IanV Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 My first post here, so thought I would say Hi, and explain the upgrades I have so far completed to my Epi Ultra 2. And also pose a question. Bought the Epi after thinking I wanted a Gibson LP Standard. Walked into the shop on Denmark St, tried several different guitars and walked out with a faded cherry Ultra 2. :) Love it, however after a couple of months thought the Pickups were not quite what I was after tone wise (have to say though in the shop it was better than the standard was - but sound is subjective I know - hope this hasn't upset too many lol). So fitted a DiMarzio Super Distortion to the bridge position. Great pickup, exactly the sound I was after. However still thought that the neck pickup (Alnico Classic) was a little 'wooly'. then had a brain wave. I built a parts LP about 30 years ago as couldn't afford a guitar, so built one up over time. Slowly found parts in junk shops and music stores, schaller machine heads, LP hardware and finally on a market stall in Barnstaple, Devon an unopened Neck position Gibson PAF(just remember it being PAF, no exact model - sorry). Not really understanding the differences between the neck and bridge requirements at that time, I stuck it in the bridge position. Served me well until I moved on to Kramers and a custom built Jerry Bix Ptera. Have always kept that guitar. And 2 nights ago suddenly remembered that I had an alternative neck P/U for the Epi. So fitted the PAF to the Epi last night and put the old Alnico Classic Plus (which I swapped for the DM SD) back in my old LP copy. Sounds much brighter than the Alnico Classic, and compliments the SD really well. am very happy. The old LP still sounds as good as it can aswell. I do have a question though. The PAF had two connectors coming out of it. Both braided single conductors on on each side of the P/U rear. So a braided outer, with a black fabric insulator and an inner multi stranded core - quite thick compared to the DM conductors (which was a standard 4 core plus shield. The braided outers were connected together internally - as had zero resistance between them on my multi meter. with about 8.1K ohms resistance between the two inner conductors. and 7.6K on one conductor to shield and 8.4K on the other. What would have been the correct way to wire these? Currently I have one inner as the 'hot' connector, and one connected to the earth plane on the PCB inside the Ultra. As I said sound is nice and bright, and almost I would tend to say a little phased. Output level is good though. Any info on this pickup would be useful, and also any confirmation, or otherwise :), on the wiring... Cheers Also have attached a photo of the two LPs. The custom paint job on my LP was done by my best friend at University - who also happened to be the singer in one of the bands I played in...The guitar in the background is an Alden Dorchester-12, in the case is a Spanish flamenco acoustic. And the amp is a Session Rockette 30. I have been unable to find another amp with quite the right tone, as always compare them to the session, and they dont quite do it as well. Closest has been a Boogie Rectifier Mini, and am still tempted by this. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy01 Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 First of all, let me welcome you to the forum! I saw this thread a day ago, and am shocked that no one has responded. Check out guitarelectronics.com for lots of good info on wiring. As your question could have more than one answer, take a picture if you can, and post it. There are a lot of people here that know an awful lot about wiring. It sounds to me like you may have the wires reversed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanV Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 First of all, let me welcome you to the forum! I saw this thread a day ago, and am shocked that no one has responded. Check out guitarelectronics.com for lots of good info on wiring. As your question could have more than one answer, take a picture if you can, and post it. There are a lot of people here that know an awful lot about wiring. It sounds to me like you may have the wires reversed. Thanks for the response and the welcome, was expecting a few more replies I will admit :) as lots of people seem to have at least looked at the thread. I'll have a look at the site you mention. I did think that it might be wired incorrectly and I had hot to earth, but it sounds pretty much the same both ways... Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 I dunno... Folks mess with pups all the time; wire them one way or another and I'm emphatically no pro at wiring them. Even when I was messing with repair/rebuilding/selling "broken" stuff back in the late '60s and early '70s, I mostly had matching pups and in doing swaps, would swap full pup and wiring harnesses or just pups. It can get a bit arcane and I've a hunch there's more than just the pups and volume/tone controls involved - perhaps some of those cute little cap-thingies. <grin> Seriously, I always figured that for straight-through "tone," I never expected or even had desire for a given "sound" as long as the pups and controls worked. Different guitars "liked" different amp settings and pup combinations and vol/tone control settings, it seemed. And even technique and pup height to strings, strings themselves -- and playing technique reeeally can change tone. OTOH... Gotta consider I'm older than dirt and that stuff just plain wasn't anything I thought of much even back 50 years ago after a guitar was "set" for me and my strings, whether playing electric rock or country or blues. And absotively... welcome to the forums! More to learn than any of us can pick up the rest of our lives, even if we're currently a pre-teen. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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