Need help with major repair!

[rosettastoned717]

So this guitar has been sitting around for over a year like this and i finally decided to fix it. Only problem is i have no idea how.

Im hoping someone can tell me how i can fix this and what im gonna need.

And im also wondering if theres anyway to give it sort of a les paul sound?

Heres a link to the pics.
s275.photobucket.com/albums/jj317/RosettaStoned823/guitar/

i hope theres a solution to this mess ><

[newey]

RS-

Hello and Welcome!

Exactly what problems are you having? I see the guitar is stripped of electronics, and I see some pickups with some wires.

Do you need to know how to wire it? If so, we'll need more specificity as to what components you have and what you want it to do when you're done.

[rosettastoned717]

Problem is i have no idea how to rewire this.

And about the components im guessing you mean the parts. sorry im new to these things. but im willing to learn!

It has a 5 way switch, 1 volume, 1 tone and the pickups are 2 double coils and a single in the middle.

Heres a picture of the front this might help more than my description!

And im wondering if i can rewire it to sound like a les paul? If so what would i need?

i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj317/RosettaStoned823/photo.jpg?t=1245561306

Thanks for your help! ;D

[newey]

Ok, as far as making it sound like a Les Paul, you might get it to sound Les Paul-ish, but it's not likely going to fool anyone that it's an LP. You could replace the neck and bridge humbuckers with PAF-style pups from an LP, and wire it so you can get the neck HB and Bridge HB together. But that's probably about as close as you can get.

Why don't we concentrate on getting it back together, then you can decide on changes or upgrades.

Is the pickguard all wired up, or are there loose wires?

[rosettastoned717]

Yea true lol.

umm im not quiet sure what you mean but the components are all screwed on to the white piece of plastic which i figure is the pickguard. And the wiring is just coming from the pickups.

[ashcatlt]

To make it sound like an LP you'll need to replace the body, and glue the neck into it. Oh, is that a 25.5" neck? You'll need to replace that too....and the bridge... Um...

I'm seeing 7 lugs on that switch. Is this correct?

How many wires from each pickup?

Which pickup selections would you like? LP's don't generally have a middle pickup, so would you like it wired to allow bridge + neck?

Are you up for buying new parts and/or drilling holes?

Are you sure all your parts work?

[rosettastoned717]

If by slugs you mean the little metal things sticking out of it then its 8 but the 2 in the center are soldered together.

and the Neck and bridge pick ups have 1 wire coming out of it but they both sorta split into two. 1 small white one and another one thats just wire. the center one has a red and black one which im guessing is + and - but im not sure.

And im up for buying parts and drilling holes.

and as for parts working idk im sure they do they worked before the wires were stripped. im jsut trying to rewire it the way it was before i can change anything.

Need any more information ill gladly provide what i got

[newey]

RS-

OK, so far what I see from your pictures is that it appears that the controls are all wired up, but the pickups need to be wired to the switch. Then, the pickguard needs to be wired to the body of the guitar, which means connecting 3 wires- the 2 output jack wires, plus the bridge ground.

The basic design of this is a HSH Strat-style. Since your HBs are only 2 wire ones, there's no splitting of the coils to be done. The only difference between yours and a regular Strat is that you have only the single tone control instead of 2.

You'll have to correlate your switch to the diagram. While these Strat switches all function the same, they don't all look the same. The two middle lugs that are wired together with a jumper are your common lugs. There should be a wire from one of those common lugs to your volume control- is there?

The joker in the deck is the middle pickup. It will work no matter which wire goes to "+" and which to "-", but if it's backwards from the other 2 pickups, it will be out of phase. You have exactly a 50% chance of getting it right the first time; if the middle pickup sounds thin and reedy when combined with the one of the HBs, then you have to go back in and swap the wires to put the mid pup in phase with the HBs.

[newey]

Here's a diagram you can use. It's for a Squier Mini-Strat, which I chose because it has the master V and T controls.

Squier Mini Strat

While you have 2 HBs instead of the single coils, since they are 2-wire HBs, you can treat them just as if they were single coil pups and wire it as per the diagram. The bare wires go to the back of the volume pot, the white ones from each go to the switch as shown.

As I noted before, the mid pup is a bit of a guessing game, I'd try the red to the switch first, and the black to the back of the volume pot. If it's the other way around, you'll have to reverse these 2 wires if it sounds out-of-phase.

Don't get intimidated by the diagram, it looks like most of your stuff is wired up already. Double check all the other connections that are already in place on yours to see that they correspond to the diagram. Report back any variations.

EDIT: OOPS! I just noticed that, while the picture of the mini Strat in the link I gave you shows only a single V & T control, the wiring diagram has 2 tone controls, just like a regular Strat. If your V and T controls are already wired to the switch, you can still use the diagram. If they aren't, let me know, as we can easily modify the diagram for a master V and T setup like you have.

EDIT 2.0: As an aside, RS, this thread really belongs in the Electronics and Wiring section, because your major repair here seems to entail a rewiring. Since you're new here, I'm giving you a mulligan on this and not moving your thread.

EDIT 2.1 On second thought, this really belongs in Electronics, and you'll probably attract more attention there anyway. So I'm moving the thread there.

[rosettastoned717]

No the V and T arent wired on but luckly the middle pup has 1 wire thats still in its place so i wont have to guess where that one goes any more.

and im wondering if i need extra wire can i use just any kinda wire?

I got some hook-up wires laying around

Type: AWM - Rated 300 volts - 20 gauge - stranded

thats what it says on the package

wondering if that might work?

Oh and one of the knobs has a capacitor on it. is that the V or T?

[newey]

The pot with the capacitor is for the tone control. The cap should be grounded, usually to the back of the pot.

You can use 20 gauge stranded wire just fine. The usual is 22-24 gauge, I find 18 to be too big to work with. 20 should be OK. The voltage rated doesn't matter, the guitar pickups only put out a very small voltage.

[rosettastoned717]

So since my V and T arent wired on and the Diagram has 2 Tones how would i actually wire it?

[D2o]

Hi,

How about this one?

As for the 5 way switch - if it is the Squier Affinity variety, I think the wiring would be like this (having said that, I am not sure what my string suit is ... but it's not wiring):



Cheers,
D2o

[newey]

D2o (and Rosettastoner)-

The SD diagram is fine for master Vol and tone controls. The Squier switch is correct for what RS has, except that it shows the tone control coming off the switch. Eliminate that, and just wire the tone control off of the volume control as in the SD diagram and you'll be fine.

[D2o]

Jun 22, 2009 13:21:31 GMT -5 newey said:

D2o (and Rosettastoner)-

The SD diagram is fine for master Vol and tone controls. The Squier switch is correct for what RS has, except that it shows the tone control coming off the switch. Eliminate that, and just wire the tone control off of the volume control as in the SD diagram and you'll be fine.

Cool - thanks, Newey.

[rosettastoned717]

Hey i just finished wiring it up and it works!!!!

thank you guys so much!!!