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Post by strat59 on Apr 28, 2015 7:02:38 GMT -7
What difference would I notice (if any) if I put $$ PEC pots in my Eastman semi-hollow 186? Any audible change? Any smoother than CTS or ALPHA? Audio or Linear taper? I ride the vol. and tone pots a lot.
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Post by BritInvasion on Apr 28, 2015 7:27:26 GMT -7
You might possibly notice a smoother increase in volume IF the Eastman has really cheap pots in it. Of the 3 you mention , I would use the CTS in a guitar ,audio taper.
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Post by strat59 on Apr 28, 2015 7:45:56 GMT -7
Thanks Frank, I replaced pups with Wilde (Bill Lawrence)L-90's and they sound great but the toggle switch is extremely loud mechanically even when not plugged in and the pots look cheap. They are mini pots so I'll have to see if a standard pot will fit through F-hole. Any suggestions on caps? L-90s are dual blade humbuckers wired Gibson style 2 vol. 2 tone no coil splitting.
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Post by BritInvasion on Apr 28, 2015 9:10:18 GMT -7
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2015 19:23:20 GMT -7
Just curious- did you ever do the pot swap? Details ? I also have a T186, and hate the volume controls. Thinking about a swap myself.
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Post by strat59 on Jul 31, 2015 4:36:19 GMT -7
Just curious- did you ever do the pot swap? Details ? I also have a T186, and hate the volume controls. Thinking about a swap myself. No, I still have the pots/pickups out. It's been put off too long. I need to get off my butt an do it. I don't think standard size pots will fit.
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Post by Maddog on Jul 31, 2015 5:48:47 GMT -7
Better watch some "how to" vids before attacking a pot swap in a 335-type guitar. It can be maddening if you don't know what yer doing. Don't ask me how I know....
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Post by BritInvasion on Jul 31, 2015 5:50:55 GMT -7
Better watch some "how to" vids before attacking a pot swap in a 335-type guitar. It can be maddening if you don't know what yer doing. Don't ask me how I know.... ^^ Amen to that.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2015 15:58:12 GMT -7
Better watch some "how to" vids before attacking a pot swap in a 335-type guitar. It can be maddening if you don't know what yer doing. Don't ask me how I know.... Yeah, I've watched a bunch of video. It looks like a real pain in the arse! I'm still pretty sure I want to do it. I love the guitar, but it goes to complete mud if the volume pots aren't on 10. They are useless crap. It it expecting to have to ream out the pot holes a bit to fit regular-size ones in there. That's fine, though. I just have to commit to the job. On the bright side, since it's a full hollow body, I could use the pickup cavities to get stuff in/out, if the F holes suck too bad.
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Post by Maddog on Jul 31, 2015 17:50:48 GMT -7
^^^^ I always wind up with cotton strings going all over the place: thru the guitar's pot holes, pup routes, and tied onto the old pots labeled with masking tape and sharpie marker words everywhere.... Can be a real workout!!!!!
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Post by greenblues58 on Aug 1, 2015 2:04:48 GMT -7
I like my 335 so much I leave anything major to a pro. i originally had all pots changed to 550k with PIO caps then not long ago had the Dr Vintage Wolfetones grafted in ex my R8. The cost is less painful than the potential damage I can do myself!
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Post by Keith on Aug 1, 2015 3:55:41 GMT -7
^^^^^^^^^^^ I agree, I will do most things but when it comes to my ES335 I rely on the expertise of my Tech.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2015 18:02:26 GMT -7
Pots/caps ordered. I'm doing this. Made a paper template this evening, will transfer to cardboard at some point.
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Post by southmusic70 on Aug 4, 2015 18:19:07 GMT -7
If I did any of this to any of my guitars the only thing it would be good for would be for use as firewood.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2015 6:38:23 GMT -7
If I did any of this to any of my guitars the only thing it would be good for would be for use as firewood. Ha! Yeah, I'll admit this is a new one for me. I've rewired a bunch of my guitars before, so the soldering part isn't an issue. The hard part will be snaking all the stuff through the F holes/pickup cavities. Work slow, test prior to install. I've watched a bunch of video, and have been thinking about how to apply to my guitar (a little different than a normal 335 layout). I'm replacing the whole pot/cap harness, but I'm going to leave the existing switch and jack. I may also install longer pickup leads from the pots to make switching pickups easier (no plans to do that now, but you never know!).
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Post by BritInvasion on Aug 5, 2015 7:03:32 GMT -7
If I did any of this to any of my guitars the only thing it would be good for would be for use as firewood. Ha! Yeah, I'll admit this is a new one for me. I've rewired a bunch of my guitars before, so the soldering part isn't an issue. The hard part will be snaking all the stuff through the F holes/pickup cavities. Work slow, test prior to install. I've watched a bunch of video, and have been thinking about how to apply to my guitar (a little different than a normal 335 layout). I'm replacing the whole pot/cap harness, but I'm going to leave the existing switch and jack. I may also install longer pickup leads from the pots to make switching pickups easier (no plans to do that now, but you never know!). Like my Dad used to say " Measure twice , cut once"
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Post by southmusic70 on Aug 5, 2015 7:20:29 GMT -7
"Measure mileage to luthier; pay once."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2015 8:02:48 GMT -7
OK, so all the stuff is here. I started by making a paper template of the control layout, and then transferred that to cardboard. No, I didn't forget the jack - the jack on my Eastman is on the rim, like a Les Paul, so it isn't on there. I got RS Superpots for the volumes, and CTS 500ks for the tone controls. RS tone caps as well - .15uf for the neck, and .22 for the bridge (going from memory there). I started the other night by laying out the pots on the template, and soldering the ground wire and the pot tabs that needed to go to ground. The next step will be to remove the old harness, remove the switch and jack, and wire everything up to the new harness. Then, everything goes back in. I'm still considering adding leads for the pickups, rather than soldering the pickups directly to the volume pots. It's a little bit more work, but if I decide in the future that I want to change the pickups, I can then do it without having to remove the entire harness. Hoping to get some time this weekend to keep working on this, but there's a bunch of kid stuff going on. We'll see. I'll try to post more pics as I move on, but I'm not great about stopping work to get pics.
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Post by greenblues58 on Aug 26, 2015 8:10:49 GMT -7
Makes sense to do it with leads for the pickups. My tech does it as a matter of course so my 335 has them but the Wolfetones ain't coming out soon!
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PEC pots
Aug 26, 2015 9:44:15 GMT -7
via mobile
Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2015 9:44:15 GMT -7
Makes sense to do it with leads for the pickups. My tech does it as a matter of course so my 335 has them but the Wolfetones ain't coming out soon! Yeah, that's what I'm thinking- no immediate thoughts on changing the pickups (SD Seth Lovers), but want to leave the option open for the future.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2015 7:28:46 GMT -7
Well, I was feeling productive last night, so I stripped everything out of the guitar. Along the way, I made a few interesting discoveries. First, the guitar had CTS full size pots in it already! This is good, because I won't have to ream out the holes for the new pots to fit. There was a bunch of weirdness going on with the wiring, though. The wiring scheme looked nothing like typical 50's wiring. The wire from the switch to the neck pickup doubled as the grounding wire across all pots. The bridge ground wire was grounded to the leg of the bridge pickup. Just strange. The whole thing looked nothing like the (relatively simple, in contrast) diagram that came with the RS stuff. I'm hoping this wiring scheme was the reason that the sound turned to mud anytime any of the knobs were at less than "10" In any event, I was able to take everything out, and remove the switch and jack for reuse. Also, since the guitar is fully hollow, there's plenty of room to work with. I was actually able to fish the neck pup, in its ring, through the guitar, and out the bridge pickup rout so I didn't have to desolder anything over the guitar. Here's a couple pics. If I'm feeling frisky tonight, I may complete the new harness, and then try to get it in the guitar this weekend. Switch/jack assembly attached to template Bridge ground, and strings to guide tone controls into place. I didn't bother with strings for the volumes/switch, as I should be able to guide those with my fingers in the f-hole.
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Post by simpleton on Aug 27, 2015 8:50:01 GMT -7
Fun to watch you do it
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