I just had my Les Paul wired in the way they used to be wired in the 1950's

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Capital B
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I just had my Les Paul wired in the way they used to be wired in the 1950's

Post by Capital B » Tue Aug 17, 2021 7:24 pm

I just had my Les Paul wired in the way they used to be wired in the 1950's AND it seems like now my Tone controls are acting like auxiliary Volume Controls..Has anyone ever experienced this?
Well... in the Switch middle position, with both pickups on, & when the tone controls, they're turned all the way off (to the bass end),. they seem to mute Both the Pickup output volumes considerably right up until until the Pickups volumes are turned up themselves to at least 8 and a half or closer to 9! There's almost no volume before that point, just a low tinny volume, barely audible.. UNTIL one of the tone controls is turned up!!
I guess I ought to be more familiar with stuff like 50's wiring before I ask for it, 'cause I'm a bit confused about the way the tone controls interact now. Especially with the over-all volume output of the instrument as it stands now.??
SO, With Switch in middle Position:
I get both Pickups ON but even when they're pots are on Full it seems that very little volume is produced unless one of the two tone controls is up a bit?
'Cause when Both tone controls are off, (All the way to the left), there seems to be very little volume available from either Pickups? ...and in that way, the tone controls serve as Aux Volume Controls?? Is that right?? ...and as well, I'm of course used to the Volume pots being a slave for each other, (If One is down almost all the way the other Pickup Volume is reduced and controlled by the lesser one even if that Vol Control for that other particular Pickup is up Full, and in that way the other vol control pot becomes a Master Vol Pot.),..Right?) ...at least I believe that's the way it used to be (Scratching my Head)..
But the most important part of my question is/are the Tone Pots NOW slaved to each other as well?? I think I can get used to that... And I suspect that's likely because that's the '50s manner of wiring the controls?? Kevin, Am I perceiving these controls incorrectly?? And can you set me straight?? Please?

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Re: I just had my Les Paul wired in the way they used to be wired in the 1950's

Post by Scumback Speakers » Thu Aug 19, 2021 10:36 am

If you're wiring is correct, and you have the problem you're describing, you've got a bad volume pot, or two.

One of my tricks for a crunch chord tone is to have the middle position set with the neck pickup volume on 5-6 with the bridge pickup on 10. Adds a little bass, takes a little off the high end, and lowers the volume for chords.

Then I switch to just the bridge pickup for solos with the volume already on 10. Should get you about a 20% increase in volume.

If it's not doing that for you then you need to swap your volume pots, the tone pots will have nothing to do with the volume...or they shouldn't!

Good luck.

Check your wiring diagram to make sure it's correct, too. I've seen some goofy ones out on the net. You can get the correct ones from Jim Wagner Pickups site.
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