Black Dog Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 As further proof that I have too much free time (I really don't)... I recently purchased a '57 RI Black Beauty. I had some mods done to the wiring. I hate to admit it, because I really like Wildwood, but they did the mods for me and to be honest the wiring was sloppy. Yeah, yeah, I know, you can't see it when you're playing it, but it bothered me. So, this morning I rewired the whole thing. Fortunately, Gibson now sells the historic pots so those are all new. I recycled the cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karloff Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 As further proof that I have too much free time (I really don't)... I recently purchased a '57 RI Black Beauty. I had some mods done to the wiring. I hate to admit it, because I really like Wldwood, but they did the mods for me and to honest the wiring was sloppy. Yeah, yeah, I know, you can't see it when you're playing it, but it bothered me. So, this morning I rewired the whole thing. Fortunately, Gibson now sells the historic pots so those are all new. I recycled the cap. I completely understand. I worked in the electronics industry for almost 30 years. NASA certified soldering classes and all that ... when I get a new guitar the 1st night I'm checking out all the wiring & solder joints. sometimes I can live with it sometimes I can't. when I can't I completely rewire the cavity, rerouting the wire, cleaning it all up. plus it irks me that so many times they never bother to clean up the flux from the solder joint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Dog Posted March 7, 2019 Author Share Posted March 7, 2019 I worked in the electronics industry for almost 30 years. NASA certified soldering classes and all that ... In that case I thank you for not making any comments on my amateur soldering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 This is the 3-pickups and 6-way switch one isn't it? How have you wired the pickups? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Dog Posted March 7, 2019 Author Share Posted March 7, 2019 This is the 3-pickups and 6-way switch one isn't it? How have you wired the pickups? I have it wired for the traditional 2 pickup configuration on one side: N, B+N, B. The other side is N+M, M, B+M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtim Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 I think you did a good job. The other day I got a paul reed smith s2 standard. The tone pot on the bridge was not working. So when I took it down to check it out the damn ground wire solder joint broke off of the volume pot. I was surprised the ground wire was stiff and not a braided type. Pissed me off but I fixed it. Anyways after fixing that I saw the uf cap on the tone knob was grounding out against the shielding on the pickguard. So after bending the cap around a bit and putting it back into the guitar...it was not working again. I had to isolate the cap on the tone pot with electrical tape on the shielding so when it went back into the body it would not ground out again. After all of that it sounded a lot fuller and better than it did when I first played it. So I agree totally with you on checking out your les paul for a check up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 I think you did a good job. The other day I got a paul reed smith s2 standard. The tone pot on the bridge was not working. So when I took it down to check it out the damn ground wire solder joint broke off of the volume pot. I was surprised the ground wire was stiff and not a braided type. Pissed me off but I fixed it. Anyways after fixing that I saw the uf cap on the tone knob was grounding out against the shielding on the pickguard. So after bending the cap around a bit and putting it back into the guitar...it was not working again. I had to isolate the cap on the tone pot with electrical tape on the shielding so when it went back into the body it would not ground out again. After all of that it sounded a lot fuller and better than it did when I first played it. So I agree totally with you on checking out your les paul for a check up. Nice job taking care of that yourself The ground wire is pretty much always going to be solid. It is preferable to use the solid wire for grounding but most likely the pot had a loose nut that allowed the pot to rock back and forth until the wire snapped. Also helps to explain why maybe the tone cap moved into a position where it was shorting out. Make sure those nuts are all nice and tight If you ever run into something like this again, a little heat shrink on the cap leads will prevent them from shorting out and have a more permanent and professional quality. Electrical tape tends to get gooey after a while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtim Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 Nice job taking care of that yourself The ground wire is pretty much always going to be solid. It is preferable to use the solid wire for grounding but most likely the pot had a loose nut that allowed the pot to rock back and forth until the wire snapped. Also helps to explain why maybe the tone cap moved into a position where it was shorting out. Make sure those nuts are all nice and tight If you ever run into something like this again, a little heat shrink on the cap leads will prevent them from shorting out and have a more permanent and professional quality. Electrical tape tends to get gooey after a while Yes that tone pot was definitely loose. I had to tighten it up. However, the solder joint on the cap was fine. It was just the cap in contact with the shielding that made it ground out. So all I did was take the electrical tape and place it on the shielding flat across where the cap was located on the tone pot. I have saw ground wires solid before but this one had tension in it and spring like. Very strange and nothing like a gibson would be or fender either. I was surprosed at how damn stiff it was and had to bend it around to shape before it would naturally lay where I needed to solder on to the pot. It was a disappointment for a guitar with such a good reputation. Anyways, after I got it all back up and running I have a friend who was interested in it and we traded guitars. I got his carvin and he got my Paul Reed Smith. So now we are both happier!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karloff Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 In that case I thank you for not making any comments on my amateur soldering. all looks fine, only see a few that could stand to be "re-flowed" lol. but theres no cold solder joints that I saw. she's good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Dog Posted March 8, 2019 Author Share Posted March 8, 2019 all looks fine, only see a few that could stand to be "re-flowed" lol. but theres no cold solder joints that I saw. she's good. Yeah, my technique isn't perfect, but I'm getting better. Plus, it looks way better than before and everything works! This is what I took out of it. I should have taken a picture of it still in the guitar. If you look closely you can see that they even broke off the two of the terminals on the tone pots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NighthawkChris Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 I agree with you Black Dog, that solder job is unacceptable for a Gibson Custom Shop guitar - no matter who does that. Your solder work looks very clean and I think you did the right thing. As I have complained a few times here when I bought my 2015 LP Custom brand new, the neck pickup was not soldered well on the braid/ground to the pot, so it cut out - wonder why, haha! The pot was not loose in this case, just a poor solder job. The "grounds" are most difficult to do because they have a lot of conductive material tp heat up - sort of like a ground plane in some PCBs I have handled in the past. The more conductor area you need to heat up, the more time and patience required to get the solder to "adhere" to. It is what it is I suppose, so long as you can plug in and don't have to think about your wires and pots before every song You can wire up my guitars anytime, haha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Dog Posted March 8, 2019 Author Share Posted March 8, 2019 I agree with you Black Dog, that solder job is unacceptable for a Gibson Custom Shop guitar - no matter who does that. Your solder work looks very clean and I think you did the right thing. ...so long as you can plug in and don't have to think about your wires and pots before every song You can wire up my guitars anytime, haha! Thanks for the kind words Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karloff Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 yea thats pretty sloppy. yea, you did a good job. while I like it to be right I'm not as anal about the wiring / soldering as I used to be. like you said "it works". I used to spend time and have the wiring routed around the cavity, tied together, heat shrink as needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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