thejay Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Back in the 50s I believe Gibson wired the volume controls to be independent of each other when both pickups are engaged. Now-a-days they wire them where one volume knob controls the volume of both pickups when engaged. I have been very curious to mod one of my pauls to hear the difference it would make to have each pickup at their own unique volume. Has anyone done this or does anyone have a real vintage piece that can speak on the issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modoc_333 Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 real vintage ones weren't wired that way. they were wired the same as today in that regard. the difference with "50s" wiring simply affects how the volume pot is connected to the tone pot. in the modern style, the tone will get slightly darker as you roll the volume down. in the 50s style it doesn't. 50s allows for a more useable volume pot, but the tone pot is less usueable. modern is the opposite. neither makes them independent in the middle position though. you can set each pickup independent with the modern or 50s style. the only difference with "independent wiring" is that when you are in the middle position and turn one pickup all the way down, it doesn't mute the entire guitar. there is no difference between the function of the 2 at any other setting. in both you can roll one pickup part of the way down while in the middle and get the exact same result. the only tone difference is that independent wiring puts more of a load on the pickups causing them to sound slightly darker, more compressed and less dynamic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobv Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 What he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Slim Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 real vintage ones weren't wired that way. they were wired the same as today in that regard.... Nice post - thanks. I'm a newbie to Gibsons and ran into this last night. Didn't know if I hit a defect or if I was missing someting in the design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modoc_333 Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 no defect... actually a PITA for them to be independent. b/c if you want to mute the guitar you have to spin 2 knobs. if you want just one pup, then flip the switch... it's quicker than turning one all of the way down anyway. also, there's that issue with it not sounding as good b/c of the extra load on the pups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Slim Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Yep, makes complete sense. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejay Posted March 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 excellent - thanks for the info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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