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guitar wired backwards?


eor

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say you get a guitar off of ebay. and everthing is cool, but you notice that the switch is kinda stuck. so you loosen the ring a bit, jiggle it back into place and get it to work, even though the switching isn't too smooth, and there is a new "4th position" on your 3 way switch.

 

then when you get her plugged in, you notice that the top row of knobs corresponds to the bridge pickup and the bottom to the neck pickup.

 

um... :freak:

 

love,

eor

 

or is the switch upside down and i'm imagining things? can that even happen?

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an lp. pups appear to be stock, thus the confusion on my part. i'm not sure it is possible for the the entire switch assembly to invert in transit. or maybe my other guitar has been backwards all this time and i didn't knowed. oh my.

 

love,

eor

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When holding the guitar...

 

Switch down = bridge pickup

Switch up = neck pickup

 

Controls...

 

Top row:

 

Left = neck pickup volume

Right = neck pickup tone

 

Bottom row:

 

Left = bridge pickup volume

Right = bridge pickup tone

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ok, yeah. my {censored}'s backwards.

 

next question: what now? the guitar is a keeper, wiring oddity aside. feedback has not been exchanged, and eor isn't the type to shake people down for something, especially after the fact. but the switch is gimpy and that {censored} is backwards, yo! neither was mentioned in the auction.

 

love,

eor

 

i guess i should crack it open and see what's going on, but i'm not too guitar handy in that regard and i don't want to go around messing things up more.

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seems unlikely, as they are supposed to be top grade, made in the usa components, wiring and pups. see, more confusion! unless something is amiss here... at least the pieces of wood that are glued together are winners. so far. the neck doesn't appear to be backwards, but maybe i'm wrong about that, too.

 

love,

eor

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elitist lp standard. i'm kinda scared to crack it open because the metal used to make the screws is so soft. i tried to remove the pickguard and one of the screws got all dented. and i don't know anything about wiring anyway, so it's probably a bad idea. at least i'll be able to crank it today. couldn't really tell if the pickups sounded "american" or "korean" or whatever. the accent is dicernable on some of them, right? :p

 

i thought about flipping the ring letting it ride, but i have other guitars with that configuration that i use a lot, so it would confuse me.

 

love,

eor

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If it's not only the switch then it's even more confusing :lol:

 

My Signature LP is from the same factory, not made to Epiphone standards though and I like the pickups which are in it. They are said to be Gotohs which are used in plenty of Japanese guitars. Maybe Epiphone uses something else though :idk:

 

It came with nice pots, but I replaced the cheap ceramic caps which were in it.

 

signaturelp_06.jpg

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yeah, the pots are cool. full range of sound and no crackles. couldn't tell you anything about the caps, though. epiphone claims to use the following:

 

 

The Elite Pickups

All Elite instruments are equipped with custom-wound pickups "Made in the USA" exclusively for Epiphone by Gibson Musical Instruments and are made with such uncompromising features as:


High Quality Cover Materials - All pickup covers use quality German silver with vintage Nickel or real 24K Gold finish.

Vintage Two-Conductor Wiring - Authentic two-conductor wiring with "braided" outer shielding for true vintage look and tone.

Full Wax Potting - Every pickup is potted in a special wax bath to insure that microphonic feedback due to internal vibration is elimated. All covered models receive a second wax bath to further protect the pickup.

Specially Made Magnets - All magnets are magnetized by Gibson to ensure the total reliability of each magnet's performance. Critical magnetic flux is maintained for the perfect combination of output without sacrificing tonal characteristics.

 

 

and that model should have:

 

Rhythm PU: 50SR (USA Humbucker)

Treble PU: 60ST (USA Humbucker)

 

maybe my brain inverted?

 

love,

eor

 

looking at the diagram, it can't be a big deal to flip the wires at the switch, right? just couple dabs of solder?

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Sweet pickups, yeah :D Must be your brain :p Or maybe they make them backwards in Japan? :idea: No, just checked on mine... Same wiring as on my others.

 

Why not ask the seller if he has done anything to the guitar to be sure?

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maybe i have up and down confused again. which one goes left?

 

i wanted to be properly armed with info before i hit him up, but what am i hoping for? what can i resonably expect from a seller? we sent a few emails back and forth prior to the sale and, a pickup/wiring mod wasn't mentioned then or in the ad, so i have (had) no reason to believe that they aren't stock. neither of us have left feedback yet. just seems funny/pointless to me to say, "hey, this {censored} is backwards! wtf!!11! grr!!".

 

love,

eor

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When I'm holding mine (as in playing it) and looking down at the controls...

 

Switch down = bridge pickup

Switch up = neck pickup

 

Top row pots:

 

Left = neck pickup volume

Right = neck pickup tone

 

Bottom row pots:

 

Left = bridge pickup volume

Right = bridge pickup tone

 

If only the switch is reversed (no idea how that could happen, but who knows) just reverse what I wrote about the switch. The controls should still be in that order.

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When I'm holding mine (as in playing it) and looking down at the controls...


Switch down = bridge pickup

Switch up = neck pickup


Top row pots:


Left = neck pickup volume

Right = neck pickup tone


Bottom row pots:


Left = bridge pickup volume

Right = bridge pickup tone


If only the switch is reversed (no idea how that could happen, but who knows) just reverse what I wrote about the switch. The controls should still be in that order.

that's what i'm used to, also. and you are correct, the switch cannot be flipped. otherwise, the bridge would be up and vice versa. so maybe it was wired in the japanese way or something.

 

 

Forgive me for asking, but does it actually matter?

yes and no. mostly no. but i'm pretty curious about what steps to take now and what to expect if anything, as i've never been in this situation before. the seller is a pretty big seller of guitars and such; i think its a store. someone had to have noticed, or would have noticed had they checked. at the very least, they should understand that the guitar is not "right", even if it isn't very wrong. wouldn't have stopped me from buying it, but he did note other things about the guitar, so it at least got a once over. maybe they just didn't plug it in.

 

love,

eor

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so what now? should i just tell him and wait? should i make demands? should i just make a note of it while leaving positive feedback? neutral? send him a package with a spring loaded boxing glove?

 

love,

eor

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so what now? should i just tell him and wait? should i make demands? should i just make a note of it while leaving positive feedback? neutral? send him a package with a spring loaded boxing glove?


love,

eor

 

If I were you I would fix it myself, shouldn't be all that difficult and it's not a big issue :p Got a Samick guitar once which had the pickups wired in split mode. Was an easy fix so it didn't bother me too much. Must have happened at the factory though since I got it from a dealer.

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