Whitmore Willy

Based on 2 pics??? From what I see? Sorry... Willy

Hope this helps... One clip, 3 Gearhead files. 1. Clean (no mods) 2. Clean .047 cap used as filter 3. Clean .01 cap used as filter http://dl.dropbox.com/u/21424628/Clean%20mix.mp3 The only alterations I made were to zero out the DC offset and normalize the volumes to equal settings. Sorry Gearhead, I didn't have time to do the "dirty" clips. Bigneil, I don't think so. (not positive) For that you need to add a resistor into the normal cap path (kills your cut in a live band situation) IMO or... Convert to 50s wiring scheme. Willy

Gearhead, Tried listening to your clips. It took me to a web page that told me the file was not available or that I was either not logged in or did not have the owners permission to view it. Is it just me or something else? Is anyone else able to access these files? P.S. Hope you got my reply to your PM. In any case I hope my post in the Lounge answers your question. Willy

Good point! You might be correct! I'm hoping that Gearhead does his test and reports back. I also hopes he does both clean and dirty tests. Willy

For Amx, He is not using the cap as a tone cap per say. He is using it as a filter. Instead of "rolling off" the tone he is using the higher values to filter out the lower frequencies. Gearhead, Good find and an interesting concept. This is his Tone Zone clip. The first part is the pickup without mod. The second part he uses a .047 cap. The third part is with a .01 cap. TZ Cap Shootout: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/21424628/TZ_cap_shootout.mp3 (I hope this works out. It is the first time I have tried this type of embedding.) With all the distortion he is using it is hard to tell if it is getting rid of the muddyness or just the low end. It is definitely brightening up the pickup. Willy

Elias, Very nice job. Great looking guitar!...sound good too. Listened to your link. Reminds me of Sonny Curtis from his days with The Crickets. A little bit like Bobby Fuller. (I'm sure I'm speaking Greek to any of our younger readers....Maybe you, too !) Willy

GTRMack, Welcome to the forum! All good points! As far as comparable wood, not so sure. I will bow to the point that the availability of the highest quality wood today is not what it was years ago. Also, some of the wood used on Gibsons will be solid, where as comparable parts on Epiphones may be laminated. Additionally, many Gibsons are available with ebony fretboards. Many similar models of Epi are not. The finish on Gibsons are nitrocellulose. On Epiphones they are (or at least have been) polyester. I'm not sure if Epiphone has switched to polyurethane. I notice that some of the newer Epis do not have the "dipped in plastic" look that they once had. As to the difference that makes, the debate goes on: http://www.edroman.com/techarticles/polyvsnitro.htm Gearhead is spot on about the hardware and electronics. The U.S. made parts on Gibsons are top drawer. They are also imperial as opposed to metric. This was a big deal in upgrading Epiphone tailpieces and bridges until a few years ago. Now, most dealers carry both. As to pickups, they are a matter of taste. The Gibsons are higher quality. Even so, if you read several forums you will find that Gibson owners change their pickups out as much as anyone else. One of the most very, very, very, very, very, very important things to remember............... It cost $500 to $3,000 more to make a Gibson headstock! Willy

Saz, By the way...Welcome to the forum! Okey dokey, here we go. First things first. Confirm that the wire is indeed the bridge ground wire. As I previously stated it looks like it is coming from inside the body into the control cavity. Make sure that is the case! It should be coming into the cavity through it's own separate hole...by itself. (refer to Traffic Lights diagram for a reference.) So far so good? Double check by once again temporarily taping to the back of a pot. Make sure that the selector switch, volume and tone control are working correctly in all positions. If this proves to be the case we can be fairly sure that it is indeed the bridge ground wire. (as I do not have the guitar to examine for myself, I want you to be positively sure.) Now, Do you have a soldering iron and do you know how to use it? If not, I would suggest either taking it to a tech or getting some practice on a piece of tin with some scrap wire. It is best done with a small chisel tip and the correct type of solder. If any of the above is not the case stop here and let us know! If you feel you have all the bases covered then you might be ready to go. The bridge ground wire can be soldered to the back of the pot but there are considerations. If you do it inside the cavity great care must be taken so as to not touch other wires with the iron!!! If you burn or melt one of the other wires you could be worse off than before. If you have enough wire inside the cavity you are better off removing the knob, nut and washer and taking the pot out of the cavity. Take a small piece of cardboard (not sure a simple playing card wouldn't work) and punch a hole in it. Lay it over the top of the cavity with the pot placed on the cardboard and the shaft in the hole. (sound sexy?) You should now be looking at the bottom of the pot. This is where you can solder the bridge ground wire. Important Precaution!!...Make sure the pot is set at zero! If the pot gets overheated while soldering it can create a dead spot. If that happens it is best if it happens at zero. If you know what you are doing there should be no reason to overheat the pot but, it is still a good precaution. If the pot gets far overheated you can completely destroy it and you are back to square one. I think I have covered all the basics. If anyone spots anything I have missed please chime in. If you have any other concerns it is better to straighten them out ahead of time than regret them afterwords. Willy

The red and black wires coming out of the body and into the cavity are heavier wires. I believe they are your pickups. The loose red wire seems to be thinner but also seems to be coming into the cavity from the body. It may be your bridge ground wire. Try taping it to the back of the pot and see what happens. Worst case senario....nothing. And yes, if that is it, it does need to be resoldered to some grounding point. Lord, I hate Epiphone wiring! Willy

Fud, Thank you for the kind words. There are a couple of things that I did not mention as most people are aware of them. Consequently, they sometimes slip my aging and often feeble mind. I am not familiar with your particular guitar but this applies to any upgrade. Pots come in long 3/4" thread length as well as short 3/8". Check to see which you need. Also... American pots are imperial and slightly larger thread diameter than metric. If your guitar originally had metric and you change to imperial (example: going from Alphas to CTS) you may need to "open" the holes slightly. There are many ways to do this. The most basic is to tape over the holes with masking tape to protect the finish on your guitar. Use a small round file. File from the outside of the guitar inward toward the cavity. Take your time. The holes only need a slight enlargement. I should also mention that imperial pots (CTS) use fine spline knobs. Metric use coarse spline. Your knobs should be matched to the type of pot you are using. Best of luck on your mods, Willy

Fud, No problem. Anyone that has done mods to a guitar for the first time goes through this. As to vids: The guy has several good vids on youtube. RSguitarworks also has several on youtube. A couple of final thoughts: When you solder to the back of pots, set them at 0. If you accidentally over heat a pot you can create a dead spot in the pot at what ever point it is set at. Should it happen it is best if it happens at 0. Be careful with your bridge ground wire. It is the one wire you will reuse. Tape in the pickup leads after all else is done. Try the guitar. If the pickup or pickups sound "thin" in any position, you may have to reverse a north, south wire. Once you are satisfied they are correct you can solder them in permanently. (just a precaution) Willy

Fud, I'm not going to answer all your questions. Much of it is a matter of taste. (my wife says mine is all in my mouth) I will give you what info I can so you can start to decide for yourself. Let's start with the basics. If I am not mistaken the P-94s have 3 wires. North start, south start and ground. There are 4 basic types of wiring for 2 humbucker (p94s are wired the same) 2 volume, 2 tone, 3 way toggle. They are Modern dependent, modern independent, 50s dependent and 50s independent. Just so we are on the same page lets start with modern dependent. In center position the volumes work together and turning one to 0 will shut down both. The advantage is that you can use one as a master. It is typical Gibson stock wiring:.....(ignore the north finish and south finish wires) http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/WD2HH3T22_00/Guitar-Diagram-Gibson-2-Humbuckers-2-Volumes-2-Tones-3-Way-Toggle-Switch-View-Download-Free The following shows all 4 options: http://www.dominocs.com/AshBassGuitar/WireLibrary-Gibson.html We recently had a similar discussion regarding a G400. Some of the basics were discussed in reply #6 but read the entire post anyway: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/59310-g-400-deluxe-upgrades/ Moving on: My preference would be 500k pots all around. As to linear or audio volume the argument has been going on since Moses was a baby. I personally like linear volumes (stock in many Gibsons) but many will disagree. RSguitarworks makes a superpot for volumes. It is expensive. Those who use them seem to think they are the best thing since sliced bread. It combines both linear and audio into one taper. As to tone pots: Most prefer audio. That would be stock in Gibsons. Capacitors: .022 is standard though some like .015 on the neck pickup to keep it from becoming to dark as the tone is rolled off. As to .047 they are for Fender single coil and too dark for Gibsons. Even Gibson single coil such as P90s would become too dark when rolled off with .047. Hope this gives you some insights. Remember it is still how you like your guitar set up. My personal favorite is 50s dependent wiring. (more vintage sounding) As to treble bleeds: They are only needed for modern wiring and IMO they kill your "cut" in a live situation. If I were to use modern wiring I would put up with the tone loss on volume roll off before I would use them. Any opinions above are only my opinions. I'm sure many would disagree. Best you do a few experiments of your own. Describing this stuff to someone who has not tried it is like trying to explain the difference between chocolate and vanilla ice cream to someone who has not tasted either. Willy

Gentlemen, and the rest of you (kidding) My apologies as this is slightly off subject. As the discussion concerns P-90s I have a question. Does anyone know the difference between Gibson soapbar P-90 pickups and Gibson "Super Vintage" soapbar P-90 pickups? Couldn't see starting another thread while those participating in this one seem very knowledgeable on the subject of P-90s. Willy

Mindstealer, Welcome to the forum. In the early 2000's many of the L.P.s came from several plants in Korea. Included among them were Saein, Samick and Unsung. They were listed as Mahogany/Alder as I believe their build was contingent on availability of wood. If I remember correctly, you could pick up several (even from the same factory) and not find two that weighed the same. Often not even close. Hope this helps.

Have a EE05 paul standard plus top. Got it a month ago. Love it. I know they also make Studios. Had one for about 1 day. Would have been a nice guitar if the neck weren't cracked. Last guitfiddle I will ever buy online.