Let's Get this Pig Ready for the Party!
There's the part of me that's saying, "seriously dude, just cut your losses and let it go." However, it's too late for that... the order to StewMac went out yesterday. I'm going to do my best to turn the Chibson into a rock monster... as it stands she's looking, playing, and even sounding, pretty good. Here's what I have in store for Miss Piggy.
First of all all the electronics are getting yanked... they're working OK as-is but who knows how long that will last and I have a big change in store as far as wiring this thing up.
As copied and pasted from duhvoodooman's post on thefret.net...
From the various mods I've made to my Epiphone Dot's humbucker wiring, I now realize what I should have done to start with! So I've put together a diagram (attached below) detailing what I'm calling DVM's "Full Boat" Dual Humbucker Wiring Mod. The diagram shows a comprehensive overhaul of the stock wiring to add a large number of new tonal options to a 2-humbucker guitar equipped with separate volume and tone controls for each pickup. This mod has the additional advantages of (1) not removing or altering the three stock tones, and (2) not changing the appearance of the guitar (i.e. no drilling/new holes, extra switches, etc.).
I do not mean to imply that any of this constitutes "original thinking" on my part! I've just taken several well-known mods and tried to integrate them together in a logical way and represent them in a clear and well-labeled diagram. Hopefully, this will accomplish that end. If you're familar with the "Jimmy Page" Les Paul mod, you'll notice that this is very similar. The main difference is that it substitutes series/parallel switching on the individual humbuckers for the series/coil-cut switch the Page mod employs.
In a nutshell, the mod involves replacing all four of the stock control pots with "push-pull" pots fitted with 6-contact double-pole/double throw (DPDT) switches. It requires that both humbuckers be of the 4-conductor variety. While many "aftermarket" humbuckers sold by outfits like Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio are of this type, the stock humbuckers that come in most guitars are 2-conductor and will not work with this mod. So you may be looking at a pickup upgrade to be able to do this, which obviously raises the cost of admission substantially! If you don't need new p'ups, you can do this for the price of 4 push-pull pots ($40 or so) plus whatever wiring and soldering supplies you need. Pretty cheap for the tonal benefits that will be reaped!
One other possible expense I should mention--for this project, you should definitely have a digital multimeter available to check continuity and troubleshoot problems. I picked up a cheap one at Radio Shack for $20 that handles the job nicely.
When completed, the "Full Boat" mod gives you the following capabilities:
I do not mean to imply that any of this constitutes "original thinking" on my part! I've just taken several well-known mods and tried to integrate them together in a logical way and represent them in a clear and well-labeled diagram. Hopefully, this will accomplish that end. If you're familar with the "Jimmy Page" Les Paul mod, you'll notice that this is very similar. The main difference is that it substitutes series/parallel switching on the individual humbuckers for the series/coil-cut switch the Page mod employs.
In a nutshell, the mod involves replacing all four of the stock control pots with "push-pull" pots fitted with 6-contact double-pole/double throw (DPDT) switches. It requires that both humbuckers be of the 4-conductor variety. While many "aftermarket" humbuckers sold by outfits like Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio are of this type, the stock humbuckers that come in most guitars are 2-conductor and will not work with this mod. So you may be looking at a pickup upgrade to be able to do this, which obviously raises the cost of admission substantially! If you don't need new p'ups, you can do this for the price of 4 push-pull pots ($40 or so) plus whatever wiring and soldering supplies you need. Pretty cheap for the tonal benefits that will be reaped!
One other possible expense I should mention--for this project, you should definitely have a digital multimeter available to check continuity and troubleshoot problems. I picked up a cheap one at Radio Shack for $20 that handles the job nicely.
When completed, the "Full Boat" mod gives you the following capabilities:
- Run either humbucker with the two coils in series (stock) or in parallel (a brighter, thinner tone much like a single coil, but still hum-cancelling).
- Run the bridge pickup magnetically out-of-phase with the neck, giving an interesting hollow, somewhat nasal tone. Sometimes referred to as the "Peter Green mod".
- Run the bridge and neck pickups in series with each other, vs. in parallel, which is what the middle position of the 3-way pickup selector toggle gives on most stock dual-humbucker guitars. This gives a bigger, fatter sound. I refer to this as the "megabucker mod", because it essentially turns the two humbuckers into one big 4-coil 'bucker.
When you look at the possible combinations of these various options, there are 20 unique combinations, though some are only very subtly different from each other, and a few aren't very useful. But even if you found only 3 new settings that you really like, you've just doubledyour dual-humbucker guitar's tonal flexibility. And I'll bet there will be a lot more than 3 you'll find useful!
Additionally, the diagram shows the contacts on the volume pots for the pickup output signal and the wire to the 3-way pickup selector toggle reversed from the stock wiring. Doing this will make the two volume controls independent when the toggle is in the dual-pickup (middle) position. With stock Gibson-style wiring, turning down either volume pot while in dual-pickup mode will reduce the volume of both pickups simultaneously. Making them independent gives you mixing control over the two p'ups, a nice tonal advantage, IMO. I've really never understood why Gibson wires them the other way!
One last, important point: Let me give fair warning right now--this mod involves a LOT of soldering work! If you have no previous soldering experience, this would not be the project to learn on! But if you're comfortable with your soldering skills and have a mind to turn your Les Paul or other 2-humbucker guitar into a magical multi-tonal music machine, this mod's for you!!
Here's another way to do the "Full Boat", with coil-cutting for the two humbuckers substituted for the series/parallel switching. It's much easier to wire the two push-pulls on the volume pots, and I find that the coil-cut and parallel coil wiring both sound very similar. You'll sacrifice the pickup's humbucking property when you coil-cut, but the added noise is pretty negligible.
So, that's the plan as far as wiring goes... I tried to keep a lid on the cost of things as I really want to try and spend as little as possible while still making a huge improvement over the stock guitar. I went with StewMac overwound humbuckers, Orange Drop Caps (I almost always use PIO caps but am settling for these for this project), Alpha push/pull knobs, a new Switchcraft toggle and a Switchcraft jack... that ought to do it under the hood. All that crap cost another $200 bucks or so... bringing the the guitar and parts to about $550.
So, that's the plan as far as wiring goes... I tried to keep a lid on the cost of things as I really want to try and spend as little as possible while still making a huge improvement over the stock guitar. I went with StewMac overwound humbuckers, Orange Drop Caps (I almost always use PIO caps but am settling for these for this project), Alpha push/pull knobs, a new Switchcraft toggle and a Switchcraft jack... that ought to do it under the hood. All that crap cost another $200 bucks or so... bringing the the guitar and parts to about $550.
* * * *
Then come's the lipstick...
* The cheesy Epiphone truss rod cover is going to be replaced with a real Gibson LP
Custom truss rod cover. That was $20.
* Then some Dunlop strap lock buttons... $6 and well worth it. Despite being a knock-off, I
really don't want it too take a fall.
* Then there are the knobs and pointers... a Gibson just isn't a Gibson (IMO) without some
thumb cutters... those were only a few bucks and then there are the new knobs. Of
course this isn't a Gibson but that's irrelevant.I don't know (and don't care) if LP Customs
ever came with black reflector knobs with gold inserts but that's what I'm replacing the
big ugly speed knobs with... another $10 bucks. Sorry if you're a fan of the speed knob...
I could live with gold ones if they came stock on something but I just don't like the black
ones. Visually I guess it'll have a '68ish look to it, though I think the hardware on those
was silver... again, it's never going to be a real Gibson, or totally look the part, so I'll just
get it looking the way I'd put it together if I was working at the factory. I think it will
look pretty sweet with the addition of the gold pointers and black and gold knobs. I'll be
sure to post some pictures up here when it all comes together.
So I guess the whole deal will come in at just under $600... not bad, but not great either. One could easily spend $600 on a very nice guitar and not have to do any mods to it. The wiring on this one will set it apart and given that I've got it set-up and playing well right now, I think it'll be worth it in the long run. I wouldn't want to have to justify any of this to my girlfriend but at this point there are so many guitars coming and going I don't think she can tell them apart.
UPDATE:
Yesterday I stripped all the parts (minus tuners and bridge pegs) and began a few little fix-ups. The control cavity was roughly routed and so I've smoothed that out so that the pot shafts aren't poking out the top and 4 different angles. It'll look WAY better than it did. I've also countersunk the holes on the correct side of the control plates on the back so that they can be mounted properly... they were mounted backwards with the shiny side in and the rough dull plastic facing out. This also required a sanding of the plates and a slight plug and re-drill of the screw holes. Again, these are all little details that were clearly not addressed at the factory. I also broke down and bought a Gotoh bridge and the correct size pickup ring screws. The bridge was really cheap... the intonation screws and saddles were not really working as they should and I found a deal on the bridge on Ebay. The screws were just driving me crazy because the stock ones were nearly the same size heads as the pickguard screws and they had rounded heads... again, more nit picky stuff but I figured if I'm going to do this thing up right, I'll just do it now.
A few interesting facts which have me wondering... I'm convinced pickups and the toggle switch were actual Epiphone parts. They were all stamped correctly and when compared to real Epiphone parts, were identical. Perhaps there were other Epi parts as well... again, the tuners seems very nice for knock-offs, and the strap buttons also seemed pretty nice... nice enough to be used on a much more expensive guitar. They weren't just the lowest grade pot metal. I can't help but wonder if there are people working at the Epiphone factory (of perhaps that this guitar came from the same factory) who are siphoning off parts to build these knock-offs? I do find it hard to believe that anyone would fake Epi parts... they certainly don't have a reputation as being top-shelf. Perhaps they were overstock before Epi went to their fancier Pro-Bucker type pickups? And why would you fake an Epiphone toggle... again, is the maker just selling to multiple factories or is someone stealing and redirecting Epiphone parts into other factories? Or again, are Epis and these fake Gibsons coming from the same factory?
WEEKEND UPDATE: SAT MARCH 1st, 2014
Parts are supposed to be arrive in today en masse. It would be a rare event for all my project parts to arrive on the same day but it looks to be the case... we'll see if it happens or not. I'm looking forward to getting this thing together and rocking out!
Meanwhile, I've been having a blast playing my hot-rodded Duo-Sonic the last few days... that little thing is just a beast! It might look like a "kid's guitar" but man oh man, it is a rocker! I installed a Dimarzio Fast Track II in the neck and a Super Distortion in the bridge with a coil tap switch... it can get some jangly tones and then all out rock assault tones too. At some point it could really use a refret but it's still playable for the time being. I recently found an original 60's case for it at a local music shop and they let it go for $80 which I thought was a stellar deal... I've seen them go for as much as $250 on ebay.
Now, back to Ms. Piggy...
The wiring schematic was nightmarish, certainly one of the most challenging I've tackled... after getting it wired up last evening, it didn't work. This morning I tackled it again, redrawing the schematic and examining the wiring... I had missed two small wiring connections and mis-wired a third. Then the plug in... TADA! It was working fine though it has taken most of the rest of the morning to get a handle on how all the options work. I think I did make one critical error but not so critical that I'd consider fixing it now... basically the "option" of each knob is when the knob is in the down position. For example, the coil split options are when the knob is down, not up. I would have preferred the reverse if only because it's messing with my head to remember that everything is flip flopped but hey, i can live with it.
As far as the sound... it's pretty darn good. The single coil tones are really nice and the humbuckers sound great running full steam also. I had read some complaints regarding the overwound StewMac Golden Age neck pickup being too muddy... I don't find that to be the case. The guitar itself seems to be less dark as it is bright ( the body/neck wood perhaps?) so I think the pickups were actually a smart choice.
As far as the looks... it looks a lot better too. The new Gotoh bridge is a different shade of gold but whatever... it beats the hell out of the piece of crap bridge that came stock on the guitar.
Overall, this has been a pretty challenging project getting this thing playing and sounding really well. There were a bunch of mini-mods necessary to get things put together and working properly and I would STRONGLY NOT RECOMMEND the purchase of one of these Chibsons if you are not proficient with guitar repair. Regarding the wiring, even as a seasoned pro I found that challenging so again, beginners beware. Would I buy another fake Gibson... no sir. It'll serve as a cool stage and studio bang around guitar but it ain't no Gibson! I'll get a demo vid up once I get the chance and that will be the end of the fake Gibson posts... cheers, JG
Here's the latest picture... I added a TUSQ nut and a third (unwired original Epi) middle pickup. The nut made a HUGE difference... I was really shocked how it improved playability and tone to such a huge extent. Sonically, and as far as playability, this guitar can now hang with any from the herd. I feel a little better about the initial investment and subsequent spending to bring it up to par.
Yesterday I stripped all the parts (minus tuners and bridge pegs) and began a few little fix-ups. The control cavity was roughly routed and so I've smoothed that out so that the pot shafts aren't poking out the top and 4 different angles. It'll look WAY better than it did. I've also countersunk the holes on the correct side of the control plates on the back so that they can be mounted properly... they were mounted backwards with the shiny side in and the rough dull plastic facing out. This also required a sanding of the plates and a slight plug and re-drill of the screw holes. Again, these are all little details that were clearly not addressed at the factory. I also broke down and bought a Gotoh bridge and the correct size pickup ring screws. The bridge was really cheap... the intonation screws and saddles were not really working as they should and I found a deal on the bridge on Ebay. The screws were just driving me crazy because the stock ones were nearly the same size heads as the pickguard screws and they had rounded heads... again, more nit picky stuff but I figured if I'm going to do this thing up right, I'll just do it now.
A few interesting facts which have me wondering... I'm convinced pickups and the toggle switch were actual Epiphone parts. They were all stamped correctly and when compared to real Epiphone parts, were identical. Perhaps there were other Epi parts as well... again, the tuners seems very nice for knock-offs, and the strap buttons also seemed pretty nice... nice enough to be used on a much more expensive guitar. They weren't just the lowest grade pot metal. I can't help but wonder if there are people working at the Epiphone factory (of perhaps that this guitar came from the same factory) who are siphoning off parts to build these knock-offs? I do find it hard to believe that anyone would fake Epi parts... they certainly don't have a reputation as being top-shelf. Perhaps they were overstock before Epi went to their fancier Pro-Bucker type pickups? And why would you fake an Epiphone toggle... again, is the maker just selling to multiple factories or is someone stealing and redirecting Epiphone parts into other factories? Or again, are Epis and these fake Gibsons coming from the same factory?
WEEKEND UPDATE: SAT MARCH 1st, 2014
Parts are supposed to be arrive in today en masse. It would be a rare event for all my project parts to arrive on the same day but it looks to be the case... we'll see if it happens or not. I'm looking forward to getting this thing together and rocking out!
Meanwhile, I've been having a blast playing my hot-rodded Duo-Sonic the last few days... that little thing is just a beast! It might look like a "kid's guitar" but man oh man, it is a rocker! I installed a Dimarzio Fast Track II in the neck and a Super Distortion in the bridge with a coil tap switch... it can get some jangly tones and then all out rock assault tones too. At some point it could really use a refret but it's still playable for the time being. I recently found an original 60's case for it at a local music shop and they let it go for $80 which I thought was a stellar deal... I've seen them go for as much as $250 on ebay.
Now, back to Ms. Piggy...
The wiring schematic was nightmarish, certainly one of the most challenging I've tackled... after getting it wired up last evening, it didn't work. This morning I tackled it again, redrawing the schematic and examining the wiring... I had missed two small wiring connections and mis-wired a third. Then the plug in... TADA! It was working fine though it has taken most of the rest of the morning to get a handle on how all the options work. I think I did make one critical error but not so critical that I'd consider fixing it now... basically the "option" of each knob is when the knob is in the down position. For example, the coil split options are when the knob is down, not up. I would have preferred the reverse if only because it's messing with my head to remember that everything is flip flopped but hey, i can live with it.
As far as the sound... it's pretty darn good. The single coil tones are really nice and the humbuckers sound great running full steam also. I had read some complaints regarding the overwound StewMac Golden Age neck pickup being too muddy... I don't find that to be the case. The guitar itself seems to be less dark as it is bright ( the body/neck wood perhaps?) so I think the pickups were actually a smart choice.
As far as the looks... it looks a lot better too. The new Gotoh bridge is a different shade of gold but whatever... it beats the hell out of the piece of crap bridge that came stock on the guitar.
Overall, this has been a pretty challenging project getting this thing playing and sounding really well. There were a bunch of mini-mods necessary to get things put together and working properly and I would STRONGLY NOT RECOMMEND the purchase of one of these Chibsons if you are not proficient with guitar repair. Regarding the wiring, even as a seasoned pro I found that challenging so again, beginners beware. Would I buy another fake Gibson... no sir. It'll serve as a cool stage and studio bang around guitar but it ain't no Gibson! I'll get a demo vid up once I get the chance and that will be the end of the fake Gibson posts... cheers, JG
Here's the latest picture... I added a TUSQ nut and a third (unwired original Epi) middle pickup. The nut made a HUGE difference... I was really shocked how it improved playability and tone to such a huge extent. Sonically, and as far as playability, this guitar can now hang with any from the herd. I feel a little better about the initial investment and subsequent spending to bring it up to par.
