Paul-in-KC Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 Greetings, Does anyone have the manufacturer and part numbers for the connector parts used to connect pickups in the 2008 (and newer) Les Paul Standards? I'm sure this topic has come up before - but I haven't found what I am looking for yet. I have posted the question to Gibson - but I haven't hear back from them (yet). I also posted the question to DiMarzio (they make the pickups that I want to swap for the Burstbuckers). DiMarzio gave me the following info: Molex is the manufacturer The general "family" name for the connector is: Microfit 3.0 The 2 contact, single-row connector is (Molex) part#: 43645-0200 The gold plated female pins are part#: 43030-0002 Has anyone posted this information and doing a swap of this type? I'll post pics and a description if it hasn't been done already. I know a lot guys would just cut the wires and splice the original connectors on to the new pickup leads - but I want to do this in a way that doesn't alter the original parts and can be put back to 100% original. Thanks, -Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 Paul, Welcome to the forum. Good info so far. I haven't seen the info put up anywhere. Pics would be nice as would any info you get in the future. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul-in-KC Posted December 24, 2011 Author Share Posted December 24, 2011 Paul, Welcome to the forum. Good info so far. I haven't seen the info put up anywhere. Pics would be nice as would any info you get in the future. Willy Hey Willy, Thanks for the welcome. I'm happy to have a reason to post and join the community. I used to play and gig a LOT in the Detroit area back in the early 80's. I haven't played a whole lot over the last 25 years, but I do play some. It was about 25 years ago that I let my last Les Paul go. I bought a '93 Strat Plus Deluxe new when I moved down here to Kansas City. That is really a great Strat, but I only play occasionaly. More often I'll pick up one of the accoustics for a little while - here and there. So I was looking for a guitar for my niece for Christmas and I started jonesing (again) for a LP. So I decided to finally scratch that itch. I found a beautiful 2009 LP Standard (Plus) in an Iced Tea burst. These new chambered LPs are very different than my '72 Custom - but very nice. I have opened up my control box and have verified that the info from DiMarzio is correct. I have also taken the first couple of pics that I'll use to post the "swap". I should get one of the pickups and all of the connector parts next week, so I can make some more progress then. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all fans of Gibson -Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul-in-KC Posted December 25, 2011 Author Share Posted December 25, 2011 Okay, Just going to post the initial picture(s) as a test - and to get started. Can't post much as I don't have any of the parts yet. I'll be swapping a DiMarzio Super Distortion (F-spaced) in to the bridge position and a DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary in to the neck. Those will replace the original BurstbuckerPROs. I actually like the Burstbuckers - but want to try the Super Distortion - as this is the setup that I had in my '72 Custom (and I liked it). One thing cool about the new Molex connections is that you can easily swap back and forth - provided you set the new pickups up with their own connectors. Here is a picture of the control box open with everything plugged in... You can see that the wires from the pickups are clearly labeled. Here is a picture with the bridge pickup unplugged from the board. NOTE: I'm not focusing manually, so the plug is a little "fuzzy"... I'll proceed with additional steps and pics after I get the Pickups and connector hardware. Which should be this week. -Paul Okay, I got the Super Distortion pickup and the Molex connector parts and the extraction tool. Here is the Pickup (yep same as all the other SDs you have seen) Here are the Molex Microfit 3.0 female pins... Here are some of the female connector shells (nothing installed)... Here is the extraction tool... And here is the "generic" crimp tool that I used... This tool is MUCH cheaper than the application specific tool that Molex makes for this series of connectors. The Molex tool is $300+. The tool pictured above is probably about $15 - $20. This crimp tool was purchased to crimp pins for old-style D-shell computer cables. Like an old fashioned serial cable; or analog computer video cable. If you need help finding a tool let me know directly and I'll find one. Now - if you use the cheaper tool it requires a little more care on the part of the user to get the pins and wire in the tool to make a good crimp. But it absolutely will work. NOTE: even if you buy the expensive tool, you have to have the wires properly stripped and inserted in the pins and both in the tool. I wasn't able to get a good focus on the striping and crimping. I'll see if I can find a camera with a manual focus and get pics when I install the 36th anniversary PAF in the neck. That is supposed to ship next, but not sure as it is presently back ordered. Here is a picture of the picup installed. Note, the exact pole/string spacing match. This pickup is an "F-spaced" per recomendation on the DiMarzio web site... Guess that's all I have till next week. After I get the pickups installed, I'm going to start swapping out the PCB for CTS pots and Jensen caps - BUT maintain the Molex connectors on everything so I can use the original selector switch and the original input jack. Being able to use the original input jack is very helpful in the case of the 2008+ Standards - as they have the Neutrik "locking jack" - and the body is routed specifically for that. More later... -Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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