Vintage or Modern?

[Cap'n Greenfog]

I will be replacing my pickups, caps and wiring soon in my Epi LP, and am faced with a choice. I know I'm going with an independant wiring scheme, but I'm unsure about the vintage/modern thing. Can someone explain the difference. This guitar has always sounded dark and dingy. I play though a Champion 600, which is also kinda dark. If modern wiring is brighter, then I should probably go that route, huh? How are the two different to the ear?

[bigneil]

the 50s vintage wiring is likely to help your guitar sound a little brighter. In some instances it appears to brighten up the whole overall sound of the guitar and in all cases it will greatly lessen the effect of the sound becoming muted when you start to turn down the volume as it does with modern. the disadvantage of the 50s wiring is that if you are playing at half volume, then turn down the tone, you are likely to experience a further drop in volume and have to compensate by turning the volume back up a bit. It seems that this effect is either lessened or exaggerated by the type, value, and quality of the pots and caps.

[Cap'n Greenfog]

the 50s vintage wiring is likely to help your guitar sound a little brighter. In some instances it appears to brighten up the whole overall sound of the guitar and in all cases it will greatly lessen the effect of the sound becoming muted when you start to turn down the volume as it does with modern. the disadvantage of the 50s wiring is that if you are playing at half volume, then turn down the tone, you are likely to experience a further drop in volume and have to compensate by turning the volume back up a bit. It seems that this effect is either lessened or exaggerated by the type, value, and quality of the pots and caps.

Thanks! I had planned to go vintage, but didn't know for sure what the result would be. Sounds like that would be my best choice. I definitely need to brighten up this axe. The neck pickup is very dark and there's way too much bass. I've read where people say the caps need to be .022, but that you can use a .015 for the neck to clear it up. What effect does the .015 have as opposed to the .022? In other words, what do they mean by "clear it up"? Sorry, but I really need someone to "spell it out" for me.

[StewartB]

Thanks! I had planned to go vintage, but didn't know for sure what the result would be. Sounds like that would be my best choice. I definitely need to brighten up this axe. The neck pickup is very dark and there's way too much bass. I've read where people say the caps need to be .022, but that you can use a .015 for the neck to clear it up. What effect does the .015 have as opposed to the .022? In other words, what do they mean by "clear it up"? Sorry, but I really need someone to "spell it out" for me.

 

The higher value cap, the "darker" the tone. 22uf is pretty standard for LPs. Since the control cavity is easy to get into, you could try both values - .015 & .22. That way you can decide which is best. the .015 should be brighter - maybe a little too bright? Good luck,

 

StewartB

[Cap'n Greenfog]

The higher value cap, the "darker" the tone. 22uf is pretty standard for LPs. Since the control cavity is easy to get into, you could try both values - .015 & .22. That way you can decide which is best. the .015 should be brighter - maybe a little too bright? Good luck,

 

StewartB

Yeah, but if too bright you could always roll back the tone knob.

 

All I know is that it's VERY dark right now. I don't know if that's primarily because of the cheap Epi pups, or the cheap Epi caps. I do know that I'm going to replace both. I'll worry about the pots later if necessary.