3 Humbucker Firebird wiring...

Hi all,

I need some expert advice before I start heating up the soldering iron...

I have had this diagram for years, and I have kept it on file for the instance I need to correct a poorly wired Firebird or Les Paul Black Beauty:

Now does that look correct? There are a few sites on the inter-web that say this particular classic schematic is "wrong", and that persons who have used it have a poor functioning guitar after being finished.

It looks a little different than the one I have in my Guitar Player Repair Guide, but honestly I can't fully understand either of them. It's a bit confusing reading those diagrams.

I just want to confirm which one to use, and then I will just follow the diagram religiously so that it works OK when I am finished.

Any expert eyes who are able to scan this diagram? It would be appreciated!

Okay - here's the other diagram I have in my Guitar Player Repair Guide.

Do you think I should follow this one rather than the one above?

Humbuckers in a bird.?
Mini?

Hi,

Yes, three mini humbuckers as in Firebird VII. Sorry I didn't clarify that.

Or maybe I should have called the thread Black Beauty Wiring! :grin:

At any rate, it's the wiring where you have three volumes and one master tone. Right now the guitar has the pickup selection:

Bridge, then-

All pickups, then-

Neck and Middle.

It's a Chinese Firebird knock-off. I took a look under the control plate and nearly passed out. What a mess! I am eager to add some order to this wiring!

Any thoughts on which diagram I should follow? Is it true the first one is incorrect?

Thanks for looking!

Maybe it's because I just woke up, but except for the tone control, both of which are functionally the same, I can't see a difference. Neither is the original wiring though, right? This is a common mod to allow individual control of pickups.

Thanks joshwertheimer,

I have tried to understand both these pictures, but I'm not very good at reading them after a while. I was hopeful they both said the same thing, I'm glad you were able to confirm with some certainty.

The whole reason I doubted the first pic is because of what I read on this thread while researching the project:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://acapella.harmony-central.com/archive/index.php/t-1331611.html

Please, if anyone can confirm one scheme is better than the other, it would be greatly appreciated! Otherwise, I think I will just go with the Guitar Player Repair Guide pic, as it's a bit more concise.

Thanks again!

That guys says it's wrong because he's looking for the original stock wiring, which someone posted here: http://www.gibson.com/Files/schematics/lpafwiring.gif
The one you posted is a common mod, and gives you more pickup combinations.

Okay - I understand,

I was reading the post incorrectly - he wanted a very specific type of pickup switching.

I can't for the life of me figure out why people want configurations like his request? Having the 3 volumes allows for complete control over every pickup variation, as well as having the classic 2 pickup sound.

I appreciate you highlighting this for me. Now comes the hard part...doing the actual work!