while im not big in to these kits, there is no denying how good your wiring tutorial is and how helpful it can be for some that haven't done this before. good job explaining everything,
OMG, how wonderful is this video. You didn't start with the history of guitars, followed by the history of pickups and the electric guitar, then an explanation how the vibrating strings effect the pickups, and why there are capacitors in there. You jumped right in, got to the meat and potatoes of this, you were very clear on what to do, and saved my day with this kit with zero instructions. THANK YOU.
Today I overhauled my Epiphone Les Paul Studio and relied on this video for the majority of the work. I replaced the jack, 3 way toggle, 2 humbucker pups, pots, caps, wiring, and tuners (Grover locking). This was my first time doing any invasive work on one of my guitars and this video was extremely useful in helping me succeed. However, I did modify some techniques and changed some of the procedure: I tinned all connections that weren't already factory tinned. I also took some shortcuts with grounding by combining the green wire pot grounds and right lug grounds on each pot into a single solder joint (on each pot). I had a few issues with getting solder to adhere to the back of the pots and wish I would have sanded them first, but everything still went well and it was a pretty clean job. My guitar also already had a ground wire from the bridge bushing so I included that as part of the ground circuit. Also, apparently if you do decide to sand the back of the pots it should be done outside of the cavity and be sure clean up any loose metal particles as you don't want those floating around inside. Thanks Fred. BTW we get more than just a power chord at the end of this video; there's also a slide bendy after the power chord.
One step was missed. Pre-tin your connections and wires before soldering. Makes for a better soldering job avoiding a cold solder joint. Also be careful you don't touch the iron to the wire next to the pin you're soldering.
I never pre tin. To prevent cold solder joints I reflow the solder joints. If I were working in a repair shop professionally I’d probably pre tin to save time since it does seem more efficient
Thanks for making this video; it was very clear and helpful! With your assistance, I wired my first guitar. A few tips I picked up in the process: learn how to tin your wires and your solder tip, and make sure you do that. A clamp of some kind (alligator clip) frees up a hand in that process. Don’t forget the bridge ground; it’s a wire running from under the bridge to the pots. Lightly scuff sand the tops of the pots; it helps the solder flow onto the pot. Be careful soldering near the wires; it’s easy to burn through them, or the wood of the guitar. Thanks, Fred!
OMG!!! You just helped me get through an hour and a half of the quarantine and it has been the highlight of my last three weeks! I am definitely going to attempt this build as you made it so clear and easy to follow. Thanks and I hope that you are safe and happy.
Actually, the way you're wiring it is the modern method the Gibson has been using since around 1960 and is exactly why 50s Les Pauls sound so much better. This method loses highs in a big way. They did it like this because the original wiring would cause the volume of one pickup to drop dramatically if the other was turned down even slightly when the pickup selector switch was in the middle position, and turning one pickup volume down when both were on would cause both pickups to lose all their volume. However, the benefits in tone from the original wiring was worth losing some flexibility. In vintage wiring you would have the left lug of the tone pot wired to the center lug of the volume pot. This works well on a Tele also. If you go with vintage wiring, when you back off the volume knob, you'll clean up the sound while retaining the highs.
50s wiring is very interactive, and unpractical. 60s wiring with a nicely tuned treble bleed mod is much better. I personally prefer G&L PTB wiring modded for 4 knobs. So the signal chain is: each pickup goes into a volume pot (with treble bleed), into the 3 way switch, into master treble cut (low pass filter, regular tone knob) into master bass cut (high pass filter).
Thank you. I've been intimidated by wiring Les Paul's for about 10 years now. This is the most simple and straightforward "how to" video I've ever seen on wiring them. Nice build.
Very nice video on how to do a clean install of pick up wiring. I really do appreciate the time that was taken on making an informative video that is easy to follow, clear and precise. Most importantly, it's presented in an educational style. There's too many that make people feel uneducated or that it's too hard.
@@chrisvenable5218 The tailpiece and tremolo grounds are more of a Fender thing, and, I think, a single coil thing. It is meant to reduce noise. Humbuckers don’t have that problem. You’ll notice that shielding was not considered either.
I've had a kit sitting in the shed for about 5 years and a COVID lockdown inspired me to finally get it out. The wiring was the final piece of the puzzle and these instructions were simple, clear and easily the best I've found. I'll be tackling it today thanks to the video. The kit came with shielding but I'm not sure whether I should be using it OR using a bridge wire. Many thanks!
@@glassbox7761 The tailpiece and tremolo grounds are more of a Fender thing, and, I thing, a single coil thing. It is meant to reduce noise. Humbuckers don’t have that problem. You’ll notice that shielding was not considered either.
You did a great job of presenting. You were Clear and easy to understand. You didn't keep repeating yourself. You expressed yourself without foul language. AND ... you did a great job with the build. Thank you.
ONLY downside of this video is that I didn't watch it BEFORE ordering my "Pre-Wired" kit from Mojotone. The Wiring schematics provided online are still confusing. This video makes it 1000x easier to understand how all of the electrical components are wired in a guitar. Thank you Fred Yen. This video is great. I don't understand why/how anyone would give this video a "thumbs down". lol
Great tutorial. I have a old 70's Les Paul copy that my great uncle left me when he died and I had been meaning to re-wire the whole thing because it needs it. This will be my guide and will save me a couple hundred dollars.
You're awesome man. Clear cut instructions and excellent overall communication. Because of you, my Les Paul's wiring is getting the consistent fix it needs. Perhaps not your focus, but definitely applicable for those of us fixing up old guitars. Thank you!
The reason you need the bridge grounded is for safety. If something go's wrong with your amp an ungrounded bridge/strings can kill you. All you need to do is take a wire from a ground on a pot and connect it to the the bridge.
***** On a factory made Gibson LP the bridge is grounded, it's a simple thing to look it up on the internet to see how its done. Look this up ruclips.net/video/ZrpcRxX8q1I/видео.html hope it helps.
theArchive1O No need to solder. Just be sure that the bridge makes good contact with the ground wire and yes you do need to solder the ground wire to the pot. Hope that helps.
Fred thanks a bunch dude! My wife surprised me with my 1st Gtar kit for my bday. It came with no directions and a crappy schematic I found was wrong after seeing your video. After soldering the 20+ solder joints and struggling through final assembly for hardware I plugged in and everything sounded great other than the making bridge adjustments which I just tweaked watching other videos. FYI I am a solder instructor and one recommendation is to tin all the wire and clean and tin tip for each joint. Great instructions, Thanks again!
ZeeCeeFour OvKSK I meant no ill-will, I was just stating the obvious. If I had the talent and time, I'd consider building one from a kit. Nice job Fred!
Absolutely. Proper technique is heating the wire and component/connection and then applying the solder to those, *not* to the tip of the soldering iron. The solder will flow in the direction of heat, making a firm mechanical and electrical connection. A mechanical connection might look okay, but it is not enough.
Ha Ha. Watched this 2 years ago and just watched again today. Still very impressed with your work on this guitar. Great Job. Hope you are still enjoying the guitar
Yes I do. You have to set up the guitar's action by adjusting the bridge and truss rod. Once its done and settled in, I have to say its definitely worth it. Not only fun to build but you get a good sounding guitar for the price. Don't forget that you can upgrade many of the parts (ie pickups, bridge, tuners, ect...) if you want to make it even better.
'Buddy' of mine rewired my Les Paul back in the 70s, got the wires all mixed up and the bridge pickup has never worked since! Thanks Fred I will use this video to finally fix that up!
Hi Fred. Genuine thanks from me. Just made an electric guitar sound first try following your instructions. Only added the earth people were talking about as a precaution but absolutely first class instructions. My solders are worse than Fred's for those detractors out there but they do the job. If they come apart like some people say I will be a better solderer when I come to fix them!
There can only be one "best", and this is it. The best video series on building a DIY guitar. Ive never seen better...and Ive looked. Thanks for the great Videos.
Used this to wire my Telecaster Deluxe. The directions from Fretwire used A for volume and B for tone. Otherwise, identical. All seems to work but not totally finished yet.
best tutorial I've seen yet. I'm looking to upgrade my switch, pots, jack and humbuckers. Wish me luck as I bought pots harness on Amazon so hopefully just need to reSolder the switch, humbuckers and jack back on no need to mess with the pots. Hopefully it'll work.
I bought a DIY guitar kit for myself and built it by following all your videos, great instructions, very simple and easy to understand!!My guitar sounds great!Thank you very much!!How is it going your new project??You rock man!!!!!
Quick note: This wiring style is "Modern" Gibson wiring, where the tone is before the volume. "Vintage" Gibson wiring is wired with the tone after the volume. Great video!
I too like to build and refinish guitars and I found the ink used as a stain very surprising, it worked beautifully, nice job on the finish. I'm not sure if you are just reading and following the directions in the kit or not, but I have a few tips that you may find useful, first of all I ALWAYS use flux when soldering (even with flux core solder). Secondly I ALWAYS scuff up the back of my pots with a little sand paper for better adhesion, but thirdly and most importantly you should ALWAYS run a ground wire to your tail piece, bridge, or spring claw for your tremolo, (depending on what kind of set up you have), or you will find out that even the best pickups will sound like crap and feed back at high volumes!!! The next time you do a kit, get on Seymore Duncan's website and look at their diagram, you might find it useful. Not trying to bust your chops, just trying to share some info with a fellow guitar lover!!! I just recently put together an 80's style strat I call the "RATSTRAT", from a bunch of mix matched parts I bought off the web, some new, some used. I started with an old beat up body that was primed and beat up, a new after market Telecaster rock maple neck (very light in color), new Fender style tremolo, new mini Grover tuners, new 14 ohm four wire very hot pickups from Guitar Fetish, metal knurled dome top knobs, new three way switch, and 500k pots with a coil splitting volume, (all black hardware). I didn't like the grain in the top so I veneered it with a flame maple veneer, and stained it a purple burst, (it goes from a plum crazy purple into a deep violet to a solid black, and left the neck natural and the back black). It was a lot of work to get it all to come together, but turned out beautiful and it plays great!!! I will try to change my profile picture to it so you can see it!!! Great job keep em coming!!!
Great job man. Thank you. I found pieces of an electrical guitar I finally got around to putting together and been stuck on the wiring for about a week. You made it simple.
Note* If you're a lefty trying to figure out how to wire the pots so they will work in the "correct" direction, simply bend the LEFT contact to touch the top of the pot (making it the ground) and run your wiring off the right contact. Nice job on this build, looks great man. :)
You should build the ES-335. I purchased the kit and have no idea on how to wire it. Very informative video on the Les Paul kit, and I love the finish! I think I found my next kit!
Just watched your videos. theres several things I would have done differently but the results speak for themselves. One thing tho... Soldering 101 - TIN YOUR WIRES!!!! before you attach them you should tin the end of the wires to prevent them from fraying and causing a bad connection later on. Apart from that, im impressed! good work!
Hey Fred, just came across your tutorial doing a search on LP neck angles. Have had a build sitting in limbo since I stained it. I'm motivated to finish it now. Great job!
I just got this same kit, I had other ideas for the finish but I'll be copying yours, the blue looks great with the black hardware. My fourth build but I know I would have given up on the DIY builds without excellent videos to help. Thanks for the posts!
Always use shielded cable, if not your guitar will act as an antena, the result will be a constant buzz/noise. I made the mistake of using regular unshielded wires and had to rewire my guitar.
Nice tips on doing a neat job of wiring, that's something that certain manufacturers don't manage. One other step that was not taken in this video is installing shielding in the cavities to avoid picking up electrical noise. It doesn't matter too much in this case as you are using humbuckers, but is important if you use P90 or single coil pickups. Also don't forget to earth your bridge lest you end up getting electric shocks on stage. This can be done with either a wire (if you have routing to do this in a hidden fashion) or with a metal strip that sits tightly under the bridge which I have seen on a Fender Jazz Bass.
Great series of tutorials on the Les Paul build. I've been wondering how good these kits really were. Now I think I'm ready to take the plunge. And your cat cracked me up. Thanks.
+Jon Thorne Recently finished my kit. So far, the only complaint I have about them. The pickups could be marked as to which are which and the tuners are complete garbage. If you are doing one of these kits, go ahead now and spend the money on quality tuners, and toss the included set.
The Joker-I have put the whole guitar together, and it sounds soooo hot! I really don't want to pull it apart. Also if you have purchase the LP with all the fittings poxy coated in black. the back saddle where you freed the strings through the holes. Ensure there is bare metal touching the up-right screw that you have attached the earth wire too. All 6 holes on the back saddle, have to be drilled just slightly, to take the black paint off. To allow the steel strings to make a good metal to metal connection, so they earth. I use an electricians multimeter to check, for a good connection. Like I have commented earlier, this stops the feedback noise, when your fingers touch the strings. Sorry, I don't have a video cam?
You connected the wires coming from the switch to the middle lugs (wipers) of the volume pots and the pickups to the outer lugs. This way when you have the switch in the middle position, with both pickups selected, either pot controls the volume of both pickups. In my guitars I reverse the wires coming from the switch with the pickup wires. That way each pot affects only its pickup. When you have the switch in the middle with both pickups selected you can combine volumes for the 2 pickups and have more tonal changes.
That's really nice tutorial man,Very cool idea with staining!!!Just a few things I've noticed were a bit wrong.First: Glue you guitar first,glue will not hold on to greasy surface.Second: ALWAYS pretin both- the wire and connectors.You also need to make a soldering point on all of the pots first.The way you did it will create dry solders and cause trouble after a while.I'd also recommend shielding the cavities for less buzz when you use overdrive.How's the finish now? Does it fade out?
THIS IS SO AWESOME. I'm just learning that you can buy DIY kits to build a guitar. I'm definitely going to jump in on this now that I have the space and your guides.
this is exactly what im going to do this summer.. i was wanting to pick up a cheap epiphone special ii, but this is way nicer and you can customize it to however you like! im even going to go with the black and blue ink finish cuz i cant believe how beautiful that came out!
Regardless of the methods used in the build, this 6-part melodrama is absolutely informative. A luthier Fred might not be, he was still able to document all the basic necessities of a diy guitar build at a beginner's perspective. As an aspiring guitar builder myself, I know that I have to equip myself not just with the tools, but the knowledge to accomplish the project soundly. (Pun intended ) In this video, I learned to things: what to DO, and what NOT to. . .
now my guitar is reborn after 3years of being confused to restore the correct wiring line thank you very very much sir and for my return here is my subscription to your channel thanks
Hi Fred. Can you shed light on why, in a lot of cases, pick up installation instructions have an earth from the bridge posts that is also soldered to one of the pots as part of the earth circuit? I note that your video does not include this step and was curious as to why.
Hi Fred, I have been watching the whole projet today and I have to say this is a really good job. I would like to do a similar project but with a Jackson Kelly based model. Unfortunately I can't find the parts I need (Strings through Kelly body and inlays-less reversed headstock Jackson neck). Maybe someday I will be able to do it. Thanks for all your help in this project, I learnt a lot watching it !
Can you do a video explaining how to wire push-pull pots? Your video has been the best I’ve seen thus far for wiring in pickups. I have push pull pots in mine, however, and got lost trying to figure it out...
Brilliantly concise, to the point and simplified in a way that a child could quite easily understand. Again, brilliant. In actual fact im about to buy one of those with the pre-shaped headstock from here in the UK. Its got a zebrawood veneer so the staining process in your previous vid is exactly what I needed.
You don't see a need to shield the cavity? I have a Les Paul BFG with an awful hum, just bought some Copper Tape hoping to shield the cavities and fix the problem. I notice that the pots on my LP aren't grounded as you done at 4:55.. wondering now if maybe that is causing the hum and maybe I don't need the tape..?
should install copper or aluminum shielding tape in the control and switch cavities to shield from outside interferences. great video series. inspiring me to do one myself
Plan on working A DIY guitar very soon myself. Not sure what kind yet. The Gibson copy is nice but so is the Dimebag Deans. Watched all 6 of the videos and will be using them as a reference! Very well done might I add! Thank you!!!!
The wiring is just a route for the pickups to reach the output. Any route works as long as the signal gets to the output. What really matters is what components are shared by the pickups and which ones can be set individual for the bridge or neck. Seymour Duncan has a huge selection of circuit diagrams with colors and everything on their website. You should go check that out.
The kit comes with no-name chinese made pickups, but they sound decent. An upgrade would definitely improve the sound if you want to get the most out of the guitar. But like I mentioned, the stock pickups sound decent and the guitar was really fun to build.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
while im not big in to these kits, there is no denying how good your wiring tutorial is and how helpful it can be for some that haven't done this before. good job explaining everything,
OMG, how wonderful is this video. You didn't start with the history of guitars, followed by the history of pickups and the electric guitar, then an explanation how the vibrating strings effect the pickups, and why there are capacitors in there. You jumped right in, got to the meat and potatoes of this, you were very clear on what to do, and saved my day with this kit with zero instructions. THANK YOU.
Absolutely brilliant 'how to". Could not be clearer. Huge thanks from me!
+Derek Hayes Glad I could help!
fred yen this is awesome! just got a totally wreck of a guitar from my local guitar shop for free. this helps so much thank you!
Today I overhauled my Epiphone Les Paul Studio and relied on this video for the majority of the work. I replaced the jack, 3 way toggle, 2 humbucker pups, pots, caps, wiring, and tuners (Grover locking). This was my first time doing any invasive work on one of my guitars and this video was extremely useful in helping me succeed. However, I did modify some techniques and changed some of the procedure: I tinned all connections that weren't already factory tinned. I also took some shortcuts with grounding by combining the green wire pot grounds and right lug grounds on each pot into a single solder joint (on each pot). I had a few issues with getting solder to adhere to the back of the pots and wish I would have sanded them first, but everything still went well and it was a pretty clean job. My guitar also already had a ground wire from the bridge bushing so I included that as part of the ground circuit. Also, apparently if you do decide to sand the back of the pots it should be done outside of the cavity and be sure clean up any loose metal particles as you don't want those floating around inside. Thanks Fred.
BTW we get more than just a power chord at the end of this video; there's also a slide bendy after the power chord.
Wow this is by far the best soldering video I've seen. Well lit, sharply focussed and your instruction is very easy to follow. Thank you so much.
TheBassgasm What would you do differently? I'm getting one of these kits and I'd like to avoid any beginner mistakes...
Awesome tutorial, and I feel like I could complete a kit like this even with no electrical experience!
Wonderful job, thank you very much!
welcome!
Probably the best diy series I have ever watched. I am so ready to order my first kit. Thanks for the inspiration!
The best and most clear wiring explanation I've ever seen in years of RUclips! Thanks a lot!!!
One step was missed. Pre-tin your connections and wires before soldering. Makes for a better soldering job avoiding a cold solder joint. Also be careful you don't touch the iron to the wire next to the pin you're soldering.
And prevents the wire strands from breaking free potentially causing a short.
Where is the wire from the bridge saddle?
where are your videos posted showing the correct way ?
I never pre tin. To prevent cold solder joints I reflow the solder joints. If I were working in a repair shop professionally I’d probably pre tin to save time since it does seem more efficient
Thanks for making this video; it was very clear and helpful! With your assistance, I wired my first guitar.
A few tips I picked up in the process: learn how to tin your wires and your solder tip, and make sure you do that. A clamp of some kind (alligator clip) frees up a hand in that process. Don’t forget the bridge ground; it’s a wire running from under the bridge to the pots. Lightly scuff sand the tops of the pots; it helps the solder flow onto the pot. Be careful soldering near the wires; it’s easy to burn through them, or the wood of the guitar.
Thanks, Fred!
you are the only guy on youtube who clearly explains how to wire a guitar, good job
OMG!!! You just helped me get through an hour and a half of the quarantine and it has been the highlight of my last three weeks! I am definitely going to attempt this build as you made it so clear and easy to follow. Thanks and I hope that you are safe and happy.
Actually, the way you're wiring it is the modern method the Gibson has been using since around 1960 and is exactly why 50s Les Pauls sound so much better. This method loses highs in a big way. They did it like this because the original wiring would cause the volume of one pickup to drop dramatically if the other was turned down even slightly when the pickup selector switch was in the middle position, and turning one pickup volume down when both were on would cause both pickups to lose all their volume. However, the benefits in tone from the original wiring was worth losing some flexibility. In vintage wiring you would have the left lug of the tone pot wired to the center lug of the volume pot. This works well on a Tele also. If you go with vintage wiring, when you back off the volume knob, you'll clean up the sound while retaining the highs.
50s wiring is very interactive, and unpractical.
60s wiring with a nicely tuned treble bleed mod is much better.
I personally prefer G&L PTB wiring modded for 4 knobs. So the signal chain is:
each pickup goes into a volume pot (with treble bleed), into the 3 way switch, into master treble cut (low pass filter, regular tone knob) into master bass cut (high pass filter).
Thank you. I've been intimidated by wiring Les Paul's for about 10 years now. This is the most simple and straightforward "how to" video I've ever seen on wiring them. Nice build.
ok....it would had been nice to see the final product.
Very nice video on how to do a clean install of pick up wiring. I really do appreciate the time that was taken on making an informative video that is easy to follow, clear and precise. Most importantly, it's presented in an educational style. There's too many that make people feel uneducated or that it's too hard.
I think you should have a Ground wire from the Bridge tail piece bushing ..Thats normally the case to ground the strings...
I was wondering when that part was coming in
@@chrisvenable5218 The tailpiece and tremolo grounds are more of a Fender thing, and, I think, a single coil thing. It is meant to reduce noise. Humbuckers don’t have that problem. You’ll notice that shielding was not considered either.
@@mgclark46 my Epiphone les Paul studio had both a grounding cable and shielding paint....I bought it new in sealed box at GC.
@@mgclark46 100% wrong.
I don’t know what I was thinking and I can’t fix my comment@@chrisfuller96
Dude... I have watched a lot of video's lately but yours is the best by far. Its practically a course in wiring. Thanks heaps Fred, your a legend.
I'm getting the same kit for my birthday and all the vids are gonna help a lot
Glad I could help. Have fun!
cheers man
how did it go?
I've had a kit sitting in the shed for about 5 years and a COVID lockdown inspired me to finally get it out. The wiring was the final piece of the puzzle and these instructions were simple, clear and easily the best I've found. I'll be tackling it today thanks to the video. The kit came with shielding but I'm not sure whether I should be using it OR using a bridge wire. Many thanks!
No ground to the tailpiece or bridge post?
there forget to do that..haha..
That guitar doesn't have the needed hole. A total fail.
@@glassbox7761 The tailpiece and tremolo grounds are more of a Fender thing, and, I thing, a single coil thing. It is meant to reduce noise. Humbuckers don’t have that problem. You’ll notice that shielding was not considered either.
You did a great job of presenting. You were Clear and easy to understand. You didn't keep repeating yourself. You expressed yourself without foul language. AND ... you did a great job with the build. Thank you.
dude you have to make a video of the guitar. Play it! we wanna hear it. pleeeease lol
ONLY downside of this video is that I didn't watch it BEFORE ordering my "Pre-Wired" kit from Mojotone. The Wiring schematics provided online are still confusing. This video makes it 1000x easier to understand how all of the electrical components are wired in a guitar. Thank you Fred Yen. This video is great. I don't understand why/how anyone would give this video a "thumbs down". lol
6 episodes and we get 3 seconds of the guitar playing a power chord... sigh..
Sven Svensson Right? Like wtf
Sven Svensson he probably was too lazy to intonate it for a proper demo
lol
Glad you got the key takeaway of the video xD
Without wires there's no music? 😝
Great tutorial. I have a old 70's Les Paul copy that my great uncle left me when he died and I had been meaning to re-wire the whole thing because it needs it. This will be my guide and will save me a couple hundred dollars.
Tip: If you score the pot body first, the solder will take to it like s**t to a blanket :-)
Most potentiometers have pre tinned backs nowadays. Can't say for sure on these Chinese pots. Probably pot metal.
"shit to a blanket"? WTF dude, where are you from.
You're awesome man. Clear cut instructions and excellent overall communication. Because of you, my Les Paul's wiring is getting the consistent fix it needs. Perhaps not your focus, but definitely applicable for those of us fixing up old guitars. Thank you!
The reason you need the bridge grounded is for safety. If something go's wrong with your amp an ungrounded bridge/strings can kill you. All you need to do is take a wire from a ground on a pot and connect it to the the bridge.
***** interesting right?
***** On a factory made Gibson LP the bridge is grounded, it's a simple thing to look it up on the internet to see how its done. Look this up ruclips.net/video/ZrpcRxX8q1I/видео.html
hope it helps.
***** A problem with these kits. I drill from the control cavity to the bridge post. It's necessary for noise as much as safety.
Do I have to solder the ground wire to the bridge? or just solder the ground wire to the pot and then lead it up the drilled hole to the bridge
theArchive1O No need to solder. Just be sure that the bridge makes good contact with the ground wire and yes you do need to solder the ground wire to the pot. Hope that helps.
Bought some hardware from china - ended up stripping all the wires and starting from scratch following this video. Worked brilliantly - thanx fredyen.
Where is the finished product?
Fred thanks a bunch dude! My wife surprised me with my 1st Gtar kit for my bday. It came with no directions and a crappy schematic I found was wrong after seeing your video. After soldering the 20+ solder joints and struggling through final assembly for hardware I plugged in and everything sounded great other than the making bridge adjustments which I just tweaked watching other videos. FYI I am a solder instructor and one recommendation is to tin all the wire and clean and tin tip for each joint. Great instructions, Thanks again!
is it me or do the capacitors look Delicious
cant tell you HOW HELPFUL this video has been. thank you.
So essentially, it's still a Chibson?
At least it gives any DIYers the satisfaction of building our own guitar from such kits.
ZeeCeeFour OvKSK
I meant no ill-will, I was just stating the obvious. If I had the talent and time, I'd consider building one from a kit. Nice job Fred!
lol only if he adds gibson to the head
Being a novice with electronics I found the wireing part daunting! But you actually saved me a trip to some shady guitar guy. Thank you so so mutch.
You really, really need to learn how to solder properly. Cold joints everywhere
Absolutely. Proper technique is heating the wire and component/connection and then applying the solder to those, *not* to the tip of the soldering iron. The solder will flow in the direction of heat, making a firm mechanical and electrical connection. A mechanical connection might look okay, but it is not enough.
Ha Ha. Watched this 2 years ago and just watched again today. Still very impressed with your work on this guitar. Great Job. Hope you are still enjoying the guitar
You have some mistakes in soldering and gluing. Not terrible but unprofessional.
+Evgeny Favorsky post your build
+Joe Jack there a lot of videos about correct gluing and soldering. My video will be too useless to make it.
+Evgeny Favorsky I was wondering where the pro would be.
Phillip Betts far away from youtube comments
+Phillip Betts I see you dislike my food.
You are not a chef, so you cannot judge it.
I was wondering where the chef would be.
Yes I do. You have to set up the guitar's action by adjusting the bridge and truss rod. Once its done and settled in, I have to say its definitely worth it. Not only fun to build but you get a good sounding guitar for the price. Don't forget that you can upgrade many of the parts (ie pickups, bridge, tuners, ect...) if you want to make it even better.
F
F?
F to pay respects
'Buddy' of mine rewired my Les Paul back in the 70s, got the wires all mixed up and the bridge pickup has never worked since! Thanks Fred I will use this video to finally fix that up!
"Sol-der" mate, not "sodder" ;)
Both are correct, depends on country. Supposedly, "sodder" is the original pronunciation.
The rest of the world cares, sooo...
To me it sounds like "Sod off", which is what I say to you.
flagmuffin1221 here take notes
out of 3 people only you cared
most of the world does not care
420 Weed 666 Oddfuture I kind of care. "Sodder" gets on my tits.
Ndlanding I second this
Hi Fred.
Genuine thanks from me. Just made an electric guitar sound first try following your instructions. Only added the earth people were talking about as a precaution but absolutely first class instructions. My solders are worse than Fred's for those detractors out there but they do the job. If they come apart like some people say I will be a better solderer when I come to fix them!
There can only be one "best", and this is it.
The best video series on building a DIY guitar. Ive never seen better...and Ive looked.
Thanks for the great Videos.
Used this to wire my Telecaster Deluxe. The directions from Fretwire used A for volume and B for tone. Otherwise, identical. All seems to work but not totally finished yet.
This is by far the best wiring tutorial ever! Nicely done man, thanks for sharing
I have just watched all of the video's. You are a very gifted teacher and explained each step in simple to understand language. Well done.
best tutorial I've seen yet. I'm looking to upgrade my switch, pots, jack and humbuckers. Wish me luck as I bought pots harness on Amazon so hopefully just need to reSolder the switch, humbuckers and jack back on no need to mess with the pots. Hopefully it'll work.
One of the best instructional videos I've watched on any subject. Excellent presentation.
I bought a DIY guitar kit for myself and built it by following all your videos, great instructions, very simple and easy to understand!!My guitar sounds great!Thank you very much!!How is it going your new project??You rock man!!!!!
This is way more easier than other tutorials. Everything was explained very clear and this video was so helpful.
I really liked this series of building a DIY guitar kit. It really shows how really, anybody can build a guitar. Thanks for sharing.
Quick note: This wiring style is "Modern" Gibson wiring, where the tone is before the volume. "Vintage" Gibson wiring is wired with the tone after the volume. Great video!
Bro your video helped me bring my old SG guitar back to life, you are a master! Keep uploading these types of videos 🔥🔥🔥🔥
My kit came today . After watching your videos a few times I got this . Thanks again . You made it Really easy
I too like to build and refinish guitars and I found the ink used as a stain very surprising, it worked beautifully, nice job on the finish. I'm not sure if you are just reading and following the directions in the kit or not, but I have a few tips that you may find useful, first of all I ALWAYS use flux when soldering (even with flux core solder). Secondly I ALWAYS scuff up the back of my pots with a little sand paper for better adhesion, but thirdly and most importantly you should ALWAYS run a ground wire to your tail piece, bridge, or spring claw for your tremolo, (depending on what kind of set up you have), or you will find out that even the best pickups will sound like crap and feed back at high volumes!!! The next time you do a kit, get on Seymore Duncan's website and look at their diagram, you might find it useful. Not trying to bust your chops, just trying to share some info with a fellow guitar lover!!! I just recently put together an 80's style strat I call the "RATSTRAT", from a bunch of mix matched parts I bought off the web, some new, some used. I started with an old beat up body that was primed and beat up, a new after market Telecaster rock maple neck (very light in color), new Fender style tremolo, new mini Grover tuners, new 14 ohm four wire very hot pickups from Guitar Fetish, metal knurled dome top knobs, new three way switch, and 500k pots with a coil splitting volume, (all black hardware). I didn't like the grain in the top so I veneered it with a flame maple veneer, and stained it a purple burst, (it goes from a plum crazy purple into a deep violet to a solid black, and left the neck natural and the back black). It was a lot of work to get it all to come together, but turned out beautiful and it plays great!!! I will try to change my profile picture to it so you can see it!!! Great job keep em coming!!!
THE best How to vid series I have seen on you tube. Fantastic work.
Kevin
Great job man. Thank you. I found pieces of an electrical guitar I finally got around to putting together and been stuck on the wiring for about a week. You made it simple.
A very clear and concise how-to video. He also has a lot of great timesaving advice as well!
Note* If you're a lefty trying to figure out how to wire the pots so they will work in the "correct" direction, simply bend the LEFT contact to touch the top of the pot (making it the ground) and run your wiring off the right contact.
Nice job on this build, looks great man. :)
That end result made this entirely worth it. Glad it worked out dude, ya did damn good
You should build the ES-335. I purchased the kit and have no idea on how to wire it. Very informative video on the Les Paul kit, and I love the finish! I think I found my next kit!
Likely the best explained wiring how to's on the net. Well done Fred.
Just watched your videos. theres several things I would have done differently but the results speak for themselves. One thing tho... Soldering 101 - TIN YOUR WIRES!!!! before you attach them you should tin the end of the wires to prevent them from fraying and causing a bad connection later on.
Apart from that, im impressed! good work!
Hey Fred, just came across your tutorial doing a search on LP neck angles. Have had a build sitting in limbo since I stained it. I'm motivated to finish it now. Great job!
This is the BEST how- to on pickup and switch wiring. Thank you again sir!!!!!
I just got this same kit, I had other ideas for the finish but I'll be copying yours, the blue looks great with the black hardware. My fourth build but I know I would have given up on the DIY builds without excellent videos to help. Thanks for the posts!
Always use shielded cable, if not your guitar will act as an antena, the result will be a constant buzz/noise. I made the mistake of using regular unshielded wires and had to rewire my guitar.
Nice tips on doing a neat job of wiring, that's something that certain manufacturers don't manage. One other step that was not taken in this video is installing shielding in the cavities to avoid picking up electrical noise. It doesn't matter too much in this case as you are using humbuckers, but is important if you use P90 or single coil pickups. Also don't forget to earth your bridge lest you end up getting electric shocks on stage. This can be done with either a wire (if you have routing to do this in a hidden fashion) or with a metal strip that sits tightly under the bridge which I have seen on a Fender Jazz Bass.
Great series of tutorials on the Les Paul build. I've been wondering how good these kits really were. Now I think I'm ready to take the plunge. And your cat cracked me up. Thanks.
+Jon Thorne Recently finished my kit. So far, the only complaint I have about them. The pickups could be marked as to which are which and the tuners are complete garbage. If you are doing one of these kits, go ahead now and spend the money on quality tuners, and toss the included set.
You are honestly the biggest help and your DIY guitar is so amazing!
The Joker-I have put the whole guitar together, and it sounds soooo hot!
I really don't want to pull it apart.
Also if you have purchase the LP with all the fittings poxy coated in black.
the back saddle where you freed the strings through the holes.
Ensure there is bare metal touching the up-right screw that you have attached
the earth wire too.
All 6 holes on the back saddle, have to be drilled just slightly, to take the black paint off.
To allow the steel strings to make a good metal to metal connection, so they earth.
I use an electricians multimeter to check, for a good connection.
Like I have commented earlier, this stops the feedback noise, when your fingers touch the strings.
Sorry, I don't have a video cam?
God job Fred. The guitar looked and sounded great. I loved the wiring tutorial. You made a complex job look easy!
You connected the wires coming from the switch to the middle lugs (wipers) of the volume pots and the pickups to the outer lugs. This way when you have the switch in the middle position, with both pickups selected, either pot controls the volume of both pickups. In my guitars I reverse the wires coming from the switch with the pickup wires. That way each pot affects only its pickup. When you have the switch in the middle with both pickups selected you can combine volumes for the 2 pickups and have more tonal changes.
So basically just swich the wires from the switch and pickups?
That's really nice tutorial man,Very cool idea with staining!!!Just a few things I've noticed were a bit wrong.First: Glue you guitar first,glue will not hold on to greasy surface.Second: ALWAYS pretin both- the wire and connectors.You also need to make a soldering point on all of the pots first.The way you did it will create dry solders and cause trouble after a while.I'd also recommend shielding the cavities for less buzz when you use overdrive.How's the finish now? Does it fade out?
THIS IS SO AWESOME. I'm just learning that you can buy DIY kits to build a guitar. I'm definitely going to jump in on this now that I have the space and your guides.
this is exactly what im going to do this summer.. i was wanting to pick up a cheap epiphone special ii, but this is way nicer and you can customize it to however you like! im even going to go with the black and blue ink finish cuz i cant believe how beautiful that came out!
Regardless of the methods used in the build, this 6-part melodrama is absolutely informative. A luthier Fred might not be, he was still able to document all the basic necessities of a diy guitar build at a beginner's perspective.
As an aspiring guitar builder myself, I know that I have to equip myself not just with the tools, but the knowledge to accomplish the project soundly. (Pun intended )
In this video, I learned to things: what to DO, and what NOT to. . .
The best wiring video I've seen very straight forward.
thanks!
now my guitar is reborn after 3years of being confused to restore the correct wiring line
thank you very very much sir
and for my return here is my subscription to your channel thanks
thanks for this guide man! Bought myself a kit after watching the first video. Looked online, but couldn't find any other high quality guides.
Best wiring video I've seen so far. Thanks for actually explaining things in understandable detail. I.m making a electric guitar btw.
Hi Fred. Can you shed light on why, in a lot of cases, pick up installation instructions have an earth from the bridge posts that is also soldered to one of the pots as part of the earth circuit? I note that your video does not include this step and was curious as to why.
Hi Fred, I have been watching the whole projet today and I have to say this is a really good job. I would like to do a similar project but with a Jackson Kelly based model. Unfortunately I can't find the parts I need (Strings through Kelly body and inlays-less reversed headstock Jackson neck). Maybe someday I will be able to do it.
Thanks for all your help in this project, I learnt a lot watching it !
Can you do a video explaining how to wire push-pull pots? Your video has been the best I’ve seen thus far for wiring in pickups. I have push pull pots in mine, however, and got lost trying to figure it out...
Good tip! I didn't have any issues but I know that can be a problem at times.
Brilliantly concise, to the point and simplified in a way that a child could quite easily understand. Again, brilliant. In actual fact im about to buy one of those with the pre-shaped headstock from here in the UK. Its got a zebrawood veneer so the staining process in your previous vid is exactly what I needed.
thank you to guys like you who share your knowledge so i and others can enjoy our guitars.
Thats the only really helpfull video about guitar wiring on youtube ,thanks for clearing thing up
You don't see a need to shield the cavity? I have a Les Paul BFG with an awful hum, just bought some Copper Tape hoping to shield the cavities and fix the problem. I notice that the pots on my LP aren't grounded as you done at 4:55.. wondering now if maybe that is causing the hum and maybe I don't need the tape..?
should install copper or aluminum shielding tape in the control and switch cavities to shield from outside interferences. great video series. inspiring me to do one myself
Plan on working A DIY guitar very soon myself. Not sure what kind yet. The Gibson copy is nice but so is the Dimebag Deans. Watched all 6 of the videos and will be using them as a reference! Very well done might I add! Thank you!!!!
Nice! Thanks for showing how this is properly done. Now I feel confident enough to do all my wiring properly!!
best video on this topic i've ever seen, good job
The wiring is just a route for the pickups to reach the output. Any route works as long as the signal gets to the output.
What really matters is what components are shared by the pickups and which ones can be set individual for the bridge or neck. Seymour Duncan has a huge selection of circuit diagrams with colors and everything on their website. You should go check that out.
I don't sell these kits. Please refer to the eBay seller I have linked in the description. I believe they do have left handed kits!
Found your wiring pick ups part 6 very helpful thanks idear for next push pull pots how to wire up les paul do you need 1 or 2 ?pots.
Thanks for this, got my guitar fully re-wired following this guide.
Super clear and helpful.
The kit comes with no-name chinese made pickups, but they sound decent. An upgrade would definitely improve the sound if you want to get the most out of the guitar. But like I mentioned, the stock pickups sound decent and the guitar was really fun to build.