CTS pots for DOT..fit through f-hole?

[carverman]

Hope everyone in the Epiphone Forum had a Merry Christmas and Santa was good

bringing you at least some of the things you asked for.

 

I'm going to install some CTS 500K pots on a Epi Dot for a friend's son, along with some

Gibson Classic 57s. (This cherry DOT was bought at the Gibson Showcase in Nashville when

we visited there a couple of years ago.)

 

Anway, he got some Gibson p_ups for it and wants to order some CTS pots for it,

along with a better 3-way/jack and some good vintage wiring/orange drop caps.

 

My question to TWANG.... or anyone out there that has done this kind of retrofit:

 

Q1..will the CTS pots fit through the widest part of the f-hole?

 

Q2: Is the tone block solid around the bridge p_up? If not, can I feed the pots

and new vintage wiring in that way..or does it all need to go through the bottom

f-hole?

[TWANG]

they went in so easy on the dot studio I didn't even use any string through the f hole..

I think the dot will have the same size holes so it should be a snap!

about a hundred times easier than the sheri.. that wont take full size. the korean ones, or at least mine..

and you can't get your finger in there to help out.

but on the dot studio. nice easy job!

[jcwillow777]

I used some Alphas (but they are the same size as the CTS) on my Dot that took forever. They fit, I may have had to turn them to fit, with the wire and all. It's been a while since I did it, so I don't remember. But they fit. I did string the pots with fishing wire to get them in place through the body holes though.

 

I can't say it was a nice easy job, but then it was my first. My Sherry was a lot easier!

 

I wasn't able to fish anything through the pickup holes on mine except the wire for the pickups. Not a big enough hole in the center block. I have heard some guys say that they could, I wasn't that lucky. I had run the pup wires up the f-hole, then solder them to the pots and then fish the harness through the f-hole.

[carverman]

they went in so easy on the dot studio I didn't even use any string through the f hole..

I think the dot will have the same size holes so it should be a snap!

 

Thanks Twang.

 

He's probably going for the Gibson wiring kit that's sold by

guitarpartsresource (44.95) as buying everything individual is going to run

into a lot of money for him.

 

....besides that, he has to buy the Gibson top hat/bell knobs, because the

CTS pots and the asian knobs are not compatible .

 

The asian made pots are coarse splined vs the US made CTS

which have 24 splines.

 

Thats going to run him another $20 for the Gibson packaged set of 4,

... unless he can find somewhere else on line that has 4

(that will fit the CTS pot splines) for less.

[carverman]

I can't say it was a nice easy job' date=' but then it was my first. My Sherry was a lot easier!

 

[i']I wasn't able to fish anything through the pickup holes on mine except the wire for the pickups. Not a big enough hole in the center block.[/i]

I have heard some guys say that they could, I wasn't that lucky. I had run the pup wires up the f-hole, then solder them to the pots and then fish the harness through the f-hole.

 

Thanks JC.

 

Well at least the wires on the p_ups are long enough that you can solder outside.

 

Speaking of fishing the harness back in..

which ones (bridge vol/tone) or (neck vol/tone) should be fished in first to keep the harness neat and orderly

inside? Or does it matter?

[jcwillow777]

I fished the 1/4" jack in first, then worked my way around from the furthest away (bridge volume) to the closest (switch). I do remember I had to play with the 1/4" jack a little, it wanted to get wires under it so it wouldn't come up flush with the inside of the body. If you remember I had to do mine several times due to rookie mistakes. I think it was the last time I fished it all in that I figured it out that I needed to fish the 1/4" jack in first to avoid undue frustration.

 

I remember reading a post on the old forum of how to do this and the person said to solder everything up and fish it through the pickup cavity. Well, I had never done this before and I didn't take mine apart before I put everything together. Needless to say, I had to unsolder it and then put it back together.

 

I only had to do my Sherry once - Hallelujah!

[carverman]

I fished the 1/4" jack in first' date=' then worked my way around from the furthest away (bridge volume) to the closest (switch). I do remember I had to play with the 1/4" jack a little, it wanted to get wires under it so it wouldn't come up flush with the inside of the body. If you remember I had to do mine several times due to rookie mistakes. I think it was the last time I fished it all in that I figured it out that I needed to fish the 1/4" jack in first to avoid undue frustration. [/quote']

 

Thanks JC.

 

So if I read your experience correctly.. it should be fished in this way..

1. jack

2. Bridge volume

3. bridge tone

4. neck volume

5. neck tone

6. switch

[jcwillow777]

I guess it all depends how you wire your harness. I made mine in a straight line so it would for a kind of a horse shoe shape inside the body. I didn't want to see any wires through the f-hole. I didn't take any pictures of it in the process.

 

I wired the 1/4" jack to the switch with shielded wire and made sure there was enough to run it independently of the pots. So I did it like this:

 

1. 1/4" jack

2. bridge volume

3. bridge tone

4. neck tone

5. neck volume

6. switch

[vomer]

Carverman, the Epi f-holes which will take full size CTS or Alpha are 1 3/32" across the widest part.

 

There was a thread here recently, in the last couple of weeks, about the hole size between the bridge pickup rout and the body cavity. Some folk have holes wide enough to take pots, some brave modders widened theirs. If you go in through the f-hole, tape the sides with insulating tape, it protects the gtr and eases the pots through.