1969 humbucker questions

Big Al · Jul 7, 2017

El Gringo said:
Big Al, I wanted to ask you about the wiring harness in my Les Paul Custom, it will be the short shaft pot's ? The reason I ask is I am seriously thinking about replacing the wiring harness and I want to make sure I get the right one . Also is this a job that my Les Paul could or might get nicked/dinged or scratched or gouged ? I hate to be anal but I can't help it .

El Gringo muy Amigo, it depends on the year of manufacture, but I would guess it is long shaft pots you need. Does it have the metal grounding plate that all the controls mount to? I like them but if you want a more vintage look, who's gonna see?, you can remove the plate and then check to see if a short shaft will work. Some will clear the top and on others they won't extend far enough up to attach the washer and nut. The only tricky part with the long shaft is setting the individual height by using the two nuts on the shaft. The flat bottom control rout along with the carved top means each pot has it's own setting to fit right.

It isn't as scary as it sounds but it takes time and patience to do right.

El Gringo · Jul 10, 2017

Big Al said:
El Gringo muy Amigo, it depends on the year of manufacture, but I would guess it is long shaft pots you need. Does it have the metal grounding plate that all the controls mount to? I like them but if you want a more vintage look, who's gonna see?, you can remove the plate and then check to see if a short shaft will work. Some will clear the top and on others they won't extend far enough up to attach the washer and nut. The only tricky part with the long shaft is setting the individual height by using the two nuts on the shaft. The flat bottom control rout along with the carved top means each pot has it's own setting to fit right.

It isn't as scary as it sounds but it takes time and patience to do right.

Big Al, Over the weekend I took off the backplate to get a look inside and My guitar does not have the metal grounding plate that the controls mount to .I was able to read the numbers on one of the pot's R1379223 after that there was solder and it might have covered more # I am not sure .Then there were two little beige colored caps which had the # 207 on top with # 100 beneath it . This is like a forensics investigation to determine some facts on the age of the instrument and this harness (to determine if it's short shaft pot's or long shaft pot's) my goal is to replace the harness with the 500K harness and make this Les Paul Custom scream like my R9. I have been looking at Throbak's website and others for the new harness .

El Gringo · Jul 27, 2017

Good news, I was finally able to get the wiring harness that I wanted with the CTS 500K pots and Bumble Bee caps all vintage from Marks Guitar Loft .Big Thank You to Mark .

Wilko · Jul 27, 2017

R1379223

"R' = Resistor

137 = CTS

92 is the year

23 is the week.

El Gringo · Jul 27, 2017

Wilko said:
R1379223

"R' = Resistor

137 = CTS

92 is the year

23 is the week.

Thank you kindly good sir .This explains some of the mystery for me because in March of 1992 my beloved Gibson Les Paul Custom was packed up and sent to Roger Gissin at the Gibson West Hollywood Custom Shop to have it overhauled and gone over with a fine tooth comb and I can guess that is how those pots and caps wound up in there .Well now with my new (vintage ) harness on it's way from Marks Guitar Loft ,my Les Paul Custom will be rocking again really soon .I have to say a mega big Thank you to you Wilko for this most helpful information and knowledge .Also a very mega big thank you to the most super Awesome Mark Bishop for my new (vintage ) wiring harness .

El Gringo · Jul 27, 2017

Wilko said:
R1379223

"R' = Resistor

137 = CTS

92 is the year

23 is the week.

You are very very good . this really blows my mind in a good way

TM1 · Jul 27, 2017

All Gibson two pickup guitars up til 1976 should have 500k pots. Sometime in 76 they started using 300k pots which I think make the guitars sound dark & dull. If it were my guitar I'd make sure it had 500k pots and 50's wiring and a set of Throbak Pre-T 301's or had Throbak A-4 magnets in the T-Tops. The A-4's really make a T-Top come alive!

djd100 · Jul 28, 2017

+1 on the 500K pots, and 50's wiring as well IMO, though that's not a huge issue like the pot values are (i.e. wiring schemes are subjective and up to the owner).

That said, 50's wiring will give a lot more versatility etc.

TM1 said:
All Gibson two pickup guitars up til 1976 should have 500k pots. Sometime in 76 they started using 300k pots which I think make the guitars sound dark & dull. If it were my guitar I'd make sure it had 500k pots and 50's wiring and a set of Throbak Pre-T 301's or had Throbak A-4 magnets in the T-Tops. The A-4's really make a T-Top come alive!

Progrocker111 · Jul 28, 2017

TM1 said:
All Gibson two pickup guitars up til 1976 should have 500k pots. Sometime in 76 they started using 300k pots which I think make the guitars sound dark & dull. If it were my guitar I'd make sure it had 500k pots and 50's wiring and a set of Throbak Pre-T 301's or had Throbak A-4 magnets in the T-Tops. The A-4's really make a T-Top come alive!

In fact, they switched to 300k pots earlier, in 1973 definitely together with farewell to black Sprague caps.

El Gringo · Aug 8, 2017

El Gringo said:
Good news, I was finally able to get the wiring harness that I wanted with the CTS 500K pots and Bumble Bee caps all vintage from Marks Guitar Loft .Big Thank You to Mark .

Update , the Les Paul Custom is being worked on as I write this and soon I will have good news to report with photos .

El Gringo · Sep 1, 2017

Well now it is going on 5 weeks that my two instruments are out for this work and now I am starting to have major headaches whether this work is going to get done .I am starting to reach my discomfort zone after 4 and half weeks of my two precious guitars sitting untouched out of town in a forum sponsors store who I have purchased from a mega awesome Custom Shop guitar .I would feel like I had a better read if I knew what the normal timeframe was for this establishment and by no means is this a dinky store either .I have touched base twice very politely and was just told the other day that they are very backed up and they apologized but I am still at a loss and my comfort zone has disappeared and now I am having anxiety .So I m thinking of pulling the plug on the six week mark and just asking to have my instruments shipped back to me and what kind and good advice would anyone that has been in a similar situation been in and WHAT SHOULD I DO PLEASE .HELP .

latestarter · Sep 7, 2017

El Gringo said:
Well now it is going on 5 weeks that my two instruments are out for this work and now I am starting to have major headaches whether this work is going to get done .I am starting to reach my discomfort zone after 4 and half weeks of my two precious guitars sitting untouched out of town in a forum sponsors store who I have purchased from a mega awesome Custom Shop guitar .I would feel like I had a better read if I knew what the normal timeframe was for this establishment and by no means is this a dinky store either .I have touched base twice very politely and was just told the other day that they are very backed up and they apologized but I am still at a loss and my comfort zone has disappeared and now I am having anxiety .So I m thinking of pulling the plug on the six week mark and just asking to have my instruments shipped back to me and what kind and good advice would anyone that has been in a similar situation been in and WHAT SHOULD I DO PLEASE .HELP .

Maybe ask them for a firm date...over the phone...noting the person you spoke with. Then send an email politely minuting the conversation and the agreed completion date. If possible, send a copy of the email cc to the manager. Polite and understanding is the way, but you do have a right to expect your instruments to be processed in a timely manner.

El Gringo · Sep 8, 2017

latestarter said:
Maybe ask them for a firm date...over the phone...noting the person you spoke with. Then send an email politely minuting the conversation and the agreed completion date. If possible, send a copy of the email cc to the manager. Polite and understanding is the way, but you do have a right to expect your instruments to be processed in a timely manner.

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out with some advice as I go back in forth with trying to be more patient and not hassle them for fear of pissing them off and then they take it out on my guitar with hacking a hole in the finish or some type of ding , then I resign myself to having to suck it up and make the call that this is not going to happen and work out and just politely asking for my 2 guitars to be shipped back to me without having the work done .For the life of me I guessed maybe 2 -3 weeks .Which this coming Monday the 11th will be starting the 6th week .All because I had my 1993 USA Fender reissue 52 Butterscotch Telecaster which had noise in the Volume and tone pot's and needs a setup , and My first ever Electric as a kid my most Beloved early 70's Gibson Les Paul Custom which has the Gibson 57 classic in the neck and the Gibson 57 classic + pickup in the bridge ,for a wiring harness replacement with vintage Bumble Bee caps and 500 K pots courtesy of Mark's Guitar Loft who is a fine upstanding man who I look forward to making more purchases from as I already have my eye on some more goodies from his fine shop .I think I will take your advice and contact them next week and keep my fingers crossed that this will come to fruition and I will be happy and ready to rock out some more on these guitars. Once again thank you kindly for your much needed advise and counsel .

TM1 · Sep 8, 2017

Wow... 5 weeks? I normally turn around guitars in my shop in 7-10 days tops..
500k pots and a couple of Throbak A-4's in those stickered T-Tops and you should be there! Maybe a set of Pyramid Nickel Classics for strings and it'll give your guitar the sound of the late Sixties!

El Gringo · Sep 11, 2017

I am royally pissed off about the whole mess and I feel very badly all because I wanted to get some work done and this has turned into a fools errand with yours truly a FOOL .Today I am calling them up and asking to have my 2 guitars shipped back to me and I bet nickels to dimes my 2 guitars have not even been unpacked from the shipping boxes I packed them up in . Live and learn I guess as I did not seek out information up front about a estimated completion date and THAT'S TOTALLY ON ME because I did not want to seem pushy and obnoxious, and I did not even inquire about an estimated cost .Stupid me and here I thought I was cultivating a working relationship as I have a total of 11 guitars, which all need to be worked on from time to time (which is no small # and I most certainly have GAS for more ) and I envisioned myself making more purchases from them and even having some Fender Masterbuilt Guitars built( 3 Teles and 1 strat) for me .I feel like such an idiot . Now I think I will concentrate my purchasing efforts on some very lovely used Guitars .I would like to solicit peoples opionins on what I did wrong ? and what I should have done ?

El Gringo · Sep 11, 2017

I am also at a loss to understand how I could be so blown off .Let me put another way .Do you think there tech is so busy with just new purchases for customers shelling out for instruments from the store and my stuff was not a priority because I had not made a new guitar purchase from them in a year and a half ? In another words because I had not spent money in the store in a year and a half my 2 guitars did not matter to them ?

El Gringo · Sep 12, 2017

So after I got home from work yesterday I called the shop and I spoke to my contact in the store and I politely asked him that I wanted my guitars whether they were done or not and I asked him why this has been taken so long ? and he replied that the tech has been very busy as this is there busy time of the year .So he asked me to hang on so he could speak with the tech and then he comes back and tells me that he is working on my 2 guitars as we speak and I was told that he should be done with them either this Wednesday of Thursday and that he would be giving me a call to tell me they are completed .I was also told that he was sorry for the delay as the tech had some very complex repairs .I asked if the tech was just flat out busy with customers who are making new purchases from the store and that is where he is tied up and he said this is there busy time of the year .Which is all fine and dandy as I am a doughting Thomas on anything and everything .I also followed up with an E-Mail this morning .So I don't know what to believe about anything and I will anxiously await to hear from him in a couple days . Lesson learned I guess because I could do the work myself but as I do not have the skilled hands of a master luthier I would be afraid of butchering my precious and valuable instruments with ding dents and gouges I have the knowledge but not the finnese ,so I don't trust myself .I can do a very basic set up but techs are some much more skilled and have the touch which I do not .

Wilko · Sep 13, 2017

he's working on them now, but won't be ready for more days? WTF.

corpse · Sep 13, 2017

"You can't shit experience". A saying belonging to my father.
To me it has several meanings, one of which is the only way to learn to do something is to do it.
When I work on my guitars I use several towels to protect the top from accidental drops- but the biggest thing is to get comfortable working on expensive guitars.
This summer I opened up a burst- sweated profusely- no joke- but I fixed the thing.
Buy guitar tools- mine seem to be lighter weight. Don't use vises, hammers (well unless you are doing frets) chainsaws or blow torches around your nice instruments. Don't wear long sleeved shirts with buttons, or loose fitting stuff. Arrange your tools, and pick them up deliberately. Learn to solder- get good at it. It's easy.
And realize shit happens.
It's amazing the bonding that happens- and it leads to bolder actions...

El Gringo · Sep 14, 2017

corpse said:
"You can't shit experience". A saying belonging to my father.
To me it has several meanings, one of which is the only way to learn to do something is to do it.
When I work on my guitars I use several towels to protect the top from accidental drops- but the biggest thing is to get comfortable working on expensive guitars.
This summer I opened up a burst- sweated profusely- no joke- but I fixed the thing.
Buy guitar tools- mine seem to be lighter weight. Don't use vises, hammers (well unless you are doing frets) chainsaws or blow torches around your nice instruments. Don't wear long sleeved shirts with buttons, or loose fitting stuff. Arrange your tools, and pick them up deliberately. Learn to solder- get good at it. It's easy.
And realize shit happens.
It's amazing the bonding that happens- and it leads to bolder actions...

Thanks for your encouragement . I actually have several really good books at home that explain how to do everything , one of them by Dan Erlwine who I have so much respect for .I have seen classes and seminars for Luither and tech work and that is something that I have always been interested in but with a full time job the time is hard to manage to get and utilize the best results and outcome . So this morning I get an E-mail telling me my guitars are all set .So after work today I will make arrangements for payment and to have them shipped back home to me and then it will be NGD X 2 for me .

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