50s wiring vs modern

GeraintGuitar · Nov 1, 2017

Does anyone NOT like 50s wiring ?
Ive only starting using 50s wiring in last few months of my 20 years of playing live and all though i love many things about the 50s wiring like how the guitar retains the top end when the volumes rolled down
and the way the tone knob works
there is one thing i dont like and thats when i use plenty of overdrive and have the pots wide open . it just sounds TOO nasty and spikey where modern wiring sounds more smooth
Thoughts guys ?

Big Al · Nov 1, 2017

GeraintGuitar said:
Does anyone NOT like 50s wiring ?
Ive only starting using 50s wiring in last few months of my 20 years of playing live and all though i love many things about the 50s wiring like how the guitar retains the top end when the volumes rolled down
and the way the tone knob works
there is one thing i dont like and thats when i use plenty of overdrive and have the pots wide open . it just sounds TOO nasty and spikey where modern wiring sounds more smooth
Thoughts guys ?

I've always been vocal in my preference for the so called Modern wiring. I use my controls alot, enough to know the difference and tonal performance function. Too many folks get hung up on the "anything 50's is perfection" tree and seem overly obsessed with treble boosting an already bright build, paf style pickups and 500k pots.

Funny thing my first vintage 50's guitar which wass mint and untouched had the "modern" style!

GeraintGuitar · Nov 2, 2017

Big Al said:
I've always been vocal in my preference for the so called Modern wiring. I use my controls alot, enough to know the difference and tonal performance function. Too many folks get hung up on the "anything 50's is perfection" tree and seem overly obsessed with treble boosting

I Agree AL its an easy trap to fall in , maybe this way of thinking stems from Those "holy grail " 50s guitars which are just fantastic sounding but it wasnt just the wiring method that made them fantastic

i also heard a lot of guitars came out of factory with so called modern wiring in the 50s like you just confirmed

I soppose it all depends on what your style is and what kind of music your playing as to which wiring method you prefer like all things guitar

anyway way you've made me realise that ive fallen into that trap of thinkin ANYTHING 50s is the best way

ah well at least i know it now ! so thanks AL

JJ Blair · Nov 2, 2017

'50s wiring suits my style, and the way I like to interface with the instrument. It has its drawbacks, in that I actually don't like the treble bleed associated with lower volume settings, but I love the way I can control distortion by just backing off a hair or two, and I'm just familiar with the tonal ranges I get in that set up.

I only ever had one guitar with modern wiring, and I actually didn't dig it. I sent back to vintage taper pots in a '50s scheme.

c_wester · Nov 2, 2017

I am confused?

Which one of the wirings keep the high end when you roll of volym?

JJ Blair · Nov 2, 2017

Modern wiring is supposed to keep the high end.

GeraintGuitar · Nov 2, 2017

JJ Blair said:
Modern wiring is supposed to keep the high end.

but it doesnt the so called 50s wiring retains the highs when the volumes rolled down

c_wester · Nov 2, 2017

JJ Blair said:
Modern wiring is supposed to keep the high end.

Yeah this is what I always tought.

JJ Blair · Nov 2, 2017

GeraintGuitar said:
but it doesnt the so called 50s wiring retains the highs when the volumes rolled down

I have the opposite experience. I wire all my guitars with 50's wiring, and there's treble bleed.

RocknRollShakeUp · Nov 2, 2017

For Les Pauls with vintage, relatively low output, PAF style, and esp. p90, pickups I greatly prefer 50s wiring. I can get a brighter more defined, thinner, more quasi single coil sound by turning the volume to 8-9 and tone around 6-7; the tone pot interacts with the volume so you can "thin" out the full girth of the tone by rolling the tone down, without really killing the highs unless you roll it down too far. The effect is especially dramatic with my R4, as it goes full on Johnny Thunders at vol/tone at 10/10, to fat chimey tele at 7-9/5-7.

But if I find the bridge pickup too bright and strident, then modern wiring can be cool cause you can attenuate the shrill highs by running the volume just a touch lower, but still keep the tone knob on 10 in order to not make the tone too constipated. Some also say they like the volume taper swell better with modern wiring.

renderit · Nov 2, 2017

I don't have a single guitar with modern wiring. So "Be like Ren, what you don't know cayn't hurt you (I don't think because I don't know whether I'm hurt or anything)"...

StSpider · Nov 3, 2017

I run a single channel amp, no pedals. I couldn't play a gig like this with modern wiring, expecially with another guitarist in the band.

Don · Nov 3, 2017

I have almost all of my guitars (even the Fenders) set up with '50s wiring for the purpose of keeping the guitar brighter when I turn down the volume control. It seems to also give them a little more bight when the volume control is all the way up.

The only drawback that I see is that the tone controls affect volume quite a bit when the volume controls are set low.

Dilver · Nov 12, 2017

JJ Blair said:
Modern wiring is supposed to keep the high end.

Modern wiring will keep the high end ONLY if you include treble bleed circuit - usually a cap and a resistor. Some people don’t like the sound of this, and use 50’s wiring which retains some of the treble when you roll back your volume. If you only use modern wiring and don’t incorporate a treble bleed circuit, you will notice a significant high frequency drop off when rolling back the volume control.

Deteroblix · Aug 26, 2018

Hello Forum members, especially 'left handed' playing members. I got into playing guitar later in life and have a few left handed Gibsons:
2011 'left handed' Gibson Les Paul Standard
2012 'left handed' Gibson SG Standard
2012 'left handed' Gibson SG P-90 Standard
2018 'left handed' Gibson Les Paul Junior

Have a possibly stupid question, i believe Gibson ships their left handed guitars with a 'right-handed' wiring harness in them -- meaning lefties turn up/down vol/tone in opposite direction than righties. Since I've gotten use to this way, I am taking out my PCB pots wiring in my left handed LP Standard and putting in 50s wiring 'right handed' harness, along w/ switch. What I notice is that when I install both the Bridge and Neck Vol and Tone pots, I see the Pot Lug 1 ground position is now on bottom and the Pot Lug 3 pickup position is on top (basically you're flipping/rotating position of the pot when now inserting it into a lefty guitar)

My question is: Generally, when it comes to a CTS pot, when looking at the Pot (shaft side up left to right), are Lug 1 and Lug 3 positions exactly the same? So, if I follow typical 50s wiring diagram for right handed harness when connecting my pickups and switch, is there a difference between Lug 1 and Lug 3? Will it make any difference when using the volume and tone knobs? Not sure if this is making sense?

Thanks, Deteroblix

duaneflowers · Aug 26, 2018

I like '50s wiring' just because its what I've grown used to... for whatever reason I switched to '50s Wiring' several years back and when I'm playing a Les Paul anything else just feels weird.

It is amazing what you can get used to though... I mean, Ren is still around ain't he? :laugh2:

Billy Porter · Aug 26, 2018

I found modern wiring fine when I only played at home as I only ever used 10 on my guitars and controlled the overall volume on the amp.

For about the last 10years I play the occasional gig and practice/jam with the band. I therefore use the volume a lot more so have wired all my guitars 50s style

It's a personal preference though and I'm not dumb enough to argue with Big Al

Retika · Feb 13, 2019

With 50w I do notice a slight increase in treble or brightness even on Ten! Yes, ten.

Is that weird? Anyway, I am dropping my one LP to 300k pots to hopefully help. Problem with 50s wiring is your tone pot does not work as well......much less consistent!

My thing is, I like to just keep the gain up on the amp and turn the volume down when I want a less grainy sound, but retaining clarity I am currently trying to find the right balance. Modern wiring with treble bleed, 50s wiring, or modern, etc.

I want to be able to roll back volume for a less grainy sound while retaining clarity, but I want my tone control to work well. For this reason, modern and treble bleed seems best. However, I read that a treble bleed can really start to make the tone bright as you roll off volume! Not sure what to do.

zombiwoof · Feb 13, 2019

Retika said:
With 50w I do notice a slight increase in treble or brightness even on Ten! Yes, ten.

Is that weird? Anyway, I am dropping my one LP to 300k pots to hopefully help. Problem with 50s wiring is your tone pot does not work as well......much less consistent!

My thing is, I like to just keep the gain up on the amp and turn the volume down when I want a less grainy sound, but retaining clarity I am currently trying to find the right balance. Modern wiring with treble bleed, 50s wiring, or modern, etc.

I want to be able to roll back volume for a less grainy sound while retaining clarity, but I want my tone control to work well. For this reason, modern and treble bleed seems best. However, I read that a treble bleed can really start to make the tone bright as you roll off volume! Not sure what to do.

If you tune in the treble bleed by trying different cap values, you can find a cap that retains the amount of treble you want. If you just slap in a treble bleed kit with a pre-determined cap value it might be too bright as you turn down or not bright enough. You have to experiment with values, using test leads attached to your pots to test the caps, when you find the right value solder it in.
Al

PaulD · Feb 13, 2019

GeraintGuitar said:
there is one thing i dont like and thats when i use plenty of overdrive and have the pots wide open . it just sounds TOO nasty and spikey where modern wiring sounds more smooth

That should not be the case, when the pots are on 10 there is no difference between the 2 circuits, they are electrically identical.

50s wiring vs modern

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