ground loop. Is the ground loop something that needs to be on it.

 

reason why i ask is because my guitar does depending if i switch it into high gain it does hum alot, and the strings crackle when i touch the frets, but it dies out if i fully put my hand on the tail piece and the strings then the noise dies out. could this be that the ground from the bushing isnt on there good enough plus not having that ground loop. the guitar does not have a grounding plate.

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i got a new question for you. now on my guitar. it has a ground that comes from the bushing/tailpiece for the strings n pieces to be ground to one of the pots. i noticed, on alot of peoples kits and guitars, that there is a "ground loop" going from around the volume, to the tone, tone, back to the other volume. I have the ground from the tailpiece in there but i noticed i dont have a ground loop. Is the ground loop something that needs to be on it.

 

reason why i ask is because my guitar does depending if i switch it into high gain it does hum alot, and the strings crackle when i touch the frets, but it dies out if i fully put my hand on the tail piece and the strings then the noise dies out. could this be that the ground from the bushing isnt on there good enough plus not having that ground loop. the guitar does not have a grounding plate.

Everything has to be grounded, regardless of which wiring scheme you use, some will make a dedicated ground loop do this, if you're using the vintage wiring scheme this is probably the best way to go. If you use the modern wiring scheme and shielded wire, all that really needs a dedicated wire is from the bridge/tailpiece to T1, then from T1 to T2. the shielding of the wire that connects the Volume pot to the Tone Pot gets used as the ground wire for the Volume pots, so a loop isn't necessary.

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Everything has to be grounded, regardless of which wiring scheme you use, some will make a dedicated ground loop do this, if you're using the vintage wiring scheme this is probably the best way to go. If you use the modern wiring scheme and shielded wire, all that really needs a dedicated wire is from the bridge/tailpiece to T1, then from T1 to T2. the shielding of the wire that connects the Volume pot to the Tone Pot gets used as the ground wire for the Volume pots, so a loop isn't necessary.

 

Alright.

So if i think i got this right.

If i buy that vintage braided wire, run those off the switch, 1 for the output jack(put something around that one so the outside braided coating doesnt touch anything in the cavity), also connected to the switch is the middle pickup, the rest run to the volume pots, the other two pickup wires get hooked up on the volume pots, decide vintage or modern(matter of cabacitor placement), ground coming from tailpiece gets hooked up, and loop isn't necessary, can be still done right (im assuming it gives it extra grounding for even less noise?)

 

make sure to get good pots, make sure to get good capacitors. sound about right?

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Alright.

So if i think i got this right.

If i buy that vintage braided wire, run those off the switch, 1 for the output jack(put something around that one so the outside braided coating doesnt touch anything in the cavity), also connected to the switch is the middle pickup, the rest run to the volume pots, the other two pickup wires get hooked up on the volume pots, decide vintage or modern(matter of cabacitor placement), ground coming from tailpiece gets hooked up, and loop isn't necessary, can be still done right (im assuming it gives it extra grounding for even less noise?)

 

make sure to get good pots, make sure to get good capacitors. sound about right?

With the vintage braided wire you use the outside shielding as the ground wire, it can touch anything but your HOT wires/contacts. Extra grounding shouldn't make a difference if you've ground the shielding correctly.

 

EDIT: there was a thread recently that had videos on using vintage braided wire.

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With the vintage braided wire you use the outside shielding as the ground wire, it can touch anything but your HOT wires/contacts. Extra grounding shouldn't make a difference if you've ground the shielding correctly.

 

EDIT: there was a thread recently that had videos on using vintage braided wire.

 

yeah i seen that video by RS guitarworks and seen jonesyblues wiring kit demos.

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