I've been proudly making, developing and installing my pre-wired guitar harnesses since the beginning of the Home of Tone back in 2015 (time flies when you're having fun right!). Although I feel I do my best in covering as much information as possible across the various product listings, fitting guides, wiring diagrams and more, I thought it might be helpful to put together this page so I can answer some of the common questions my customers ask either prior to ordering or prior/during installing in your guitar. I'm going to delve into a variety of questions for a range of the solderless harnesses, but I'll try to do so in a clear way to help you find the info you are looking for!
Needless to say, if your question isn't covered here then by all means drop me a message and I'll do my best to help - james@homeoftone.co.uk

Do you make custom harnesses?
I'm afraid I do not offer a custom solderless harness service. Only harness kits available are the developed and tested product range listed on the website.m

Would you make an existing kit with different pot/cap specs?
Yeah no worries at all! If for example you want to order a Strat Modern kit, but would prefer it with 500k pots instead of the usual 250k, or want a 0.1uF cap spec instead of 0.022uF, then yes! I'm happy to help with that and can certainly make the kit with a specific value. But I'm afraid I will not make changes to the schematic itself or produce a custom schematic/harness.

Will the solderless kit sound/work as good as the regular soldered install kits?
I honestly believe there is not disadvantage tonally in using a solderless install kit over a standard soldered install kit. The Solderless Series shares ALL the same high quality components as the Signature Series wiring harnesses, from the CTS 450 series pots, to Switchcraft & CRL switches, you'll find the very same components in both items. Only difference with the solderless series is I pre-wire some quality RSPRO connector blocks for you to attach your pickups. Those connector blocks are then wired to the various components, all using quality Gavitt USA 22awg wire and 20swg copper bus wire. They sound and function the very same way once installed.

How do I connect my pickups?


Will I need to modify my guitar to fit this kit?
This ultimately depends on what spec of wiring your guitar already has, or where it is made. My kits predominantly use premium components which are made to imperial specifications by each manufacturer (CTS, CRL, Switchcraft, Pure Tone etc). So if you're planning on fitting one of my wiring kits to your USA made instrument, then chances are the guitar already has imperial spec wiring components/hardware and the kit will be a like-for-like swap resulting in very little or no modifications at all needed to the guitar to fit. 
But if you're fitting the kit to an instrument with metric spec components, or it was made in the far east for example, then there is a good chance there will be some level of modification required to fit the upgrade kit. These could include widening the holes in the body or pickguard to accommodate the new pots, needing new control knobs and switch tips to fit the larger pot shaft diameters and switch thread/sizes or using an imperial threaded jack socket/mount. These are all common and normal procedures and changes to make when upgrading a far east, metric spec instrument to premium imperial sized components and within my installation guides and product descriptions will help guide what to expect with this work and in some cases, how to carry out those changes. 
If you're not sure what spec of component your guitar has, or where the guitar was originally made, then by all means drop me a message with some details about the guitar and I will certainly help identify this for you, and do my best to explain the level of work required to install it. 

Will CTS pots fit my scratchplate/control plate/guitar body?
This is a really important question and one understandably asked a lot. The CTS pots I use across my harness range have a mounting thread diameter of 9.52mm, and a 10mm hole is usually required to mount them comfortably. This is quite a bit larger than common import sized pots seen on Squier, Epiphone or other far east made guitars, which usually have a mounting thread diameter of 6mm or 8mm depending on type or brand used. So chances are, if you have a far east made guitar, you will need to widen the holes in your pickguard or guitar body depending on what type of guitar you have, to suit the larger CTS pots used in a new harness. 
To carry out this task, I recommend doing this using a step cutter bit. This is in my experience the safest method as it will reduce the risk of paint chipping around the hole if a guitar body mounted pot, or tear out on a plastic pickguard/control plate.
I usually widen the pot mounting hole on pickguards or bodies, to a 10mm hole to comfortably suit and fit the CTS USA specification 9.52mm shaft diameter. A good technique is to tape off the stop point diameter required on the step cutter to avoid drilling to the wrong diameter hole, and carefully run your drill to ensure an accurately finished hole. Once this is done, you can final finish the hole to straight edges by running a regular 10mm drill bit through for the pots to easily fit through. IMPORTANT- I highly recommend that if you are not comfortable with doing this in any form, or importantly don’t have the correct tools, then please considering taking this to be done by a trusted professional guitar technician. It’s not worth the upset and disappointment in damaging your guitar!


What components do you use?
I name my harnesses the 'Signature Series' because after a number of years working on guitars and making harness kits, I've come to prefer certain brands or types of components. These components carry over to my Solderless seres. I chose all of these components because the are well built, long lasting, sound great and provide the best functionality. As a result, I hope this all combines to create a spec of kit that will get the best out of your pickups, tone and controls. These components include premium CTS 450 series +/-10% tolerance pots (or alternatives if stated in the specific product description), Switchcraft, CRL and Oak switches, Gavitt USA made 22awg wire, quality 20swg copper ground bus wire, Pure Tone multi contact jack sockets, Tube Amp Doctor vintage mustard style tone caps, RS Pro resistors & RS Pro connectors. I personally use and trust these components, and hope you like them as much as I do. To see precisely which components I use in each model harness, you will find a run down of the exact specs in each product description.


What will be provided with my kit?
You will receive the mounting hardware for the harness components, for example pot nuts and washers, switch nuts/screws, jack socket nut and washers. I'm afraid the kits do not come supplied with new control knobs and/or switch tips but those are available to be ordered separately on the website and full details of what sizes you need are in each product description too. It will come with a build certificate, noting which kit was ordered, my checklist for testing pots and caps, who made the kit, who it was made for and the date it was made. On the back of this build certificate there is information about where to find the install guide and wiring diagram for your kit and any safety details worth noting prior to install. I do not provide print outs of the install guides and wiring diagrams because I want to do my bit to reduce waste, I appreciate your understanding regarding this. But upon processing your order, you will receive an e-mail from me detailing the links to the various guides and diagrams relevant to your specific kit ordered so you certainly won't be left in the dark regarding install by any means. Most harness kits also come mounted to a hardboard, you can either keep hold of this template board to keep the old wiring safe perhaps. But the good news is that all of my harness packaging, including that harness template/mounting board can be recycled in your home cardboard recycling box/bags! 

Do I need to do any soldering at all when installing this kit?


Do I need to take the kit to a tech to install it for me?
This ultimately comes down to whether you own the equipment needed to correctly and safely install the kit, or how comfortable you feel working on your own guitar. I do feel that installing a solderless pre-wired guitar harness is do-able for many guitarists but only if the correct tools are used and care is taken to ensure you do not damage the kit, your guitar or yourself! There are detailed installation guides here on my website, as well as simple to follow wiring diagrams all to help make the process as easy as possible and in my experience, these have helped thousands of my customers carry out their own install. But if for any reason you have concerns about fitting the kit yourself which is completely fine to do so, then I'm sure you'll agree that it is likely best to have a professional fit the kit and help ensure your purchased kit, and your beloved guitar are both looked after and worked on correctly. 
If you are local to me (Stourbridge, West Midlands) I take on guitar work no problem at all so will certainly be able to help install your Signature Series harness. 

Will my existing control knobs fit the new CTS pots?
Now, this one although might seem otherwise menial, is a really important question as trying to force fit the wrong sized control knobs or even doing so with the correct sized ones in some cases, onto the pot can completely damage them. So please do take the time to read through this one as it could prevent some headaches after everything is installed and a simple control knob ruins your hard work!
I use across my harness range, USA spec pots which for split shaft versions measure 5.95mm with 24 splines, and 6.35mm for solid shaft versions. 
In most cases, the original control knobs on import type guitars such as Squier or Epiphone for example, will have metric sized, smaller fitting control knobs suited to smaller pot shaft diameters. These items simply won't fit onto the larger USA spec pots I'm afraid. If your guitar is a Fender or a Gibson, USA made guitar then chances are your original control knobs will fit onto the new harness pots just fine. But it is still VERY important to ensure care is taking when installing those push-fit control knobs as damage can still be done to the pot if fitting incorrectly believe it or not. 
For each harness I have included the measurements of the pot shaft type used in that particular kit. I hope this helps identify if the pots used in that kit, will suit the control knobs you already have, or whether you need to order new ones to suit. 
These details are the same for switch tips too. For example, threaded switch toggles like those used on Gibson style guitars for example will have a specific thread pitch/size. As I use Switchcraft USA toggles (imperial thread) and CRL/Oak switches these will both require USA/imperial spec tips, much like with the control knobs.

The measurements between the components you list on the harness description differ to the measurements on my guitar, will it still fit?
When making and supplying my harnesses, I use a mounting board/template, of which the measurements were taken from the guitar models the kits were intended for. So my Strat kit board was taken from a USA Fender pickguard, my Les Paul kit board taken from a Gibson USA LP body etc. But I am always conscious that there will inevitable be slight variations to this depending on brand or precise model of guitar. So to help compensate for any slight differences, I allow for some 'give' in the wire lengths where possible to help with some wiggle room. I would honestly say that 99.9% of the time, these fit the customers guitars without issue, but if you feel the measurement guides I list in the description are way different to your own guitar, let me know via e-mail prior to placing your order. I will need accurate centre to centre measurements between EACH component, and ideally some photos of the guitar and control cavities to ensure good fit. If the difference is very different to my templates, and simply allowing for more 'give' in the wire lengths to suit won't be enough then this means it will require an additional charge to make suitable new templates for your specific guitar. 

I have a Les Paul, will I require long or short shaft pots?
Without a doubt, the most commonly asked Les Paul harness question, so don't worry, you're not alone! As you can see from the above photo, there is quite a substantial mounting thread length difference between the two and that is basically down to the body cap or top depth differences across the Les Paul range.
Gibson are of course known for lots of transitional changes to specs from the golden era right up to the modern day built instruments. I have compiled a list of Gibson models which use either Short or Long shaft pots on the individual pot listing HERE But, if you're still not sure, the simplest answer is that ALL types of Gibson or Epiphone Les Paul will fit a long shaft pot, as you can adjust the two supplied nuts to suit the desired mounting height in the body. All Epiphone Les Paul's with exception of the Elitist model use short shaft pots.
If you're not ready to remove your old pots and measure the existing thread lengths, then hopefully the above info will help without having to touch any tools just yet. But do remember, if you're ordering or have ordered a harness through my website, feel free to send me a photo of the inside of the control cavity or a photo of the pot itself, hopefully I can help identify it for you. This isn't a faceless business, it's me here handling all orders personally so I'm happy to help guide you to the correct option for your Les Paul, whatever the model or where it's made. 
For your reference, a short shaft 500k pot has a thread length of 9.52mm and a long shaft 500k pot has a thread length of 19.05mm.

Will fitting a new wiring harness to my guitar make any difference?
Let's round this article off with the vital question, and an important question at that! The main reason replacement wiring harnesses are so popular for a number of brands, and a major part of my own business too, is because they offer a simpler way of replacing your guitar wiring if you have existing faults. But also some factory guitars have lower quality components which don't perhaps bring out the best in the guitar's pickups or operate unreliably too. I wrote an extensive article on this subject a while back here on the blog, and you can have a read through that HERE.
I am wholeheartedly proud of the quality of harness I make, and I personally see them as an upgrade or high quality replacement to install into your guitar. Without blowing my own trumpet too much here, the very best way I can share this best is by quoting some of my customer's e-mails and reviews left of my pre-wired harnesses as that to me is the very best example I could possibly give! 

Vince 20/07/2019 - "Hi James.....just wanted to send a quick message to thankyou for selling me a new guitar!!!!!!!!!!!. Seriously breathed new life into it. Installed the harness this morning and only just put the thing down.....very much appreciated"

Jonny 04/03/2019 - "Not only does James provide excellent customer service, but the harness I've installed feels like a significant improvement in my Japanese Telecaster"

Patrick 10/11/2019 - "I bought a telecaster harness to replace the original in my Squire Standard Tele. It arrived promptly and made a huge difference to the sound. James uses quality components. No more hisses or crackles. And the wiring looked great too"

Noel 29/01/2018 - "The difference is stunning and other people have commented on the tone transformation. I knew there would be an improvement, but not to this level! My Tele has turned into a beast! Many thanks"

Just a small selection of the many reviews left on the website or e-mailed to me by my kind customers but you can view more over on each product listing, or on my Trustpilot page! Feel free to check out my Trustpilot where you will find the most up to date reviews, many of which are harness customers! I hope this article helps answer some of the common questions, there are of course many more questions you may have before or after making a harness purchase so don't hesitate to e-mail and I'll do my best to help along the way.