59 wiring for les paul

[ampbldr2]

I have been looking into rewiring my 2005 les paul classic into a 59 wiring and maybe putting in some old style caps. There is a good website that discusses this and sells caps. Thought id share the website and see if anyone else has tried this and got good tone results.

http://www.singlecoil.com/docs/paula.pdf

[Big Jim]

Thanks for sharing ampbldr2! I just happen to be picking up a Les Paul Classic on thursday! One reason I went with this particular guitar is that it is one I would be willing to mod. Great info.
Jim

[ampbldr2]

Also there was a youtube clip i watched that mentions the 50s wiring. Its at 8:30 or so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc3Xi6aAG80

[billyz]

One of the biggest problem with a lot of modern les pauls is Gibson used linear taper pots . That combined with wiring the the tone control from the input to the volume pot instead of the output makes a huge difference. The new Gibson historic pots 500kA are some of the highest quality pots from CTS I have seen. Much better than what most sell. And if you are a real nut you can scrape the edges of the carbon track to bring them up over 500K.

CE Distribution has them, AKA Antique Electronic Supply,
http://www.tubesandmore.com/

[paulster]

+1.

50's wiring and good pots at least 500K with a nice taper can really make a Les Paul (or any other twin humbucker guitar) come alive.

I like the RS Superpots but then I bought a load a few years ago and haven't explored all the new offerings on the block these days.

[M Fowler]

There was a discussion not long ago about this.

[ForcedFire]

The capacitors you want to purchase are paper in oil or PIO capacitors. The 59 Les Paul had 0.022uF capacitors. The smaller the value of capacitor, the more treble you retain as you turn down the tone knob. You might want to try anything between 0.01uF to 0.022uF. I like 0.01uF in the neck position and 0.015uF in the bridge. The voltage rating of the cap is not significant, it will affect the physical size of the cap.

Just like everyone mentioned, you need good potentiometers that measure over 500k. Some are labeled as 500k but they are not (especially Fender branded pots in my experience). If you have a USA Les Paul you need Long Shaft pots. There are a lot of good distributors, I have a set from RSguitarworks that all measure about 550k. They have one expensive one called the super pot that is a special taper for Les Paul volume pots. The less expensive non super 500k audio pots they sell are just as good and have the regular audio taper.

In my experience, I would only order pots if they were guaranteed to read over 500k. You need a multimeter to measure them before you install. I would return them if they read 420k or whatever, waste of tone...

[billyz]

The capacitors you want to purchase are paper in oil or PIO capacitors. The 59 Les Paul had 0.022uF capacitors. The smaller the value of capacitor, the more treble you retain as you turn down the tone knob. You might want to try anything between 0.01uF to 0.022uF. I like 0.01uF in the neck position and 0.015uF in the bridge. The voltage rating of the cap is not significant, it will affect the physical size of the cap.

Just like everyone mentioned, you need good potentiometers that measure over 500k. Some are labeled as 500k but they are not (especially Fender branded pots in my experience). If you have a USA Les Paul you need Long Shaft pots. There are a lot of good distributors, I have a set from RSguitarworks that all measure about 550k. They have one expensive one called the super pot that is a special taper for Les Paul volume pots. The less expensive non super 500k audio pots they sell are just as good and have the regular audio taper.

In my experience, I would only order pots if they were guaranteed to read over 500k. You need a multimeter to measure them before you install. I would return them if they read 420k or whatever, waste of tone...

Only certain models use the long shaft pot. Mostly the ones with the metal plate that holds all the components . I have seen all kinds of caps used, MusicCaps, Auricaps, Mallory, Orange drops, They all sound pretty good to my ears. I used some old CDE Greenies .02 mfd and they sound right, no mud when rolled off. I leave my les paul neck tone rolled off to 5 to give a very nice Jazz tone. Moving the the tone control to the output of the pot is the biggest improvement.

[ampbldr2]

Thanks for all the info from everyone.

[Big Jim]

Yep, picking up my Paul today .....I don't have any amp stuff coming up that I know of. I will have all of this info in the back of my mind as I'm getting aquainted with the guitar. I honestly thought the guitar (classic) sounded pretty good when I tested er out. I was however, playing through a Mesa with lots of gain (the obvious strong point) of the classic. Time will tell. Thanks for the info as well!

[vibratoking]

I have read lot's of comments about how the RS volume pots are very good. I bought some and installed them in my Les Paul with 50s wiring. The taper is NOT better than the taper of most any other pot. I still have not found a pot that has the 'good' taper that the old pots have. I wasted my money on the RS pots. Save your money.

Almost ALL of the volume changes occurs between 0 and 2-3 on the volume knob. Glen K has stated many times that none of then new pots have the correct taper. This is true. I am still looking for pots with the 'good' taper that allow a somewhat even transition in volume over the full range of the pot.

[paulster]

I have read lot's of comments about how the RS volume pots are very good. I bought some and installed them in my Les Paul with 50s wiring. The taper is NOT better than the taper of most any other pot. I still have not found a pot that has the 'good' taper that the old pots have. I wasted my money on the RS pots. Save your money.

In your opinion!

I think the taper on the RS pots is definitely better than the average, but that's my opinion.

[jaysg]

What's the effort to turn with the RS pots? I don't like really easy. I tend to inadvertently hit knobs too often for that. A bit of stiffness helps.

[paulster]

They're a little stiff. Not too stiff but certainly won't turn if you casually brush your finger against them.

I'd prefer them a little looser myself, but I guess I've just got to use them more!

[vibratoking]

In your opinion!

I think the taper on the RS pots is definitely better than the average, but that's my opinion.

It is not my opinion. It is a fact that the volume is not even across the full range of the RS pot! This is not a subjective conclusion. It is based on a quantitative measurement with a signal generator and a dB meter. The RS pot is not measurably different than the stock pot that came in my Les Paul.

If it is better than average, then you must know what the average sweep of a wide variety of pots is. Which manufacturer's pots have you measured and taken the average from? That would be good data so that we all know which pots behave the best. I can tell you that Allparts and the RS Superpot are the same.