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How to guide - How to install a Les Paul full wiring harness harness/loom

How to guide - How to install a Les Paul full wiring harness harness/loom

In the previous posts for this series we've looked at the right tools for the job, selected the right parts, making the harness and making any alterations to the Les Paul to prepare for installing imperial spec parts. So it's about time we got to installing it all right?
If you missed the previous posts they are all linked to on the origin post HERE

 

How to guide - Making your own Les Paul 3 way toggle switch harness with traditional braided wire

How to guide - Making your own Les Paul 3 way toggle switch harness with traditional braided wire

So you've wired up your pots and they're ready to go, now it's time to pre-wire your new switch. There's a couple ways I like to do this, but first up I'm going to look at the more traditional style braided two conductor wire. 


Before we dive in, I wanted to highlight the different types of Switchcraft 3 way toggle switch that are available and suit Les Pauls. There are the traditional 'long frame' switches or the slightly more recent creation of the 'short frame' version. Both operate and are wired up the very same way, but are different sizes and feature different mounting thread lengths so felt it is worth discussing both and hopefully help you in deciding which would suit your guitar or install best.
How to guide - Making your own 50s or modern style harness/loom (pots section)

How to guide - Making your own 50s or modern style harness/loom (pots section)

Let's dive right in, because we have already covered the tools and parts we'll need in the main article HERE.

You may be installing a pre-wired harness, but I thought it would be useful to show how to wire up a Les Paul pot harness from scratch as well. So if you have a pre-wired harness you can skip this stage, but if you're planning a re-wire from scratch please do read on!
How to Guide - Wiring a Les Paul

How to Guide - Wiring a Les Paul

Replacing, or in some cases, upgrading your Les Paul’s wiring may be a matter of necessity if there are niggling faults like noisy pots or a faulty switch perhaps. But you may also have considered replacing it as a way of improving or modifying the guitar to suit your personal tastes too, whether it’s a traditional 50s style re wire or adding push pull pots for coil splitting for further versatility. I have decided to put together this article, with each aspect of a re-wire pieced together as sub-articles, to help point out some details which will hopefully help you in re-wiring your Les Paul, whether that's with individual components, or with a pre-wired harness kit. As there is so much to cover here, I quickly realised that attempting to do this all in one would be too much, so I have decided to have one main article here and link to smaller articles for each task. That way you don’t have to read through every detail if you are only taking on a specific task.
Short shaft or long shaft pots for my Les Paul, which will I need?

Short shaft or long shaft pots for my Les Paul, which will I need?

When it comes to Les Paul wiring queries, the question I probably get asked most is, "Will I need long or short shaft pots?". Unfortunately it can sometimes be a long or a short answer too, depending on your variation of Les Paul. Gibson are of course known for lots of transitional changes to specs from the golden era right up to modern day so the info can be a little cloudy as to which you'll actually need, particularly if you're not sure by physically checking them. The reason why some models require long shaft pots and others require 'short' shaft so to speak is down to the maple top or cap used on that model. Some Les Pauls have a carved maple cap which is a thicker and others a flat maple cap which is thinner. ...
I want to replace my guitar's wiring, would it make a difference?

I want to replace my guitar's wiring, would it make a difference?

Replacing, or in some cases, upgrading your guitar's wiring may be a matter of necessity if there are niggling faults like faulty switches or noisy pots where no amount of cleaning has brought them back to life. But you may also have considered replacing it as a way of improving or modifying the guitar too. So the big question is of course, would it make any difference and would I see any improvement? That's ultimately what I'm hoping to address in this post! I'm looking to touch on the various aspects of guitar wiring components, what to look for and why it would, or wouldn't positively help the guitar in question sound it's best.