pickup wiring

JSP552003

well a while back i had put emgs in my lespaul special sl and now i'm not liking the sound of em anymore so i'm thinking about puting the stock gibsons back in. going to order a kit from stewmac that has all the extra wire, pots, switch, input jack, etc. that i'll need

now here's where the tricky part comes in. the tech who put my EMGs in cut the wires short on the old gibsons, actually asked this question before, just splice wires to make them long enough no big deal, but the thing is all this time i thought the gibson lp special sl came with 490R/498T but all the diagrams show them having 4 wires coming from each pu but mine only has one sheilded wire, and you're suppose to connect the metal sheilded part to ground, any way to find out what kind of pu's these are (no way you guys could tell anyway without pics i know ha)? all they say is Gibson USA on the back and they're plated pickups, just kinda caught me off guard unless some of the older 498t/496r's only had the one shielded wire, just curious as to what pickups they are

so to wire the shield to ground i can just splice another wire for that right? and also from this diagram (#0133 Les Paul Wiring Kit) looks like i also ground the caps on the volume pots right?

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Supplies:_Wiring_kits/1/Wiring_Kit_for_Les_Paul/Instructions/I-1217.html#details

seems simple enough, just wanted to check on a few things before i try it myself...hope this all makes sense to someone..besides just me haha thanks

ianvomsaal

Yeah, just follow the diagrams:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=gibson+wiring+diagrams&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

who's_pearljam?

I just looked up the diagram, and it's the same one you posted! Haha,, I guess I should have looked first!

http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/Electronics/Wiring_diagrams/i-1217.html
Most stock Gibson 490's and all come with just a two wire setup with the metal outside shield being the ground, and the single inside wire the hot.
You can solder an extension if they cut it too short, but get some heat shrink tubing and put it on before you solder, then slide it over the joint and heat it and it'll cover the joint up nicely!

You may not even need a wiring kit if you want to save some money. If the original pots and capacitors are in there then just go to Radio Shack and get some 22 gauge stranded hookup wire. You probably don't have to change the output jack, and if the 4 pots are 500K and the capacitors are .02 uf then you're good to go.
If the pots are different and messed up then the Les Paul wiring kit has everything you need. Costs more, but less hassle.

Make sure you get the right kit, though! If it's a flat top guitar and you use short shaft pots, then you can save some bucks by buying the parts separately. If you have a carved top then you need long shaft pots and the kit has everything you need.

Short Shaft parts list:
4 of these at a $2.73 each: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Potentiometers_and_push-pull_pots/1/Potentiometers_and_Push-Pull_Pots.html

One pack of these for a couple of bucks: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Components:_Caps_(capacitors).html

Some wire and that's it.


If you need long shaft, then the pots are 10 bucks each (#3482):
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Potentiometers_and_push-pull_pots/2/Potentiometers_and_Push-Pull_Pots.html, so getting the kit is just as easy and doesn't cost much more.

JSP552003

awesome thanks a lot...well i know the pots for the EMGs are a dif value but i cant remember exactly...the old potsi just realised they threw away the caps or kept them haha, well i'm guessing the pu's are 490r/498t then, just wonder why they dont say anything else on them except gibson usa...figured they'd at least have the model number or something