Bender 4 Life Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Ok gang, I guess what i'm looking for here, are some ideas on what to look for "there". Background: Bought it new in the 80's....sounded great, no buzz, plenty of tone, lovely "voice". a set of sagging reverb coils shorted out, melted much of the wiring inside the guitar, as well as burning up the neck volume pot. & the 3 way switch. Took it to an "authorized repairman" who replaced the pot., switch, and wiring (none of which was Gibson replacement parts, i'm sure, because none of it remotely resembles OE.) He told me that the p'up wasn't hurt, but had to get Gibson to fax him the wiring diagram, because he said these were old style '57 p'ups. Now: the bridge p'up seems fine, but the neck p'up has NO tone, is MUCH weaker than the bridge p'up(sounds like it's being played inside a tin-can) and has a terrible "buzz" in rythym or middle position on the 3 way. Also, both p'ups appear to be much newer than they were when I left it with him What is y'alls take on all this? Should I just swap both p'ups out for something better, could it be the pot. or 3 way, did he re-wire it wrong? I'm fixing to "dig into it" and see what if anything is stamped on the back of the p'ups and where he made the solder connections,and photo the inside of the switch cavity, i'll post pics when I do. Sorry for being so longwinded and vague, but my LP should sound at least as good as my Epis, and its nowhere close. Thanks in advance for any ideas/info y'all might convey.......now, wheres that toolset? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwhi2001 Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Don't tell us, tell your repairman. Take it straight back and ask him to sort it out. Ask him if he replaced either of the pups. He may have just cleaned the covers or something. At the very least, something is wrong with his wiring and he ought to fix it without any further charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Bender, +1 on Antwhi....could be anything that you have expressed concern about. If a visual inspection does not show anything evident then the parts need to be tested. I'm not the best solder guy around but I'm not bad either. I, too have had a few "oops" and burned out pots while installing them. A cold solder joint can be just as problematic. I know this isn't a lot of help but I would think your tech should be able to get to the heart of the problem. Could happen to anyone. Keep us updated on what happens. It might help one of us in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 Taking it back would be a great idea, except he's passed away from agent orange(lymphatic) cancer. perhaps i'll just ship it to Gibson and pay 1 more time to have it made right.......... the p'ups ARE the same ones that were in it, but the BRIDGE pot. is the one thats been changed (no markings on it whatsoever), and the neck pot. has been re-soldered. anyhow, here are some pics if its any help. if not, i'll probably send it to Gibson and bite the bullet on repairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Took it to an "authorized repairman" who replaced the pot.' date=' switch, and wiring (none of which was Gibson replacement parts, i'm sure, because none of it remotely resembles OE.) He told me that the p'up wasn't hurt, but had to get Gibson to fax him the wiring diagram, because he said these were old style '57 p'ups. Now: the bridge p'up seems fine, but the neck p'up has NO tone, is MUCH weaker than the bridge p'up(sounds like it's being played inside a tin-can) and has a terrible "buzz" in rythym or middle position on the 3 way. Also, both p'ups appear to be much newer than they were when I left it with him What is y'alls take on all this? Should I just swap both p'ups out for something better, could it be the pot. or 3 way, did he re-wire it wrong? [/quote'] If the pots got fried, it's hard to say how the original humbuckers stood up to the voltage/current "short". Obviously, to "fry" a 500K pot, you would have to have a fair amount of voltage...B+ from a tube?..getting in there somehow. It depends on what he replaced and how he soldered in the "supposedly new" pups. Incorrect wiring can cause a humbucker to "buzz". Ok, if he's no longer available, you are better off to get a replacement neck pup and maybe another 500k Linear taper pot and get a local guitar shop repairman to check it out. It will cost you far less than shipping it to Gibson and paying freight insurance charges + whatever repair time they will charge you. These circuits are simple bog standard 2 vol/2tones and 3way. Get a schematic for the LP from the Seymour Duncan site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
layboomo Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 It's a little hard to see from those pics,but the first thing that I would do is to disconnect the suspect pickup and take a meter reading of each coil red/black and green/white. That will tell you right away if the pickup is still good.......if not replace it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custer Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I would find a new, qualified repair person in your area. Sounds like the last guy really botched the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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