Gibson's with pcb's

[zZzZombie]

Is it really a no no? I have only had limited experience with a lespaul that didnt have a pcb for the pots, and i ended up getting rid of it. Years latter i picked up a melody maker the 2014 one and just wondering if it is worth the upgrade or if i spend the money else where like a bridge. BTW does anyone know if the 2017 gibson adjustable intonation wrap around bridge will be for sale by its self?

[waltdogg]

definitely a no-no. they always fail and make swapping parts out a pain in the ass. in reality they don't ruin your tone or anything unless you're a cork sniffing purist. they just tend to fuck up and fail a lot.

that wrap around bridge is a common upgrade for non adjustable wrap around tailpieces. in fact the one gibson is using is a cheap imported piece of shit. you could get a much better one from tone pros or from leo quann (bad ass bridges)

[antennafarm]

You'll never know if it's a PCB Gibson until it fucks up (which I haven't really seen but I'm sure happens plenty) or you need to mod something (which I mean, of course, why wouldn't you?). I have the same Melody Maker (fuck complainers, that 2014 LP Melody Maker is a goddamned piece of excellence) and the only reason why I swapped it out was because I was changing the pickups... that said, though, it's probably a good idea to swap out the pots, anyways, because Gibson puts like 300k's in there and a lot of the time I think that muddies things up. 500k is the way to go (even on those slug P90's).

For a wraparound, I changed mine out with a Pigtail.. it works flawlessly, sounds great. A little cheaper than the TonePros too, I think? And fuck buying Gibson's parts, they're way over-costed and generally not that great unless you're getting into the historic model shit in which case I doubt you'd be surfing the LP Melody Maker.

Probably also worth changing the tuners too, if you haven't already. Maybe it was just mine but they were absolute garbage, which is to be expected with that level of Gibson.

[zZzZombie]

The guitar feels amazing thin and sturdy, i have a small issue where i get a fret buzz after the 12th fret more noticeable on the skinny strings. Would a new bridge help with this at all, and if not do i need to look into truss rod alignment? I have raised the action to what id say is just above where id like it at to get the buzz further down the neck. Also with the new bridge what string options do you have? It is a guitar center guitar, i was at work and it was the last one new in stock so i sent someone in to buy it for me without being in store and probably didnt get much of a look over.

And quick question on tuners since we are already here i have a set of grovers from an old epiphone alley kat guitar that got sent threw a sliding glass door. Just wondering i they will do or if its like how walmart has name brand stamps with lesser quality components?

[waltdogg]

definitely look into getting the guitar fully setup. neck angle, string action, intonation, nut dressing, and pickup height. all these will play in some way or another to the guitar not playing right, buzzing, etc.

guitar center usually wont have shit for parts for you. get them from an online supplier. and you can put any strings on any bridge. i think i have a wrap around adjustable saddle tailpiece/bridge floating around my parts drawer. i'll check today and pm you back later.

don't buy any first act (wal mart) parts. only go with stuff made by kluson, grover, tone pros, etc. the grovers off the epiphone might fit. where do you live man? i might be able to just take care of all this for ya since i'm a tech.

[zZzZombie]

definitely look into getting the guitar fully setup. neck angle, string action, intonation, nut dressing, and pickup height. all these will play in some way or another to the guitar not playing right, buzzing, etc.

guitar center usually wont have shit for parts for you. get them from an online supplier. and you can put any strings on any bridge. i think i have a wrap around adjustable saddle tailpiece/bridge floating around my parts drawer. i'll check today and pm you back later.

don't buy any first act (wal mart) parts. only go with stuff made by kluson, grover, tone pros, etc. the grovers off the epiphone might fit. where do you live man? i might be able to just take care of all this for ya since i'm a tech.

Im in northern California kinda out in the middle of fucking nowhere but i do visit the east bay some times and would greatly appreciate any help i love the thing and have big dreams for it but its just expensiveee.

[waltdogg]

in tbat case just pm me your digits and i'll give you mine. hit me up when you're in town.

[culturejam]

I've got two Gibsons with PCBs, and so far neither has caused me any issues. I like the pickups on my 2014 Peace, so I guess that's why it doesn't bug me. Or, I could easily desolder the Molex headers and wire new pickups straight to the board. But yeah, if you want to change pots or swap out a bunch of caps, then it's a pain in the ass.

I've actually considered making my own Les Paul wiring PCB (one board per pot so they can be easily removed individually) setup. I'd do it with a setup for multiple caps and a DIP switch so you could swap cap types on the fly, or add/subtract caps in parallel to adjust the sum value for that Tone pot. I've just been too lazy to break mine open and do all the measurements.

[antennafarm]

I'm kind of surprised there isn't some sort of standardized PCB for guitar guts. plug-in parts and that way you can swap parts in/out with ease. I bet if design was efficient you could get a one-size-fits-all.

[antennafarm]

I'm kind of surprised there isn't some sort of standardized PCB for guitar guts. plug-in parts and that way you can swap parts in/out with ease. I bet if design was efficient you could get a one-size-fits-all.

[morange]

There isn't a need for it, because after potentiometers and switches, there isn't much else left to put on a board. Capacitors and wiring. I guess Gibson does it to save having to do the wiring by hand. But then you use board mount pots and switches and the control spacing on your guitar has to match.

[waltdogg]

There isn't a need for it, because after potentiometers and switches, there isn't much else left to put on a board. Capacitors and wiring. I guess Gibson does it to save having to do the wiring by hand. But then you use board mount pots and switches and the control spacing on your guitar has to match.

the beauty of gibson's plek and c&c machinery.

[rfurtkamp]

I've got two Gibsons with PCBs, and so far neither has caused me any issues. I like the pickups on my 2014 Peace, so I guess that's why it doesn't bug me. Or, I could easily desolder the Molex headers and wire new pickups straight to the board. But yeah, if you want to change pots or swap out a bunch of caps, then it's a pain in the ass.

My '16 LP High Performance came with a set of unattached (to pickups) wires with proper Molex to enable aftermarket PU swaps.

Haven't wanted or needed to, but...

I've actually considered making my own Les Paul wiring PCB (one board per pot so they can be easily removed individually) setup. I'd do it with a setup for multiple caps and a DIP switch so you could swap cap types on the fly, or add/subtract caps in parallel to adjust the sum value for that Tone pot. I've just been too lazy to break mine open and do all the measurements.

MY LP HP came with dip switches and 500k pots already installed for a host of stuffs.

I've had zero issues with it or my '14 339 with PCB pots/stuff either.