How To: Les Paul 50s Wiring
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- Our guide to wiring the main controls of a Les Paul in the popular 50s style.
''50s'' style Les Paul wiring differs from typical modern day setups - simply a change in capacitor location.
In the 50s setup, the pickup is soldered alone to the volume pot whereas in the modern version it is soldered with the capacitor to the volume pot. This changes the output value and also acts somewhat as a treble bleed by maintaining the high end frequencies as the volume is rolled off.
This video shows only the initial Les Paul wiring harness (tone and volume controls, grounding and adding the capacitors) in the main control cavity of a Les Paul.
For toggle switch wiring and connecting the jack, please refer to our other videos in this series.
Links
Les Paul Wiring Diagram - sixstringsuppl...
Les Paul wiring guide - sixstringsuppl...
Les Paul wiring kit - sixstringsuppl...
Our range of prewired harnesses sixstringsuppl...
Video tutorials - • Guitar & Bass Wiring T...
Finally. A clear and straightforward video on wiring a les paul
This is 50's wiring though....there's also modern. It is quite straight-forward for 50's wiring though.
I have watched several of the Six Strings soldering videos. They have saved me tons of money having a luthier doing it. Additionally, I can make the wiring super neat to match my OCD! Thanks Six String Supplies!
Thanks for watching and thanks for the kind words 👍have a great Christmas
wiring in a guitar always looks better the "OCD" way....haha....usually works too....
I have a complete rewiring coming up of a 1986 Gibson Invader and without these videos I’d be lost! Thank you sir!
A very helpful Instructional vid on the subject. I liked that you did it all in one take, the whole process, instead of all of the vids that have cuts and angle changes that break concentration.
I feel I can do solder in pots and caps into my LP after watching this. Thanks!
The customer service and aftercare with these guys is phenomenal. Personal contact by mobile phone and free next day delivery when I had a minor issue with this wiring harness on my Epiphone Les Paul Standard. Seymour Duncan pups, a Six String Supplies Gibson '50s harness and I hope to have a vintage sounding Les Paul to crank up through a valve amp of some description :-)*
* '59 PAF neck & Alnico II Pro at the bridge.
Just re-wired my friends Epiphone Les Paul with your kit and sounds absolutely amazing! He already had a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge and Jazz in the neck but the wiring was all to pot, so I just replaced with all new and sounds fantastic. My first wiring job so am beaming with a sense of achievement today 😄 although, I did break one of the pots by trying to fit his old Epi knobs…. I pushed the back right off the pot but it still works. Forgot they’re a different size 🙄You live and learn!!
Seriously though, your videos have really helped me to a) become interested in guitar electronics, and b) have the confidence to have a go myself. So it’s a big thank you from me 👍🏼
nice one! and yes it is a good sense of achievement. Thanks for your order
@@SixStringSupplies no worries I’ll definitely be ordering from you guys again 😄
I love his voice. I could hear him talk all day
Dear Six String Supplies, you are the best, I tell all my guitar mates about you.
Keep up the good work.
Awesome Regards
Cosmo
These guys are wonderful helpful, extremely knowledgeable & kind. They have high quality equipment for sale - Bravo !!!!!
Many thanks for the compliments sir!
Another good tip, make sure you have a good soldering iron before attempting to wire anything.
for REAL!!! Even just $20 more is the difference between enjoyable d.i.y. modding and hating the world.
Ive always used a Weller dual heat gun for all my soldering. The tip cools off in a few seconds so you never snag the cord and burn yourself with a pencil iron. They suck. Also, i use flux on every joint, not just the core flux. Also thos dipstick is another one who doesnt know that a good solder joint begins with a good mechanical joint. You dont just put a wire through a lug hole, you bend a hook in the lead and close that hook on the.lug.
YES 💯 % on this.
Totally Agree with Cyrus; if the soldering iron is not powerful enough, it wont heat the parts effectively enough to have a nice solder joint in the end.
Hello. Your video is so clear, simple and quiet with honest quality. Many thanks from France. J
jeannick gravelines c’était un plaisir mon ami
I didn't know about you guys before, but your videos are so helpful that I'm going to make a point of ordering all my electronics parts from you when I build my Telecaster later this year.
Welcome aboard!
I watched this last night and began to wire up 4 pots. I watched it again and noticed many things now that I had a bit of experience doing this. This is an amazing video! Tape - who would have thought and why did I miss that tip last night?
i "adapted" a ES335 style harness from you a while ago to this 50s LP wiring in my new prs 594 SE.....also changed the pickups to seymour duncan...sounds great and works properly now....cheers....i might "upgrade" to a out of phase tone with a cts pushpull pot....but then im "done"....for a while anyway.....thx.
Excellent video, exactly what l was looking for. Thank you, Sir!
Your videos (and pictures on your site) helped me to successfully build my first LP kit - thank you so much!
If you're experiencing taper problems after doing the 50s wiring, add a 130k resistor between lugs 1 & 2 of the volume pots. It fixes the taper so you get full range again but keeps the sweet highs of the 50s wiring.
Loved the pots on the whole meal toast
Your work is immaculate. Thanks for the video
thank you for your support, I think I know what the problem is, as soon as I finish this hectic work week, I hope on Saturday to review and check and correct, I will be commenting on the result, greetings.
Interesting... Old paper/oil caps are actually quite a bit more lossy than the newer, film orange cap. You can see that on an LCR meter. But, I'm wondering if that lossy characteristic adds to the tone character of the output? It's quite possible with how dynamic all the stuff is on an electric guitar. It just goes to sound output and how subjective is that! I just wired an ES-335 with your "Jimmy Page Wiring Diagram". I used a jig plate, that was a difficult layout, no doubt! Haven't used it yet, the guitar is still down for paint. Love your web site!
Thanks SO much for this video.
Thanks, nice and clear instructions.
I wish this video shows how to connect the toggle switch. I have 5 wires coming off line and I’m at a loss how to do the switch.
Do you install orange drop caps the same way? And is there a ground lead? Does it matter which way they're wired?
It's a good idea to check the trhickness of wood for the pots. CTS have medium pots at 12.7 mm (0.5") thread length. I find these to be usually fine. I notice on your site you have custom CTS long and short pots but not the medium. The long ones are extra weight of brass and require fiddling with to adjust height whereas I find that the medium ones are usually just right.
Which pots for volume and tone A B ?, excellent tutorial
I know the struggle. I clean my tip as regularly as possible ;)
Dylan Brown haha!
I only put the tip in, tbh.
Always tin the tip before going in.
I use soldering flux from the local big box store what has it. The thin stuff and a 40 watt iron. You must tack the wires in place quickly as the potentiometer will heat up quite fast. Design at your leisure solder once
Nice video! Why don't you isolate the ground wire?
Do you have to ground the volume pots together as well?
Dear friend!
Thank you for your very detailed videos. I have watched almost all of your videos and did a lot of things according to your recommendations. There are a lot of contradictory and sometimes wrong decisions in the network, but you have everything convincing and a lot of experience can be traced.
I wanted to ask you.
I have a PRS SE 245 STANDARD (LP type) All electronics are assembled in a disgusting way. I have good humbuckers and I want to redo all the electronics. I have all the details (CTS potentiometers, EMERSON capacitors have USSR K40-U9 capacitors as well as PIO)
What do you recommend, wiring 50'th LP or modern wiring LP?
and is it worth installing Treble bleed (0.001uf + 150k in parallel) for the first and second options.
Looking forward to your reply.
Your friend Igor
Great idea with the tape to fix the ground wire!
One thing about it: you should put a little loop in the middle of each wire to compensate push/pull-tension
Theres something magical in the newest 2019-2022 sound of the new epiphone standards 50’s.
I play rhythm metal and punk and the sound of the powerchords sound so rich, so electrifying.
I tried the newest Epi Les paul standard 60’s and the newest epi LP custom, and the standard 50’s has this thick rich sound it blows the other 2 out of the water.
Is it the 50s style wiring causing this rich sound or is it the probucker ?
Nice job. just need to stress that cap wires are barely touching the pot pins. A bit of cap wire twisting around the pot pins is needed to ensure the best electrical conductance.
Solder only stabilizes joints, does not always provide the best electrical continuity.
very true - this is video is 6 years old now :)
I'll be "that annoying guy" for a moment:
What type of lighter do you recommend for heat shrinking the insulation on the capacitors? I have a friend who say Zippos are the best but I own a BIC? Will the lighter choice effect my tone and will it make my pickups sound HOTTER?
JUST JOKING!! Excellent video!! Thank you. I learned something today.
Zippos are more Rock 'n' Roll than BIC.
You know what you have to do.
i thank you so much !!!!!!!!! realy good work !
Brilliant video. What temperature do you set your soldering iron to?
Quick question. Is it possible to combine 50's style capacitor wiring with modern wiring in the same guitar? Say for instance, a 50s style p90 neck with a modern style HB bridge?
Yes
I have a question. I just bought a guitar with 2 HB and has vintage wiring. It’s noisy. I noticed that, compared to your wiring, there isn’t a ground wire connecting the 2 tone pots. There are wires connecting each tone to volume but nothing between the two tone pots (like you have all with one wire). Was this a mistake or is it just a different way of wiring? Would the missing wire connecting the tone pots make everything noisy? Thanks in advance for your help. I’m learning.
What kind of tin do you use? Mine has integrated flux I hate it so much!
Thank you for another great tutorial! You mentioned an optional 0.015uf capacitor for the neck. What would that be used for and where would it go?
Looking at your guitar in the same position as in the video, from the bottom lug of volume pot to the center lug of corresponding tone pot for the bridge pickup. The 2nd cap, from the top lug of volume pot to the middle lug of the corresponding tone pot for the neck pickup.
Hi Chris, as above. It’s an option to replace the neck capacitor with a 0.015
soldering is so annoying - you make it look easy - totally respect your artistry
Good electronic solder is the real trick. Don't buy cheap solder. The lead / tin mix is a good indicator, and I prefer a smaller sized solder. A thick solder can be tough to work with in electronics.
Love your videos!
What type of solder & what temperature do you use on your soldering iron?
Why do you solder the vol pot side of the cap at this stage? Doesn't it have to be re heated to connect the pups?
To add a tone bleed circuit could you just add a resistor between the legs of the caps?
Is my soldering station shit or why doesnt my tin stick to the pots? It just simply creates a puddle on top and you can just pick it off?
What wattage does your soldering iron have?
Great video!
It is possible. You can have the best technique in the world but if you have shitty solder/soldering station it makes it a lot harder than it needs to be.
To my understanding, with most pots you need to rough up the surface with sandpaper (or score it with a blade) to get a good joint, but with CTS pots (as used in this video) they are made so that this isn't necessary
Hmm alright ,i tried another soldering iron and it was'nt any problems at all. Turns out the older one i used didnt warm up properly.
Wow! You are a soldering fool!! Great work! I’ve subscribed so keep up the outstanding videos!👍🏻
Great video thank you. I have a question if you don't mind please: how do you keep your solder iron tip shiny and clean because even if i clean it all the time it instantly goes black and does not heat the solder wire easily at all....I have to push and push to force it to even melt the solder wire!? Thank you.
what kind of soldering iron do you have..... a cheap one will behave as yours is..... buy a good one at least $40.00 a Weller... or a good radio shack.....
also try using brass shavings to clean the tip, instead of a damp sponge.
If your soldering iron tip is turning black, even when cleaning, you may have a solder with too much flux. The flux is burning up and that is your cause. Try to buy a good solder for electronics. You will pay more for a good roll of solder, but your results will be worth it.
9:18 What happens if you do get solder there? Does it destroy the board or cause a ground loop?
The solder can get inside where the sweep is, and possibly effect the control or destroy it if it breaks the wind.
Which kind of material Is used to connect every pot? Thanks
? Will the .22 Orange capacitors work for the ‘50s wiring or does that require a different capacitor? Thank you.
Yes
Just got a LP wiring kit and it's wiring diagram has me bending/soldering the leftmost tag (looking at bottom of pot) on all 4 pots vs.. the left on the volumes and middle on the tones.. does it matter? If so, why? THANKS!
Great tutorial.
how about combine with treble bleed in 50' wiring?
Where can i find the cable that you use for the ground of the pots??? The naked cable
sixstringsupplies.co.uk/collections/wire/products/tinned-copper-wire
Do you have the sound result after the wiring? Please I want to see it if you have one
Did you use a500k for both tone and volume or used b500k, for volume and A for tone?
500k is the most desired for humbuckers. Some people use 1meg, but for me, it's too bright. 250k is used mostly in Teles or Strats, and would be muddy in a Les Paul. There is no separate pot for volume or tone, just 500k, what makes it volume or tone is the way it's wired, such as grounding the lug, etc. For a Les Paul style, just get four 500k, and wire as shown.
@@loraljohnson I think the question was about the type of potentiometer: linear or logarithmic.
For example, CTS A500 is logarithmic, CTS B500 is linear.
I was advised B - for volume, and A - for tone.
Very helpful
Glad you think so!
Hi. I have 4 500k pots to wire my les Paul.
One is about 470.
One is about 540
The other two are between 500 and 515
Is it best to use the two with the closest values to 500 for the volumes and the other two for the tone?
Or is it better to use the highest ones of 540 and the 515 for volumes? Thanks for a posting such a great vid.
540 k /515 k for Volumes and the lowest values for the tones in the same way: the highest for the neck and the lowest for the bridge
Is there an advantage in using an exposed ground wire versus one that’s insulated at the non contact points?
nope, no advantage at all, you can use whatever wire you want
Thank you, sir! Very helpful! :)
Hi. What wattage soldering iron are you using for this job? Also what type of solder do you recommend? Thanks. EDIT: I forgot to ask what happens if the capacitor touches the ground?
Hi mate - can't remember what soldering station this was as its an old video, but currently using the Hakko fx 888d which is 70w. You will be fine with a 50w however. I use silver solder, however if you are not working commercially and only soldering for home use, then you can use 60/40 leaded solder
The same as crossing the streams in ghostbusters.
do you use rosin core for tinning the back of the pots?
greetings, it turns out, that change the connection of the selector of 3, because in mine, the earth output, is on the opposite side to that shown in the video, but now I only have sound in the position below the selector, in the middle and up there is no sound.
Which Pots are Logarithmic and which ones are Linear ?
Can we make the same to GIBSON SG ?
Nice Job!
Good work
Hi,
What ground wire AWG do you use?
Many years ago I was an Electronic Wireman, there are several technical errors here, all joints should be mechanical before soldering, capacitors have a inner and outer element, the outer should go to the earthy side when possible to use its self screening property. Bending the connection lugs on the pots can put the track inside under tension leading to premature wear.
how i see inner and outer element capacitors?
I don't understand how you get the solders so shiny. Mine look great at first. They're steely and and liquidy like the T-1000 when I remove the iron, but as it cools there's just a wave of dullness that consumes it in an instant. Something more akin to the T-800, but possibly less shiny than that even. I've watched this video probably thirty times trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Is it a camera trick? Are you secretly James Cameron and those solders are Robert Patrick?
You want to buy a good quality solder. Look at the tin / lead mix and a good flux helps. The correct temperature is the biggest problem most people have. That's why you'll see higher end solder staions allow you to dial in the temp.
Thank you Sir
Actually they came wired both ways back then as QC was not concerned with such minor details. Just depended on what the guy wiring the guitar was paying att. to. When your volumes are all the way up both methods sound the same as the two term. on the pot are connected together.
Thanks for the info. I did this video a few years ago so would re-do it if I could. I’m aware that what many refer to “modern” wiring was done as early as the 50s too, as you say. Thanks for watching
With the wiring all the way up the 50s wiring is a touch brighter than modern because the tone capacitor is completely absent with the pot wide open in the 50s, while it has a very minor presence in modern.
@@betternamechosen5678 Actually it's identical at full volume. One way cap hooks to outside terminal where PU connects, the other it hooks to center of pot (output), at full volume those (2) terminals are dead shorted together. At full vol. PU, output jack, and cap are all together, either wiring. I hope I explained that well.
@@bradt.3555 sorry deleted and restarted. I was tripping over my self trying to explain it.
In modern wiring the hot lead feeds directly into the tone cap AND the volume taper. In 50s wiring the hot lead feeds into the volume taper only, but hits the tone cap AFTER the volume taper. Even at full noise there is resistance in the volume pot which forces signal into the capacitor. By hooking the capacitor to the output lug there is less resistance to force signal down through the capacitor thereby less filtering of highs. It's closer to having a no load tone pot vs a 500k pot. The difference isn't huge but it's there.
The problem with the change in resistance now though is how the volume pot reacts now the taper isn't linked to the tone pot. If you're using an audio taper pot it will likely roll off to nothing at about 7 on the pot. This can be fixed by adding some resistance back into the circuit - I've found on 500k pots a 130k resistor between lugs 1 & 2 fix this nicely without an impact on the tone.
i see on the 500k pots you use .022 caps is it ok to use a .047 cap on 500k pots
.022 is usually for humbuckers, where .047 is mostly desired for single coil pickups.
Thanks so much for this!
hey bro, i have an epi les paul standard and want to change the electronics, do i need short shaft or long shaft pots?
Short shaft mate
@@SixStringSupplies thanks 🙏
DOES IT MATTER WHICH TAG YOU GROUND ON VOL - 1 OR 3 TAG AND ON TONE
How are 3 pickup Les Paul’s or SGs wired?
Hi mate, I have an unrelated question if you would be so kind to help me out.
I'm about to renovate a cheap Tokai LP I got for peanuts - the guitar itself is pretty nice but the electrics are crap, they crackle at best and don't work at all sometimes.
I've got a set of humbucker sized P90's, the neck is reverse wound reverse polarity for hum cancelling. Now normally when I use the middle position, there's always a point where I think that 1 of the pickups will go silent.....but with these P90's I'd like to use the middle position if I can and use the volume controls to determine if I'm using the bridge or neck pickup and take advantage of the hum cancelling that these pickups offer.
I'd also like to be able to implement the 50's wiring into my circuit. I'm sorry but I don't quite know the technical term of what I'm asking for but I want to be able to not use the pickup selector switch to choose the pickup, but rather, for example if I want to use the bridge pickup, turn the volume on 10 on that and turn the neck pickup down to 1, and vice versa for using the neck pickup and not have the pickups cut out on me.
Do you have any such diagrams on your site? If not, how can I wire them and still be able to use the 50's wiring?
Sorry for the long winded question, there's probably an easier way of asking but I don't know the technical jargon for it. Cheers 👍
You would just wire pretty much the same way, but without the switch I would assume! :)
What size is that tinned copper grounding bus wire?
its 19 swg (1mm od)
@@SixStringSupplies Thank you!
Hi how would you wire 4 core humbuckers to a 50's style set up like this?? Or have you video coming up on how to do this?? Many thanks
Hi Mark, what pickups are they?
Six String Supplies hi there Tonerider alnico 2 classics!!!
Six String Supplies hi there tonerider alnico 2 classic's!!!
Red wire to input lug of volume pot, green and bare wire to ground (back of pot casing) and black and white soldered/taped together.
Six String Supplies so it's the red wire to the lug with the capacitor??
hey bro. i rewired my lespaul into 50s wiring using 500k pots. connecting it to the 3 way switch and output jack. pickups are not connected yet. I took reading of the pots with a multimeter. 3 pots show readings. but Neck volume B500k pot doesnt show any reading. They all showed reading before installation. is it damaged? or what
Hey yeah you should get a reading maybe you burnt the pot out
@@SixStringSupplies So can i use A500k pot instead of B500k pot in the neck volume place?
You can use either/or. I’d use 4 x A500k but that’s just me.
I can’t wait until we start arguing about what solder and grounding method gives the best 1959 Les Paul sound!
This is same pontensio bro?
Excellent
So I did this, but now I'm stuck with the rest (connecting Seymour Duncan humbuckers and the toggle switch and the output to all the pots).
I feel your pain, I’m getting ready to do the same.
@@steverossi7949 Seymour Duncan's website has wiring diagrams on the site.
WHAT DID YOU WIPE ON POTS BEFORE THE GROUND SOLDER?
I'm not sure what you saw, but I watched this a couple times, and did not see anything wiped on. He is using masking tape (painters tape) to hold the ground in place, but it's not a wipe. Maybe post the time stamp for more help.
Is that a resistor or a capacitor, how much is the value
Capacitor .022
Bob HIckshow does the po[arity hook up on the capacitors?
bobjhicks hi the capacitors are not polarised so it doesn’t matter what way you put them in
I feel the same way about blowin'. You're going to have to pay me the big bucks before I'm doing that sh*t on UA-cam. Stay strong, Brother!
thank you so much very nice
hello god-hands. so... my gibson P.U. wire had been very short. and Please tell me how to extend or exchange.
If you're going to do 50's style wiring, you have to use a zippo or matches to heat the tubing. They didn't have those lighters in the 50's! lol
To everyone here. I use a Weller dual heat gun instead of a pencil iron, much hotter a d better joints and you dont have a continuously hot iron to get burned on. I use extra flux on every joint why not be sure? And for gods sake, dont just push a wire or lead through a lug hole and call it good. Bend a hook in the lead, put it into the lug, and close the hook so you have a good mechanical joint FIRST, then solder it. Never trust a wire poked through a lug to hold!!!!!
Hi, I did the same video and I do not have any sound in my Les Paul, do you know the solution to this? I see Yor three videos
Oscar Moreno send me some photos to info@sixstringsupplies.co.uk
Can’t open your photos Oscar it’s an unsupported file type. Your inbox is full too I get delivery failure when replying. Check your ground circuit isn’t touching anything from the hot/signal circuit.
Is that a 60 watt iron you're using?
40
What type of soldering iron is that ? Thanks
It was the Atten AT938D in this video, but since upgraded to Hakko 888-D
How much is the microfarad capacity of the capacitor
.022