aarsvold Posted February 7, 2013 Posted February 7, 2013 A couple of years ago I bought the H150 on the pic below. I mounted the bigsby myself and I love it. The former owner though, had done some modifications with the pickups. Basically he had replaced the neck pickup from the original to a tremonti treble. I am now in the process of replacing both pickups to a pair of Seymour Duncan Antiquities,and apart from that, I also want the wiring to be as it was when it came from the factory. So therefore I have a few questions: 1. It seems like the former owner not only changed the pickup, but also did something weird with the wiring. As you can see from the pic of the control cavity there is only 1 capacitor there. Shouldnt it be two capacitors? It also seems like the wires is soldered in wrong places compared to what I suggest must be the "correct" wiring. How should it be wired? 2. The knobs seems to act different that normal because of this. When the threeway switch is set to the middle for instance, the volume is going to zero when I turn down one of the volumeknobs. (it should instead just mute one of the pickups in this state) Also, it seems like one of the tone-knobs doesnt act normal. What could possibly be the reason for this wiring? Is it just bad wiring or is it a purpose behind it? Hope some of you heritage fans out there can help me.
H Posted February 7, 2013 Posted February 7, 2013 Hi, I'm not really able to see how it's wired from the photos. Too many things in too small a space Could you draw the four pots plus each of their three inputs/outputs and how the interconnecting wires/components are attached? The muting issue you mentioned is how all H-150s (and Gibson Les Paul's, 535's, 335's, etc) work with standard (modern or 1950's variants) wiring.
aarsvold Posted February 7, 2013 Author Posted February 7, 2013 I will try to make a drawing tomorrow. The tremonti treble has a lot of wires coming from it so its different than "normal" pickups. I have a picture that is better where there might be easier to see whats going on. BUT: The main goal for me is to find out how the h150 originally was wired, how it is wired now is actually not so important. Its more like I am curious about the meaning behind this setup. So how should it be wired?
SouthpawGuy Posted February 7, 2013 Posted February 7, 2013 Found this in the gallery ..... http://www.heritageownersclub.com/forums/gallery/image/443-h157-control-cavity/ It's a 157 control cavity. Should be the same as a 150.
aarsvold Posted February 10, 2013 Author Posted February 10, 2013 Hi again I have have done some further investigation on what this wireing is all about. The tremonti treble (in the bridge position) has 5 cables coming from it so it can split the coils, making the humbucker also act as a single coil if needed. Although I am not sure, I suspect that the setup seen on the pic above turns the bridge tone-control into some kind of a switch. Anti-clockwise it seems the humbucker is a single-coil, clockwise it seems like acting as a "normal" humbucker. I know it probably is hard for you out there to tell from the pics, but if any of you have a clue, plese tell me if my assumptions are correct.
SouthpawGuy Posted February 10, 2013 Posted February 10, 2013 Sounds like one of the tone controls is wired to split the bridge pickup when it is turned down. Older Peavey guitars,( T60 ?), had a similar setup. Heritages own VIP and D-VIP also use one of the tone controls, to control the amount of "phase". So it seems you have "lost" one of your tone controls to the tremonti treble pickup. Is the other tone control acting as a master tone control for both pickups ?
aarsvold Posted February 10, 2013 Author Posted February 10, 2013 No, the neck tone control is acting as a tone control for the neck pickup only I have to ask you: As mentioned earlier, when the three-way switch is set in the middle position, I loose all sound when either the neck or bridge-control is set to zero. I assumed that the normal behaviour for a H150 straight from the factory was that one of the pickups should stay at full volume when I turn down the other PU all the way with the switch in middle position, not lose volume from both PUs. But according to you, this is how the guitar should be acting. Why is it like this? I mean, wouldnt it be more handy to just make the volume stay normal when the other pickup is adjusted? (sorry for some complicated sentences)
SouthpawGuy Posted February 10, 2013 Posted February 10, 2013 Sounds like the previous owner fubar'ed the wiring then Unless you absolutely have to have a single coil at the bridge the easiest thing to do is to bring it to a repair guy and have them wire it as normal. As mentioned by H above the volume controls are behaving normally. Oh and fubar = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_slang_terms#FUBAR
hinesarchtop Posted February 11, 2013 Posted February 11, 2013 http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/paolomartelli/LesPaul50tiesLinearWiring.jp Your wiring looks goofy. Here's a schematic that shows proper 50's style wiring. You don't normally find this on modern LPaul style guitars, but I've found it to be more usefull tone/function wise. Notice that the cap attaches at the middle/switch lead on the volume pot, and carries over to the left/outer lug of the tone pot. The cap then attaches at the left/outer lug of the tone pot, while the center lug get's grounded. I've found that the full sweep of the pot sounds good, and not under water sounding like the modern wiring. If the link doesn't work just go to RS guitarworks.
rockabilly69 Posted February 11, 2013 Posted February 11, 2013 http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv217/paolomartelli/LesPaul50tiesLinearWiring.jp Your wiring looks goofy. Here's a schematic that shows proper 50's style wiring. You don't normally find this on modern LPaul style guitars, but I've found it to be more usefull tone/function wise. Notice that the cap attaches at the middle/switch lead on the volume pot, and carries over to the left/outer lug of the tone pot. The cap then attaches at the left/outer lug of the tone pot, while the center lug get's grounded. I've found that the full sweep of the pot sounds good, and not under water sounding like the modern wiring. If the link doesn't work just go to RS guitarworks. This is how I wire my Les Pauls too.
aarsvold Posted February 11, 2013 Author Posted February 11, 2013 Could you repost the picture? It seems the picture,ink doesnt work.
aarsvold Posted February 11, 2013 Author Posted February 11, 2013 Here is a corrected version of the link btw. http://s685.beta.photobucket.com/user/paolomartelli/media/LesPaul50tiesLinearWiring.jpg.html What is the 220k ohm good for? Do i need to get one of those?
kidsmoke Posted February 11, 2013 Posted February 11, 2013 aarsvold, cool looking 150. hope you have her like you want her soon. as hines has shown, there are many schematics of classic LP wiring, and The Duncan site also offers a couple variations. I purchased a complete harness, done 50's style, with top notch components, and installed it. I'm not experienced with guitar electronics, and still it was a relatively simple job. Working like a charm. For me this was the most cost effective way to go about it. Depending on where you're located, there are a few well regarded online shops that could get an excellent harness on its way to you quickly. One such possibility.... http://jonesyblues.com/Order_Wiring_Page_2.php
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