2020 Gibson LP tribute specs

KrisGee

Hi, does anyone know what control loom sits in the above? PCB with quick connect pickups or is it hand wired stuff?

Looking to get one of these second hand tomorrow but seller is reluctant to look into the cavity for me and it's a 2h round way drive for me so looking to save myself disappointed. 

Hoping it's hand wired by the way

neil_d

Mine looks like this:

KrisGee

Thanks man, that's a PCB. 
Appreciate. 

p90fool

Is it really a deal breaker? It's easily fixed with twenty quids' worth of parts and a few minutes soldering. 

SteveRobinson

More like £30 these days

p90fool

SteveRobinson said:

More like £30 these days

Probably, but still around the price of a couple of sets of Elixirs and inconsequential compared to the price of the guitar and the half day and petrol already budgeted for. 

punchesjudy

Genuine question, does the pcb actually make a discernible difference in sound compared to a normal loom? My SG has a pcb and I think it sounds brilliant… So would a normal old fashioned loom make it better or would I just be changing things for the hell of it? 

timmypix

punchesjudy said:

Genuine question, does the pcb actually make a discernible difference in sound compared to a normal loom? My SG has a pcb and I think it sounds brilliant… So would a normal old fashioned loom make it better or would I just be changing things for the hell of it? 

It shouldn't do, no electrical values are different. It just makes everything a bit fiddlier when changing pickups or if a pot goes, anything like that.

punchesjudy

Cheers @timmypix .. the pcb can stay then. At least until something goes kaput and I get pissed off with it ha 

OilCityPickups

PCB pots are lower quality, worse tolerance, and generally with an inferior feel to CTS vintage ... I've had them on both SG and LP models and ripped them out short order. The quick connect pickup plugs are unreliable and the whole thing is built down to a price. 

KrisGee

I wanted to throw in the guitar a set of cream PAF dimarzios that have been sitting in my spares cupboard for ages. PCB thing means it would also require change of wiring and I don't fancy more work. I already have one les paul that needs attention so I'll pass on it. But thanks all for chiming in

roberty

KrisGee said:

I wanted to throw in the guitar a set of cream PAF dimarzios that have been sitting in my spares cupboard for ages. PCB thing means it would also require change of wiring and I don't fancy more work. I already have one les paul that needs attention so I'll pass on it. But thanks all for chiming in

You can still solder the pickups to the pots. You don't have to use the connector blocks. According to @ICBM ;

noisepolluter

OilCityPickups said:

PCB pots are lower quality, worse tolerance, and generally with an inferior feel to CTS vintage ... I've had them on both SG and LP models and ripped them out short order. The quick connect pickup plugs are unreliable and the whole thing is built down to a price. 

At some point this year I’m planning to have the circuit board with 300k volume pots in my P90 tribute special replaced with a 50’s wiring, 500k volume pot loom. The 300-500k thing is the main reason, but I expect that the various connectors in the circuit board will become unreliable within a few years in any case. 

Musicman20

As I’ve experienced, the last thing I’m worried about with Gibson is the wiring….main thing is mostly how well is it built, feel etc.

I’ve seen some atrocious Gibson finishes even in 2023 with the latest management. 

But some of the Tributes are a bit of a bargain if they are pre-crazy price rise. 

Yorkie

Apologies for slight hijack of the thread, this discussion is the closest related I could find on this, it wasn't too old and it seems to have answered the OP.

I'm facing a similar issue with my Epiphone Les Paul Classic. Ever since I got the guitar I've been wanting to get nickel silver covered humbuckers for it – purely aesthetics, which is why it's been in the back of my head for 2+ years. Problem is, it's got all these computer-style connectors and PCB mounted push-pull CTS pots to handle coil splits and phase reversing. I've spoken to a couple of pickup builders and they've recommended gutting it and putting a 'decent' loom in along with new pickups. I don't use the coil split or phase reversing as much as other people. In fact, I don't think I've ever recorded any 'coil split sound'.

This is what it looks like inside:



This guitar is also quite precious (present from mum and wife when I got back to playing guitar after 20+ years), so I would try to avoid woodwork and such. 

Thoughts? 

Many thanks,
Jon

roberty

@Yorkie you could always just change the pickup covers if it's purely a cosmetic thing

Or you could add connector blocks to a set of regular four conductor pickups and hook them into the existing wiring

If you can't find the blocks a third option could be to snip the existing bocks off with some excess and solder the excess onto the new hookup wire (with heat shrink over the connection)

If you do want to rip out the existing harness, I recently did a friend's Epiphone LP with these pots and I really like them: https://www.axesrus.co.uk/Medium-Shaft-Alpha-Pots-p/medalpha.htm

I spot a CTS pot in your photo so the holes are probably already wide enough to fit US size shafts. Epiphone LPs take medium shaft pots

elstoof

Yeah I’d just put some covers on the pickups if you like them already

NCo

I had a PCB on my LP Studio and had it changed, worked out wonderfully.

https://imgur.com/a/4edBwa4