50s Wiring vs Original Wiring on Greco Les Paul '89 | Tone Test & Blues Jam

[@aapddd]

This really sounds like an original burst. Not many do. Hold on to this one !! It’s special.

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Thank you, I agree. This guitar gives me an authentic vintage vibe. It's a keeper. Cheers

[@darwinsaye]

I have done this mod on two of my guitars (single coil guitars). I think you will find as you play around more, that there is a long of interesting changes. Not only does this wiring method prevent too much treble loss, but it actually cuts some bass and low mids as you roll the volume down. This makes it excellent for going from an overdriven sound to completely clean just by rolling the volume down to about 6. Another odd thing that happens is the behaviour of the tone controls changes. Rolling down from 10 to about 6 doesn’t roll off much treble, but it reduces some gain (volume). Then from 6 down to 1 it rolls off treble like normal. With my tone set to 7, I can be playing through a high gain fuzz, and have it turn into a completely clean, clear signal by just moving the volume to 7 or 8 (essentially, I’m just saying that with the tone at 7, it takes even less volume roll-off to completely clean up the signal). The interactive nature of all the controls with this wiring reminds me of the interactivity of the volume and tone controls on a 5E3 Tweed Deluxe amp circuit.

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Hi, it is interesting what you say about using the tone controls to reduce gain. I'll have to test that. Thanks for your in-depth comment. Much appreciated. Cheers.

[@Ukedc259]

Beautiful playing sir. 👏🏻

[@BallisticEvents-e6i]

this guitar sounds better than so many gibsons. wow, i really wouldn't want a gibson if i had this beautiful instrument - sounds GREAT, looks so good... who cares about the brand.

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Thanks, and I fully agree 😄 Cheers.

[@aleksik4028]

Nice blues

[@Tone.Corner]

Hey Thor, you made my day…every time! Beautiful Guitarsound and player…I never wired and soldering a 50‘s…but now…😉But in the moment I work on my Telecaster…you know Broadcaster…have a nice 3rd Sunday of Advent.

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Hi Uli, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Much appreciated. Good luck on your telecaster with the broadcaster pickup. I hope it works out fine and that you get a great tone for your slide playing. All the best! Thor

[@TwangThang57]

Pots are variable resistors. As resistors age, they generally gain resistance, not decrease resistance. 10% (550 in this case) is considered acceptable. These were 20-25% out of spec, it was a good move to replace them. I do 50s wiring in all my Les Pauls and 335s. What I like is the endless variations in interplay between the volume and tone pots. BTW, I am coveting thy neighbors Greco.

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Hi, I didn't replace the original pots, just altered the wiring. I see no need to replace them as they function well with no scratching and I like the way the taper works and of course tones from them. Cheers.

[@TwangThang57]

@@GUITARSGIZMOS Gotcha!

[@TwangThang57]

The date codes on the pots and neck pocket lead me to 1986.

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

I think you read them upside down. It says 98.

[@TwangThang57]

@@GUITARSGIZMOS Ahhhh!

[@robertbruce1482]

That's a Beautiful sounding guitar, its tone so smooth and creamy, what a sweet top as well.. PEACE

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Hi, I think you are absolutely right. Yes the top on the guitar was what first dragged me in. Really nice. Thank you 😀

[@standingbadger]

I was skeptical about your mod as I liked the sound of the Greco already. But, I think it really works. It sounds to me like the new (old) wiring has retained the brightness - probably because you kept the original pots - but has made the mid frequencies more prominent? I'm with you on unmatched pots, as might be the case in the majority of guitars. It's my understanding that the pot's taper is affected by the relative resistance of the other pots in the circuit quite significantly. I read somewhere, that CTS quote a 9% tolerance in their pot values. So a 500k CTS pot could vary from 455 - 545k. Most ears may not be able to hear the difference, but a higher resistance equals a brighter tone, which is why, I think, your pots add that nice top-end sparkle to the humbuckers. You didn't mention the pot values, but they looked around 620k for both and seemed to be matched pretty evenly - within 10k of each other?

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Hi, I think it's a quite easy mod this (if you don't mess it up like I did) and also reversable if it should turn out that the original wiring was better sounding. And as you say, I also think it worked very well converting to 50s wiring for this guitar. I'm really happy with the result. I think you are right in your observation on the value of the volume pots with one clocked in at 612k and one at 629k. To me the tones from the bridge and neck pickup have a balanced tone, so I'm happy with that. I'm not sure if the mid frequencies are more prominent after the mod, but maybe you are right and that is what makes me feel that the guitar has an even better tone now. Cheers.

[@StratMagix]

Jeg har en Gibson Les Paul med 300K lineære volum pot’er og en Vintage V100 med 500K Log volume. 50s wiring på begge. 300K lineær bevarer treble bedre når volumet skrues ned. Usikker om forskjellige humbuckere har betydning. Har ikke testet 500K lineær…. Takk for en flott kanal :) Mvh Oddmund

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

Hei, det er interessant at det benyttes så ulike verdier og type potmeter til humbucker gitarer. Jeg har selv en ES-335 fra 2001 som hadde 300K(ish) pot'er originalt. Satte 50s wiring og 500k pot'er i den og synes den ble merkbar kjekkere i tonen. Det er vel sannsynlig at både type pickups og karakteren i tonen fra selve gitaren vil være avgjørende for valg av verdi på potmeter? Takk for kjekke ord om kanalen 😀 Thor

[@StratMagix]

Gibson har visst brukt 300k en del. Jeg liker det lydmessig på bridge pickupen, men det er både og at de er lineære. I alle fall med en del gain. Skjer litt lite når man skrur ned (volume-pot). Men det er jo artig å eksperimentere og prøve litt forskjellig da 😊 Det låt i alle fall flott med deg her 👍👍

[@ruipina5636]

are you using linear, logarithmic or a mix of pots?

[@GUITARSGIZMOS]

It is the original pots for this guitar. And I just checked now, and these have a M500k marking. I asked ChatGPT about it, and the reply is: Potentiometers marked with M500K indicate a special taper most likely somewhere between linear and logarithmic. This type of taper is less common but was sometimes used by Japanese manufacturers like Greco and Tokai during that period.

[@ruipina5636]

@@GUITARSGIZMOS my preference is to use audio (logarithmic) taper pots both for tone and for volume. Didn't know about those somewhere between linear and audio. Good information, thanks.