Fitting Wilkinson Humbuckers in my Epiphone LP. Need help please (SORTED)

kPATm

Ok so I bought a pair of Wilkinson Humbuckers but Im not sure I wired them correctly?

The original humbuckers had 2 wires. 1 to the center tab on the pot and the other to ground.

The Wilkinsons have 4 but 2 are twisted together (red+white)as I understand these are only needed if you want to use a coil tap?.

The other wires left are Black/Yellow.

I have soldered the yellow wire to the center tab on the volume pot and the black to ground? Is this correct?

The pic shows the way I have connected the neck pickup to the pot

kPATm

I have been looking at this a bit and the more I see the more Im thinking of just ripping out all the wiring and maybe getting something like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LES-PAUL-SG-500k-complete-GUITAR-wiring-kit-0-33uf-caps-premium-FULL-SIZE-pots-/231657790731?hash=item35efe15d0b

Does anyone have any experience with this sort of kit?

paulnb57

I don't understand the issue? Does it work? The two wires that are twisted together need the bare wires to be covered with a bit of tape or heat-shrink

I guess the other two wires should replicate the original pickup wiring....

kPATm

I dont understand either thats the problem ,-) I havnt finished with it yet thats why the wires arent tapped up. It doesnt work. Im hoping its just a dodgy main lead. I have another but Im waiting on a Pod GX coming so I will try it then. I have started a topic in the modding thread. Like I say there I have been looking at pics and vids of other LP wiring and mine looks pretty different. It obviously worked before with the original humbuckers but I think I may rip out the wiring and rewire the lot as per other LPs?

ICBM

If it doesn't work, there's a good chance something is shorting against the shielding - that amount is excessive and it could easily be touching somewhere, eg the jack, which will mute the entire guitar. If it is and you don't want to remove the shielding, cover the areas round the jack and under the terminals of the pots with masking tape.

You have wired it sort-of correctly, assuming the black wire contains the coil ground wire and the shield wire (usually bare) - it looks like it does. That is "backwards" volume control wiring though - you will get better control range and tone at lower settings if you swap the yellow wire and the white wire that is part of the cable (red I think, hard to see) that goes to the switch. The pickup should be connected to the end terminal of the pot and the switch to the middle.

That kit doesn't look like a significant upgrade on the parts you have already - a bit, but not worth the effort really. You *can* get kits of better parts, and they can be worth it, but those aren't.

GuitarMonkey

Plus, if it really does have, as stated, 0.33uf caps then the tone controls won't work very well

kPATm

I think I will try and get it working out side the guitar to see if there are any shorts. The wiring seems a bit excessive to me compared to some DIY vids Iv watched on Youtube. I may still strip it out and follow one of the tutorials there?

kPATm

I forgot to say that the red wire going to the top of the volume pot is actually the black ground but I stripped of the wire to check if I had a bare cable then put on some red shrink wrap

kPATm

I have removed the pots from the body of the guitar but its still not working. Very bad hum and nothing much else. The Toggle Switch wiring looks very different from others I have seen



I have been looking at this You tube vid and its looks much simpler wiring?

These are the wires I have on the Neck pick up. Notice the red + white are twisted together




I have the black wire connected to the top of the Volume pot and the yellow wire connected to the middle leg of the same pot? The twisted Red+Yellow wires are not needed AFAIK

monquixote

I'd consider buying some better pickups.

I've had a guitar with Wilkinson pickups and they are alright, but probably not substantially better than what's in there are the moment. 

If it were me I'd be investing in Tonerider, or Iron Gear (or Oil City if you can stretch).

kPATm

Im on a very tight budget. Its the Wilkinsons or nothing Im afraid :-(

SteveRobinson

Pull the jack as well. It may be shorting against the copper foil and/or be connected the wrong way round.

JohnB

Wilkinson's are not bad I have them in 2 builds, probably only a noticeable upgrade if you are on a fairly low end Epiphone though, Have you got a test meter? if so check that black to yellow resistance is roughly black to red/white plus yellow to red/white, then you will know that the twisted wires are the right ones. I have just taken the back off my Wilko equipped guitars - one has 2 wire pickups, and in the other, the red and white are joined !

Odd that they have used 3 separate cables to the switch instead of 1 multicore screened but it should work. Might as well put a decent leaf switch in while it is in bits.

I agree with @ICBM that the volume pots are wired strangely - the pickups should wire across the ends with the take off to the switch and tone controls from the centre tang.  

You could take all the wires off and start again from a diagram (using the same components) then you will have a full understanding of the internals if they need attention in the future - but if you pull wires out through the body tunnels, make sure you thread a mousing thread to pull the new ones through easily 

ICBM

Those switches are a typical generic cheap type that's been used on copies since probably the late 60s - they're not great, although mostly to do work OK. If you're going to replace it, use a Switchcraft 'long' type only - there's no point in using anything else since the Switchcraft is so much better quality than anything else and only a bit more expensive. The same applies to the jack.

(The ones in that kit you linked above are not Switchcraft.)

kPATm

Im going to strip it down and start again. Im going to follow this diagram

kPATm

Im presuming the yellow wire on the Wilkinson is the red wire in the diagram?

JohnB

kPATm said:

Im presuming the yellow wire on the Wilkinson is the red wire in the diagram?

If you take the black wire to earth on the back of the the pot then,  yes - you need to connect the tone controls and capacitors too. Middle tang of the volume pot to the middle of the tone pot and capacitor between the bottom tang (as viewed here) of the tone pot and the tone pot casing

ICBM

kPATm said:

Im going to strip it down and start again. Im going to follow this diagram

Yes, although that does not show the tone controls connected up.

Given the small caps you have, with the cap connected between the lower terminal of the tone pot and ground, you just need to link the middle terminal of each tone control to the same terminal of the volume control as the pickup (for 'modern' wiring) or the switch (for '50s wiring'). Some people prefer one, some the other.

kPATm

Is this it? What size capacitors do I need

kPATm

OK so if Im going to strip this out I may as well do it right or as right as I can get it. Could some one link me to a set of pots some capacitors a toggle switch and a jack. Im in the UK BTW. Thanks

ICBM

http://www.allparts.uk.com/collections/guitar-and-bass-electronics/products/wiring-kit-for-lp

You will also need a taper reamer or a round file to open out the pot holes a bit, since the original pots are slightly smaller than the US-made ones here.