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Hey guys.
I got a very good deal on an old Gibson Archtop (awesome guitar!), but the tone knob does not work. I know I have to somehow replace it via the F-hole, but I can't find any videos on youtube describing how to do it.
Are there any good resources for this?
Thanks.
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02-28-2019 02:52 AM
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Check out Matt's article on the Seymour Duncan site: Wiring a Hollow Body Guitar The Easy Way.
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Depending on the model, you may be able to fish things through a pickup hole. Thats how I got things out/in my Epi Zephyr Regent.
Full hollows you can do this. Semi-hollow occasionally, if theres a notch cut in the center block allowing access.
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It may not be a bad capacitor. It could be just a loose wire. It's possible, although not likely, that it's a bad potentiometer. I would first look for a bad connection, either a wire completely loose or just a poor solder joint where the wire looks to be connected but isn't really making contact due to corrosion inside the joint. I always try the easiest and most obvious fixes first.
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Originally Posted by sgosnell
The model is a Gibson ES-150 from 1955.
I'll read the article posted above and see if will apply to this guitar. Thanks!
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It’s possible you may not have enough wire between the tone pot and the input jack to just remove the pot without having to remove the jack as well.
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If you can’t find any obvious culprit, it might be worth resoldering every connection. A few extra minutes could save you from having to buy any parts. And of course, do a fully soldered mock-up before installation (I use heavy cardboard), holding the pickup upside down over the strings to test it out.
Wen I installed my jack, I made a custom installation tool by bending a small T end of a wire hanger. I fished it through the jack, then the hole, and it did a great job of preventing it from turning inside the body. As Big Toe said, hopefully you won’t have to remove the jack, saves you from buying a special tool if you aren’t going to be doing this kind of work a lot of times.
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I find dozens of videos on youtube when I search for wiring archtop guitars.
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The best local luthier in town quoted me $100 to $150 to fix this. That seems excessive?
I'll probably just attempt it on my own. Any tips for trying to salvage the original pot?
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Originally Posted by beeswax
You can reuse a working pot but I don’t know about salvaging a bad one. Do you have a multimeter? When it’s pulled out it should roll between 0-250kOhms or 0-500kOhms depending upon which you have installed.if it transitions smooth as you roll the knob, then it’s good. And a capacitor should only be $2-$8 depending on vendor and maybe shipping. They’re cheap on Amazon if you have Prime.
Grant Green, What is This Thing
Today, 01:59 PM in Ear Training, Transcribing & Reading