LEFT HANDED LES PAUL WITH JIMMY PAGE WIRING

[elrigato]

Hey guys, hope you can help me out on this one.

I've been thinking of wiring my Gibson Les Paul with the Jimmy Page wiring setup My main concern is my guitar is LEFT HANDED, so i need to know if there are any wiring concerns i should consider ?

I was told by some "no" and others "yes" seem to think that the wiring would have to be different because of the direction of the pick ups in a lefty.
Please help me out with any info you can
Thanks

[newey]

Elrigato-

Welcome Back! It has been quite awhile.

The neck pickup is still the neck, and the bridge pickup is still the bridge, so all the wiring of the push/pulls is exactly the same as a right-handed version.

Which control goes on which pot is variable in right-handed versions, and you can chose which holes to use for which pots and p/ps in the same way righties do.

The only thing that changes is the wiring of the 4 pots, these will have to be wired reversed, lefty style. Easy to do, but easy to get confused on- mark the lug that gets grounded so you have a reference if there's no marking on the pot.

One issue that occurs to me is the issue of pot taper. One can buy reverse audio (i.e. log) taper pots for lefty use, your guitar probably has these already. But I don't think I've ever seen a reverse-tapered push/pull pot before.

Probably better to just use all linear taper pots, these are available in P/Ps. That way the taper isn't an issue.

others "yes" seem to think that the wiring would have to be different because of the direction of the pick ups in a lefty.

I don't know what this means. If the direction of the pickups mattered, we couldn't put the ol' axe upside down behind our necks and emulate Jimi . . .and, admit it, we've all done that!

[elrigato]

Thank you very much for the welcome back, and for the info.

Now that i Re read the direction question ....My face is red

Are there any drawings of the wiring that you spoke of "reverse lefty style" or can you explain in more detail what would change exactly.

The pick ups remain the same ...the pots (audio taper push/pulls) will remain in same position as originals.

which wires are reversed
A diagram would be fantastic.

Thanks again

[newey]

To wire a pot lefty, simply swap the wiring to the outer lugs around. The center lug stays wired the same. If you need a drawing, I can do one, but not right now.

Now, of course, in translating a diagram to the real world, you must first ascertain which is the "clockwise" side (using a meter, unless it's marked on the pot), and then correlate that with the diagram. But you have to do that to wire it righty, too.

I have a Strat with the volume control wired lefty, so that knocking the knob while playing doesn't turn the guitar off, but rather, knocks it wide open- or leaves it wide open if it was that way to start. It just takes a bit of getting used to- the tone control works "normally" (i.e., righty ;D)).

If you've already bought the P/Ps, audio taper as you say, then you're going to have to live with the log scale being "opposite". If it really bothers you after you build it, you can always replace the P/Ps with linear taper ones later on.

Here's a diagram, courtesy of the late ChrisK, showing what I mean about the difference in log and anti-log tapers.

[JohnH]

Just thinking about this - to make a lefty diagram, and if you want to have lefty knobs that go to maximum as you turn anti-clockwise, I can't see why you couldn't take any righty diagram that you like the look of, and use a graphics program to mirror it left to right. Everything including pickups and pot connections should work out fine.

To use p/p pots, as newey points out, you'd probably be limited to linear ones, and in any case, make sure you get long-shaft if you have a normal LP body thickness.

On the other hand, you may choose to use righty log pots, in which case, mirror the diagram, keep all the switch connections etc, just swap each pair of outer pot lug connections (also as newey says)

On the other other hand, maybe you already have nice long-shaft, reverse taper log pots on your lefty guitar and don't want to change them. My LP gets all the Jimmy page sounds with just standard pots, and two small slide or toggle switches, which I chose to mount on the back of the switch cavity. It would translate easily to a lefty version.

cheers

John

[elrigato]

Hey guys or Nutz . Thanks for the cool info

Something occured to me while i was trying to get my head around this lefty righty thing, since my Les Paul's original vol and tone pots turn clockwise, i therefore have a left handed guitar with right handed pots, which i have become used to, so for me you could just wire up a regular right handed JP wiring rig and drop it into my guitar and it would therefore be just like the original pots turning clockwise to increase volume and/or tone, since all this rewiring problem is based on the fact that i should be using left handed pots which turn counter clockwise to increase vol/tone.

So it seems that i should not even worry about re wiring it to a lefty since my pots will be the same config as i'm used to.

Does this sound correct to you ?

I roll my left thumb backwards to increase vol/tone, whereas the very same pots on a right handed guitar you would roll your right thumb foreward.....so i must have right handed pots on a left handed guitar. so the original wiring (for right) should be ok for me since i've been using right handed pots all along.

Could it be that simple....or have I driven off the deep end.....finally

[newey]

since my Les Paul's original vol and tone pots turn clockwise,

They also turn counterclockwise as well. The issue is, which direction of rotation turns it up vs. down?

i therefore have a left handed guitar with right handed pots

No, pots aren't right or left-handed, they are just wired opposite for use in lefty guitars.

If you're happy with the operation as is, then no reason to change it around. This is no more than a matter of "feel" of the controls, after all.