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Post subject: Off Topic But Need Some Advice?
Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2012 4:02 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:10 pm
Posts: 406
I bought a used epiphone les paul standard in mint condition about 3 weeks ago but a few days after i bought it i started to notice some problems with it,i was getting a loss of some volume and a reduced amount of distortion from my bridge pickup and also a bass heavy tone from it so i took off the back plate and checked the wiring and all the connections,everything looked good but there was a wire harness that i unplugged and then reconnected again,the guitar was pretty good for about 2 weeks until today and i started to have problems again with this guitar.

Here is the problem i have now with it,when i turn my volume control for my bridge pickup all the way down to 0 i still get a output at a low volume and even though my toggle switch is in the treble position the volume control for the neck pickup affects the volume for my bridge pickup,(it should not do this!),i was thinking it may be my toggle switch causing the problem?

Do any of you guys think this could be my problem or should i look for any other components that may also be causing the problem that i am having with my epiphone?


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Post subject: Re: Off Topic But Need Some Advice?
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 4:11 pm
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Hi Metalman50,

I'm sorry to hear that you are having trouble with your guitar. You may want to check in with a Forum that specifically supports this product. At any rate, good luck getting this sorted out.

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Post subject: Re: Off Topic But Need Some Advice?
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 6:28 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 11:26 am
Posts: 500
Location: Lake Charles, LA
My official question to you is...how much money do you have? :lol:

The reason I ask this is because you bought an Epiphone Les Paul. That's awesome, especially if you got good woods, a good neck angle, and it plays great.

What you DIDN'T get was awesome electronics. The pickups are fine, but you can SERIOUSLY make your guitar sound a whole lot better by changing out your electronics. Get a new switch, jack, pots, etc. and have it wired up properly.

If you are not experienced using a soldering iron, then I would suggest that you not do this yourself. Find a qualified guitar technician in your area that can do these things. You're basically changing out all of your electronics, but keeping your pickups. The total cost for this in parts should be ~$60. A guitar tech shouldn't be too expensive and your guitar will play out for you IN SPADES.

And as a side benefit from an electronics refit, that will COMPLETELY fix the problems you're currently having with your guitar.

Here's a parts list if you want to do this (and most people at the guitar forums highly recommend doing this for Epiphone guitars):

2x CTS Audio Taper Long Shaft 500K potentiometers
http://www.allparts.com/CTS-Long-Shaft-500K-Split-Shaft-Audio-Pot-p/ep-0686-000.htm $8.50 each
2x CTS Linear Taper Long Shaft 500K potentiometers
(having trouble finding a long-shaft one at 500K; I found one at 300K)
2x 0.022 uf Capacitors
http://www.allparts.com/Gibson-022-Bumble-Bee-Capacitor-Set-p/pcap-059.htm $108 pair
Some 20 gague wire
Switchcraft 3-way Switch Tall
http://www.allparts.com/Switchcraft-Straight-Toggle-Switch-p/ep-4367-000.htm $19.50 each

All Parts also has an all-in-one kit for doing this, but I don't like the capacitors they include. They're tiny. I'd still get the Bumblebee capacitors listed above, but at $108, that's a little steep for someone just starting out.
http://www.allparts.com/Wiring-Kit-for-Gibson-reg-Les-Paul-reg-p/ep-4140-000.htm $54 set

And here's the diagram for the '50s Les Paul wiring, which a LOT of people seem to love.
Image

And oh yeah, since it's Epiphone, American CTS pots won't fit into the holes there, so you'd need to put some sandpaper around the end of a pencil and "enlarge" the holes so that the new CTS pots will fit.

It's just too bad you're not anywhere near me. I'd do all of this for you for free (no, I won't buy the parts). It will really open up those Epiphone pickups and make it a beast.

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Post subject: Re: Off Topic But Need Some Advice?
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 8:15 pm
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Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:10 pm
Posts: 406
I also posted this topic in the whammy bar and grill(the peavey vypyr user forums),here is what i said in one of my reply's,(read below for details) and just to let everyone know i got my guitar working good again.

The toggle switch does not seem to be the problem because i sprayed it with contact cleaner and then checked the contacts on the switch with my multi-tester on the continuity setting and it checked out good with no short circuits but my guitar still did not function as it should,i then cleaned all the volume and tone control pots with contact cleaner and also reconnected the wire harness again,this seemed to do the trick and the guitar is working again as is should but i now think the wire harness is the problem even though i got my guitar to work again i am not sure if i will still have this problem in the future because i already reconnected the wire harness before?


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Post subject: Re: Off Topic But Need Some Advice?
Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 3:42 am
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Professional Musician
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Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2012 10:47 am
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so sounds like you made some progress, excellent!

If you are still having problems, or just have questions about your Epiphone Les Paul, check out the Gibson Forum's Epiphone discussion board, it's a good forum with lots of helpful people who are quite happy to offer help just like this forum does for Fender stuff.

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/forum/47-epiphone/


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Post subject: Re: Off Topic But Need Some Advice?
Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 3:10 pm
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Rock Star
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Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2012 7:37 am
Posts: 4099
Location: New York
edited by O.P.

Sorry Fender TSL, you are right. :oops:

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Last edited by strings10927 on Wed Oct 17, 2012 4:06 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: Off Topic But Need Some Advice?
Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 4:00 pm
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Fender Staff
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Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:12 pm
Posts: 4396
Hi strings10927,

I trust that your post here is all in fun. It is important however, to make sure that everyone is included and feels comfortable to participate on the Fender Forums, regardless of viewpoints, values, etc. The viewpoints and values of someone you are chatting with here may not be the same as your own. Thanks.

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