need help with my wiring

NukeDOC

Retired Mod
Joined
Nov 29, 2007
Messages
2,254
Reaction score
92
Location
San Diseasey
ok so i just recently put together my own electric guitar. made from spare parts and new electronics. here is a pic of my wiring diagram.

DIAGRAM.jpg


its a les paul style guitar. here's a pic of her in her current state. still have some more things to do to her. work in progress. ill post a pic when im done. i rerouted the the toggle switch to the control area, and wired it for only one vol and one tone knob. the pups are GFS Mean90 P90 pickups made for humbucker size appilications. if you are wondering where i got a 24.75" scale neck with a maple fretboard, i didnt. notice the space between the base of the neck and the pickup. i had to accomodate it for the longer scale of the fender neck that is on her now. yep, bolt on.

lpcust.jpg


so she works. the P90 pickups are the most awesome tone i have ever heard. and i was expecting to get some noise from them since i knew they were overwound. the set i got, the neck pup is supposed to be reverse wound for hum cancelling in the middle toggle position. but i am getting the same amount of noise, regardless of what pup position i am using. so i am thinking that it may be a ground issue, or shielding issue. the only time the sound goes away is when i am touching the strings or the bridge. yes, i did some research on the p90 pups and know that if i want the hum gone, i either have to be playing the guitar or not playing, with the vol on 0. but i was just wondering if i could do something. anything. haha. i love these pups but man they bark too much! but if thats just the way they are, im sure i can grow to love them for what they are.

im seriously even contemplating wiring up a new double fat style pickguard for these pups to drop into my american strat!

if someone here could please go over my wiring schematic and let me know if there is a flaw in my plans, i would appreciate it - ie ground loops, polarity changes, wires and connections missing, wires and connections where they shouldnt be, etc.
 
With Deach's addition, you can go back and visit Les Paul and have him help you out. Good idea Deach!
 
OK first a disclaimer, although my degree is in electronics engineering, my job requires me to use only a small portion of what I learned in school, and rarely anything related to component level circuits, so I'm pretty rusty. And, I have never rewired my axe.

That being said, I think you are normally supposed to have the sleeve of the jack wired to ground, as shown in this diagram:

wd2hh3l11_00.jpg


Actually, this schematic is probably pretty close to how you want it wired.

I'm guessing:
North start=red wire
South start = blue wire
Gold = ground
The main problems I see right off is that it appears your ground is on the tip and not the sleeve ( don't say it Deach;) ) and should be attached on the other side of the capacitor on the tone knob. Let me know if that helps.
 
ok i redid my drawing and added something from the stewmac site.

DIAGRAM1.jpg


the top diagram is pretty much how ive got it wired up right now. on the output jack, the black circle is my sleeve contact, which is grounded to the casing of the tone pot. the gray circle is my tip contact wich is connected to the sweeper of my vol pot. i didnt do such a good job at drawing it haha.

im wondering if the other diagram on the bottom shows a cleaner way of wiring this up, which is in essence the same, just keeing things simpler, thus possibly eliminating some ground loops.?

btw my pickups are single coil p90's so there are only two wires... well, three... i didnt mention that they have metal casings which need to be grounded as well.

ive also been told on another site that i need to ground my toggle switch. so does that mean i need to take the middle contact and run a connection to one of the pot casings?
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom