Just opened one of these up to find Gibson branded 500k pots, regular poly caps (rather than overly large ones pretending to be POI caps for reasons I'll leave alone here) and a 'modern' wiring setup
It all looks pretty old in there, with some whitening of the metal of the pot casings, but the pube in the pot cavity and loose screws suggest I'm not the first person to have opened it up
So the question is whether, pube aside, it would it have come out of the factory like this in that era?
The answer was never 42 - it's 1/137 (..ish)
Comments
Think you could find a difference in changing the current setup. I would say that though....
Cheers
Hugh
www.proudhoney.com
Pots, anything CTS premium will probably do it albeit I do like the vintage taper ones. RS superpots were great too when prices were not so mental but id wager even a basic CTS will be a good upgrade there. Probably £40 tops all if buying yourself from a good reputable seller. Avoid some of the kits on eBay as the soldering looks like my 3 yr old had a go at it.
Good luck
H
www.proudhoney.com
If you prefer 50s wiring, simply move the tone caps to the middle terminals on the volume pots.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
H
www.proudhoney.com
..but I will keep the original loom so I can reinstall at a later date
I can hear cap differences in amps but I’m afraid my ears aren’t good enough to hear it in a guitar circuit - tend to use Mallory’s because the flexible legs are easy to work with and because I have them for amps anyhoo!
There’s a difference in amps because the caps are subjected to tens or hundreds of volts, which introduces self-distortion and hence changes the harmonic content. Voltages in a guitar are around 1V maximum, which has no effect on a cap rated for at least 50V and usually much higher.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The 50s wiring makes a difference too but again subjective, not everyone likes it. Pot value can also have a difference too and can be worth experimenting with.
@SunDevil @sixstringsupplies could be worth a chat if you're buying bits n bobs. I think you'll need the long shaft 500ks on a Custom.
Cheers
Hugh
www.proudhoney.com
I don’t. It makes the controls too interactive, especially in the middle position which is what I use most - because the tone controls are then in parallel, since they’re on the switch side of the volume pots.
I did some testing with switched resistors to simulate different values and I was surprised how little difference it made - the minimum audible difference was about 25% down and 33% up from the spec value. (Hence why the standard tolerance on pots is 20%, I think.)
The quality of the taper does make a big difference to how well the pot works though, if you’re someone who uses them a lot.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I intended to just move the cap to the mid-lug but needed to turn the pots towards each other a tad on the bass side, to make the cap stretch and just couldn’t budge the plastic knobs, even with one of those plastic knob pullers - started seeing lacquer cracks I’d not noticed before and thought better of it
..I ended up lifting one end of the cap and crudely running a sprague cross - electrically sound but not the neatest job
..sounds awesome now, so job done, but I’d like to know how to get those knobs off for future reference?
@SunDevil If it were me I would just tweak the capacitor over to 50s wiring as @ICBM suggests to offer something different to the current setup. It's a Gibson after all so the components will be of decent quality.
If you feel after that that you might want a different taper for example, then there are plenty of us out there who can do you a kit
https://sixstringsupplies.co.uk/
Our YouTube Channel for handy "How-To" Wiring Tutorials
I'd still be interested in any tips from anyone as to how to remove pot knobs that won't budge with brute force (and ignorance!) alone?
If you’ve tried working them off by levering them up at one side (using the edge of the nut to lever against, not the top of the guitar) and rotating them until you can get some movement, they’re probably not coming off.
If the cap wires won’t reach, extend them with a small piece of solid wire, with some heat shrink over the top if they’re likely to touch the other terminal.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Any chance I pulled the pots hard enough to have set off the cracking in the lacquer close to (but not connected to) the pot holes? ..I'm assuming not (I didn't pull 'that' hard!) and that it was there before - just easier to spot in bright light under a head torch
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein