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Dependent and independent volume controls and your Gibson!

Dependent and independent volume controls and your Gibson!

If you've played Gibson style guitars such as a Les Paul, SG or 335 for any period of time, you'll likely be familiar with how their volume controls work. Despite having two volume controls, one for each pickup, they don't work completely independently to one another. There is still some interaction between each control/pickup but perhaps most notable is when in the middle position and you roll down one volume control, it cuts the entire signal. This is because the volume controls are dependant of one another, rather than fully independent. They've been wired this way for decades, and whilst most players are either simply used to it that way or actively prefer it (even making the most of it and using the controls as a form of kill switch too for example!), there are players that really don't like it and desire independent controls in their guitars.
21 July, 2021 by James P Gascoigne
Tags: Decoupled wiring Independent les paul volume Independent les paul wiring
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