Members paulojcduarte Posted December 5, 2011 Members Share Posted December 5, 2011 That looks awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted December 5, 2011 Members Share Posted December 5, 2011 Freeman, that is spectacular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JimmyMcNulty Posted December 5, 2011 Members Share Posted December 5, 2011 Absolutely fantastic. One of the few threads that made me read every single post on it Thanks for the comprehensive collection of illustrative pictures. That really shows the amount of work and craftsmanship... makes one (or at least me) to venerate the instrument a lot more! Especially now when I'm about to get my 3rd custom-made guitar any day soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jon Hiller Posted December 5, 2011 Members Share Posted December 5, 2011 SCORE! I think I mentioned that I didn't own an amplifier and wasn't completely sure what I was going to do. A friend offered me a loaner to set the guitar up and play it while I figured out what I wanted. However over the holiday we visited my family in Portland and while the girls were shopping for Christmas dresses, my son (remember my son, he is the cause of all of this sillyness) said "dad, lets you and me do a little shopping too". We went to a wood working tool store so Tom could get a router bit and I was very good - drooled over a lot of cool things but resisted. We went to a nice model shop (I've been want to get back into building a model or two as soon as the shop is clear) but again, Tom picked up something he needed, my visa stayed in my pocket. We thought we'd go to GC and just look at amps - Tom said he could explain different features and models and then, right in the middle of the used section was My son said "dad, that would be perfect. In fact, if you don't buy it I probably will". We took a Les Paul off the wall, plugged it in and played around (remember the second problem is that I don't know how to play electric guitar). So here is this grey bearded old fart sitting in the middle of Guitar Center with a silver and black Les Paul playing Alices Resturant (it was Thanksgiving, after all). Anyway, it sounded pretty good and the darn thing followed me home - Gibson GA20RVT. The standby switch pops a bit when turned off but othewise seems to be in pretty nice shape. What 'cha all think - will this give me the vintage bluesy sound that I think I want? Hey, I am gonna send you a quick PM about your amp's pop. I would just put it here, but this thread is about your guitar, which is turning out beautifully.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tupelo Son Posted December 5, 2011 Members Share Posted December 5, 2011 Love build threads, GOOD times! Very very nice work. Subscribed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted December 5, 2011 Members Share Posted December 5, 2011 Nicely done, sir! Very informative. I've been following with particular interest, in that I've got a '58 V in the planning stages & tennon length, neck pocket/neck angles are on my mind these days & it's cool to be able to see these things being done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted December 5, 2011 Members Share Posted December 5, 2011 Freeman - I agree redoing grounds at this point would be a lot of work. Wish I'd found the thread before you put the cap on the body as that would have been the ideal time to do the cavity shielding. As long as you don't have any ground loops and you stick to the vanilla wiring scheme, it shouldn't be that noticeable. It becomes critical when you start doing things like splitting coils, out-of-phase, etc. I would recommend you look into 50's wiring though. It is a simple rewiring of the volume/tone pots that lets you roll down your volume without the tone muddying up. It's the way Gibson's were done in the 50's and is particularly important when running a couple humbuckers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted December 5, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 5, 2011 WIRING HELP PLEASE! Because it was easy I bought all the electronic parts as a kit from StewMac, figuring that I can always replace them in the future but this would be an easy way to get started. I also got a set of their Parson Street humbuckers - again, just as a starting point. I wired them based on schematic #0133 on the instruction tab of this page (I can't copy just the picture here so I guess people that understand this will have to open the page to see what I'm talking about) http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Supplies:_Wiring_kits/Wiring_Kit_for_Les_Paul.html?tab=Instructions#details I did the "alternate" volume control wiring that is supposed to blend the two pickups if the switch is in the middle position. It works terribly. The volume controls are not at all linear and in all three positions they do not completely shut off. The tone controls have a small effect, but certainly not what I expected. So I go poking around the internet, including StewMac's own site, and find wiring diagrams for both old and new Les Pauls. The wiring of the tone cap and tone pots is completely different - in the above diagram the cap is from term 3 of the volume control to term 2 of the tone, and there is a wire from term 1 of vol to term 3 of the tone (which is also the hot wire from the pickup). Note that the tone control is not grounded. This diagram, also from StewMac is similar to what I have found in other sources http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Pickups:_Guitar,_electric/Golden_Age_Parsons_Street_Humbuckers.html?tab=Instructions#details Note that the cap is wired from term 2 of volume (which is output to switch) to term 3 of tone, and term 2 of tone is grounded. They also show the "modern" modification where cap is from term 1 of the vol to term 2 of tone - I have also seen this in other sources. I'm going to dive into this tonight with soldering iron in hand - two questions 1) is the "alternate" wiring of the volume controls good or bad? I like the idea that it eliminates the fact that turning one pot down kills both pups, but I also am willing to live with that if other problems are created. 2) what is the best wiring of the tone controls? I'm thinking the "classic" version of the second StewMac diagram - is there any reason to use the "modern" version? Thanks again for everyone's advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted December 5, 2011 Members Share Posted December 5, 2011 Here is a link to Seymour Duncan's wiring diagrams: http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/ And here is the basic Les Paul wiring scheme: Here is the difference between modern and 50's: I find these easier to read than the Stewmac version. As far as your pots having a linear taper or not, if the are A, as in 500K A, they have an audio taper. The B variety is linear. Audio taper pots tend to have most of their effect over 30% of the pots travel. Linear will taper evenly over the entire travel. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted December 5, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 5, 2011 Thanks Verne, that pretty much agrees with the other diagrams that I have found. I'll do some rewiring tonight and see what happens. I also sent an e-mail to StewMac to see if they have an explaination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted December 5, 2011 Members Share Posted December 5, 2011 The devil is in the details, as the saying goes. I've found 99.99% of the time when guitar wiring doesn't work it's because of something I did, or didn't, do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members -=Pennywise=- Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 if possible freeman, measure all your pots and pick the ones that are closest to 500K out of the 4 you have and use them for the volumes. I agree with the guys here, 50's wiring is the way to go with Les Pauls, they can get quite muddy with the modern wiring scheme when rolling off the volume. Some players like that, some don't. one thing I love to do when wiring my guitars is shielding the entire cavity with adhesive copper tape, including the underside of the cavity plate, forming a copper shielding "box" all around the electronics in there. Helps with noisy rooms/studios/hall/etc big time and it also eliminates the need of a grounding wire sharing between all your pots (which makes for a cleaner looking wiring job too) as the copper foil IS the grounding point for all the pots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted December 6, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 I found my wiring mistake, and it was mine. I had installed a ground on one pot but didn't like it, removed it so I could relocate it and simply forgot. Duh. Lets call this fini for the present - I still need to make a new truss rod cover for it and the end of the month I'll pull all the hardware off and give it another buffing. But for now, i want to play some blues (I really don't like that t/r cover, but it was fun to try) I'll take some better pictures too, these are flash and are pretty hot. And once I figure out how to play it (LOL) maybe I'll post a clip or two. Thanks to everyone for all the support and nice comments Freeman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ej Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 That is one of the prettiest LP's I've seen bro... that color The only thing I don't like is the board. If it was ebony the LP would be perfect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarheo3 Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 looks great loovveee that burst! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cheezit66 Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 Looks beautiful. I love that the finish has a satiny sheen, not that ultragloss urethane look that makes wood look like plastic... But...but...but now we have to hear it!!! Clips/vids pleez! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dmc69 Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 very nice! Would love to hear sound clips too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members j*h Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 that is awesome work!!congrats!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 Stunning guitar is stunning! I think that truss cover might work if it were a darker burst? Start w/the same color as the headstock and work slightly lighter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members newbuilder Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 Very nice end result and great thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Naregnemyes Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 Hey bud. Great job.I dont think the truss rod cover needs to be replaced. It's just too bright right now. Go over it a little with a darker stain and youre golden! Really wish you went with the original open book headstock though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flatspotter Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 Amazing! That really came out nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members photon9 Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 :love::love: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GomezAddams1 Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 Beauty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tweedledee Posted December 6, 2011 Members Share Posted December 6, 2011 Apart from the temporary truss rod cover, that is one of the prettiest Les Paul style guitars I've ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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