Trying to put Seymour Duncans in Epiphone LP

[Duff]

I was unsuccessful in my attempt to put the SD jazz neck and Jeff Beck bridge humbuckers in my Epiphone LP Standard archtop.

What happened was, in the end I fired up the amp and got about one tenth the sound volume that I would expect. I inspected everything for quite some time and couldn't get it to put out at the right volume.

I put the stock pickups back in and had ten times as much volume right away, no problem.

Anyone have any idea why the SDs would not come up to volume?

The wiring diagram with the SDs doesn't look anything like the wiring reality under the cover of my LP standard. I know I can do this job if only I can get some directions. Obviously I did something wrong because I get the right level of volume out of the stock speakers.

So, I need some help figuring out how to put the Jazz SH-2n and the JB SH-4 into my '06 Epiphone LP standard.

Has anyone been there, done that?

All help appreciated.

Duff
Winfield, Pa.

[LagrangeCalvert]

Call Duncan and talk to them....I presume these are 4 wire pups and IIRC the wire colors are different to these....so you might be reading it right, but the colors from your old pups or your new ones are different....also you could be using the directions to the 2 wire models or 4 wire AND you have the opposite.

Just some thoughts. And if all else fails, take it to a tech.

Josh L.C.

[snarph]

You might have to disconnect every thing and do it like a suggested wiring thats usually what I do that way your a 100% on whats going on

Here is a typical Seymour Ducan layout for a two hum bucker two volume two tone setup

[duhvoodooman***]

Sure sounds like a simple wiring mistake. Was the volume loss consistent at all three pickup selector toggle positions?

As LC mentioned, wiring color conventions vary between different pickup manufacturers, even when the same combinations of colors are used. Can be very confusing! Before I started doing my own wiring, I took my Epi LP Std. to the most highly regarded guitar shop in our area to install two new Duncan humbuckers. They wired in the 4-conductor bridge pickup so that it was running on one coil! Turned out that the guy doing the work used the DiMarzio color convention rather than the Duncan (both makers use white, red, green and black for the 4 conductor wires). So even the pros screw up this stuff!

For Duncan 4-conductor humbuckers, unless you're planning to get into fancy wiring with push/pull pots, the basic connections are as follows:

• Solder the red and white leads together and then insulate the joint with electrical tape.
• Solder the green and bare wires to ground--most commonly the back of the volume pot for that pickup.
• Solder the black wire to the "hot" lug of the volume pot--generally the outside lug that is jumpered down to the tone pot.

If you have a single conductor/braided shield model, like the Duncan '59, then it's even easier--solder the braid to the back of the volume pot and the conductor lead to the hot lug of the volume pot.

If you're still having trouble or are unclear on what to do, take some good quality photos of the existing wiring and post them here.

[Duff]

Duhvoodooman was right. I called SD tech support and the tech told me that I needed to solder the red and white wires together. The directions didn't mention that, but just to tape them off. Actually they are what connect the two parts of the humbucker together for the hum cancelling and power. I was just getting bleed thru power.

About fifteen minutes ago I finished off putting them back in and unfortunately I had to sacrifice the new Dean Markley tens I had put on when I put the old pickups back in. I kind of gave up and was thinking of doing something else with the SDs. Then I decided that the SDs are supposed to be far superior to the stock Epi LP Standard pickups so after sleeping on it I decided to get back into it and I'm glad I persevered.

I have the Jazz in the neck and the Jeff Beck in the bridge on a Epi LP Standard birdseye top special edition in wine red stain. I took off the tan pickguard and the black open cover SDs look great. I got new black rings for the humbuckers too. So it looks good and sounds good. That SG, though, is nothing to scoff at. It roars and chimes.

I will probably play the LP a lot now. It sounds really great.

I bought a Digitech RP350 processor with effects pedal integrated and a usb to record with. This hooked up to my Crate V8 Palamino 5 watt tube amp makes some sounds that are really beautiful. It has enabled that little amp with three knobs on the control panel to sound gloryous. It is now probably my favorite amp.

I also dropped off my brand new (less than six months old) Fender Hot Rod Deluxe special edition Laquered Tweed with Jensen speaker amp off at an auth. Fender repair shop for tube biasing. I figured the guys at the factory probably didn't know how to really bias a tube so I would get it done at a players shop. Glad I bought it in. The first preamp tube was shot, really crackled when he snapped his finger on it. Going to get a JJ put in. The other tubes were okay, probably. Imagine this, brand new, shot first preamp tube.

I'm also having him resolder all of the solder joints on the PCB as a recommended preventative maintenance move. I had read that the HRDs were not good amps because they malfunction on the PCB. It has been suggested that the reason is cold solder joints and that getting them resoldered by a knowledgable tech is a smart preventative maintenance move. So after quite some procrastinating I finally dropped it off. He said that the way he biases the HRDs has been very well accepted by his customers.

Evidently a lot of HRD owners bias the tubes really hot and do other things that the tech says the amp was never made for; so they have problems. The amp is loud.

Tried to get him to swap out the volume pot but he said that would not solve the problem of the volume on the HRDs from jumping from zero to really loud when only turning the dial from zero to maybe 2 at the max. The volume pot is only part of the problem. He said the design is involved in that problem.

I will start to play this am a lot when I get it back. I really like the HRD although I know a lot of people don't. It is the most sold Fender amp though. For me it rocks.

So, the LP now has SDs and I will probably be using it quite frequently through the HRD and Crate V8. I also have a solid state Crate Flexwave 15R that I like to use, great distortion and clean channels. But the tube amps have a more full sound with more dynamics to the sound. I am not experienced enough to be able to describe the difference accurately, but the sound difference is noticable, especially when using the RP350 processor; it lays a lot of effects combined on the amp at one time and the tube amps seem to like that and respond with a really nice sound.

Thanks for all the help and advice,

Duffy
Winfield, Pa.
mbolduc@dejazzd.com

I will take some pictures and post them soon.