Firebird Wiring question

redrighthand

I'm planning on making some changes to my Epiphone Bonamassa Firebird I.   The volume and tone controls are a bit meh, tone in particular. Rolling it back makes very little difference until you get down to 3 or so, at which point it starts to change dramatically. Plus both knobs feel a little stiff.  I can cope with a bit of soldering, but in terms of speccing pots and so on, I've no idea where to start, so any help would be much appreciated!  I'll be sticking with a Firebird pickup for the time being, but want to be able to get some neck-like tones out of it by rolling off some treble, without having to back it off almost all the way. Below is a pic of the current wiring for info.   I'll be posting a thread on the rest of the changes as and when they happen!


https://i.imgur.com/qJSEjdv.jpg ;

Funkfingers

For my tastes, the 'Bird requires two audio taper 500k Ohm pots. 

If the capacitor in your photograph is .022uF, re-use it. You can always try other values later.

A Switchcraft output jack socket will complete the picture.

ICBM

The tone pot does appear to be a 500K Log (A500KΩ) already, but quality varies. Although it's an Alpha I've never been that impressed with them...

I would get a pair of CTS 500K Log pots and a Switchcraft jack - that's a typical crap far-east one.

You will probably need to ream out the holes slightly for both the pots and the jack.

redrighthand

Yikes - just looking on Axesrus and the options are endless:

• short medium or long shaft (I guess I'll measure what's on there and buy the same)
• solid or split shaft (current one is split so assume this is what I want)
• vintage modern or linear taper (I think I want modern)

Funkfingers

Avoid linear resistance taper. 

Solid shafts require control knobs that are fastened with a grub screw.

redrighthand said:

I'll be sticking with a Firebird pickup for the time being, but want to be able to get some neck-like tones out of it by rolling off some treble, without having to back it off almost all the way. 

After watching all three JoBo demonstration videos on the Epiphone product page, I cannot help noticing that the Epi versions sound like Fender Esquires whereas the original 1963 Gibson has the fullness of tone that I associate with Honduras mahogany and Brazilian rosewood.

Joe's comments about juggling the volume and tone pots according to whether the amplification is set clean or overdriven reflects my own experience of a single pickup Melody Maker.