Guitar wiring help

Feronix · 16 May 2016 at 14:30

Hey guys!

I'm working on a Les Paul kit, but I've swapped out a lot of hardware/electronics (pickups, pots, etc.) and now I'm completely stuck on the wiring.

I did make a wiring diagram but it appears to be all wrong so I'll give you guys a blank canvas and if you could help me from the start, that would be appreciated so, so much.

The pickups didn't come with a wiring diagram, basically the only thing the guy I got them from told me was:
red=hot
green and white= coilsplit
black = mass
There is also a 'blank' wire wrapped up with the black one, I'll take it that's ground.

The electronics included in the circuit are:
- 2x 4-wire humbuckers
- 2x push/pull tone pots
- 2x regular volume pots
- 1x 3-way switch

What I want to do:
- Obviously let the 3-way switch select the individual pickups or both.
- Let the volume pots determine the volume.
- Let the tone pots determine the tone and split the coils.

In this diagram:
- Top volume and tone pots are for the top (neck) pickup.
- Bottom volume and tone pots are for the bottom (bridge) pickup.
- I've mounted the 3-way switch so it points towards the neck pickup when using that, and pointing to the neck pickup when playing on that. It just seems to make a lot more sense to me and prevents you from hitting it up or down while strumming.

I've kind of jumped into this head first without really knowing what I'm doing. Have looked at the internet for hours, but a wiring diagram for this specific set-up does not appear to exist and I'm really not experienced enough to experiment with it. Don't want to destroy my hardware

Any help would be immensely appreciated, and if you can find the time, an explanation of why things are connected to what they are would help me learn a lot

Thank you so much in advance!

Jono · 17 May 2016 at 16:32

I don't know. But is this any use?
http://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/guitar-wiring-104

I may not have understood your question/requirements.

Feronix · 19 May 2016 at 10:35

Pardon the late reply!

Thank you for your post but that diagram uses Seymour Duncan pickups (which have different colour codes), and also the tone pots aren't push/pulls. But with some help from the Crimson Guitars forums I've now come up with this (note that this diagram doesn't include grounding wires to prevent clutter).

My hot output (red) runs from the pups to the side lug of the volume pot (input). Then from the output to the corresponding pin on the pickup selector switch and also to a side lug on the tone pots.
The ground wire (black) is soldered directly on top of the volume pots.
The coil split wires (white and green) run from the pups to the push/pull part of the tone pot.
Then there the wire from the middle of the switch to the hot output on the jack.

Jono · 19 May 2016 at 11:28

Glad you're sorted. I don't even know what a push/pull pot is

Feronix · 19 May 2016 at 11:42

They basically allow you to do funky things with 4-wire humbuckers.

In this case, when I pull the tone knob outwards it will split the humbucker coils so it'll basically work like a single coil and I can use the guitar in either HH, HS, SH or SS configurations and have a lot of tone control on a single guitar

Feronix · 1 Jun 2016 at 17:34

Finished it last weekend, works like a charm, in case anyone else is wondering about the wiring

Cern · 1 Jun 2016 at 18:37

Well if the internal wiring looks as good as the exterior, you've done a wonderful job. Looking great!

Yulaw · 1 Jun 2016 at 18:44

Looks fantastic

This an eBay kit or custom made got a link?

Feronix · 1 Jun 2016 at 19:23

Thanks guys!

Pretty content with how well it came out. Plays great too. Still needs a name though!

It started out as the LP kit from Thomann (mine actually had a maple top which the specs didn't mention), but bascially all the electronics including pickups were swapped out (PAF Alnico V humbuckers and push/pull pots ftw) and some decent other mods went into it like cable routing channels, custom handmade truss rod cover, string-through-body instead of the stock tailpiece, black binding, a rounded neck pocket and a carve on the inside of the horn. Then some sweet Motip Metallic Violet to finish it off and this can be my Drop D guitar.

My goal is to have a guitar for each of the standard dropped tunings between E standard and Drop A#. Currently have E, D and C. After an overhaul on my strat (E) to give it a more '50s look and sound, I'll be making a custom Telecaster for A#. After that I promise I'll upload some pics in the gear thread