I'm normally ok-ish with a soldering iron; not scared of it, but also not the cleanest

I have a Tokai Love Rock (Les Paul copy made in Japan) and a Gibbo Love Lock (Les Paul copy an exclusive run by Tokai as a nod to their lawsuit ero version but made in China).

The Japanese one is way better than any Gibson I've played and is one of my prized guitars as it's a dream to play. The Chinese one, surprisingly, is almost as nice to play and feels nicer to me than any Epiphone or the non-USA Gibsons; I'd go as far as comparing to a Gibson USA for feel. It might have been a lucky Chinese run, or may just be a hidden gem.

However, the Japanese sounds better plugged in than the Chinese, and I think it's the pickups that they've mainly cheaped out on. However, in a recent trade, I got a guitar that is just gonna be a test guitar for modding etc, but it does have genuine Epiphone ProBuckers and a split coil knob configuration.

Therefore, I'm contemplating taking the ProBuckers and split coil knobs out and put into the Chinese Tokai (or Gibbo) Love Rock that I have to see if it improves the sound as they should be better than the budget Chinese humbuckers it probably has at the moment.

Anyone done anything like this? Is it tricky?

 

Since you're swapping the entire system, pretty easy. Just keep in mind that coil split knobs are larger and the pickups might also require more or less space (it shouldn't since apparently they are similar models, but you never know).

So make sure you have enough space and everything is connected where it should (take pictures so you don't forget) and that's about it.

 

did it when i was a kid on a kramer with a paf pro. Meaning i was ok-ish too :D
Was pretty easy, and i had a 3way mini switch. I just watched how it already was, and made the same with the marzio.
Okay, it was a strat style guitar, maybe easier than a LP style (idk)


Take pictures of the pots/wires/switch before doing anything. Should be ok, its not big engineering.
maybe watch a tutorial, to get more confidance.

Congrats on the mij Tokai btw , great stuff

 

Does the guitar wit the Epi pups sound better than the Chinese one?
I had a lowest of the lowest Squier (you know the ones, 100 bucks for guitar + amp + stand for kids who will strum it twice and never touch again) and I could make that baby sing better than my modded Ibanez which had Fender Texas single coils.

If it does sound better, then yeah obviously switch them up. If it's another Les Paul style guitar it will be pretty easy, like mk_96 said.
You'll only have to solder the wires to the input jack, everything else can be swapped as is.

Of course, if you're planning on modding guitars, desoldering everything and soldering them back will be valuable practice.

 

I have been watching videos and it seems straightforward yet mind blowing at the same time

The soldering I'm fine with, it's more the lack of understanding what wires go where and why

I was also toying with the idea of adding in an orange drop capacitor whilst I'm at it anyway, and that's not helping my lack of understanding

 

Whatever you try, DRAW both diagrams (with colors) from both guitars (donor AND receiver).
Or at least, take wiring pictures.

So other ppl can help in the process

 

Go to Seymour Duncan's website and they've got wiring diagrams for just about every combination you can think of that are dead easy to follow. Hopefully the ProBuckers are actually wired. I've got a newer Epiphone 60s Standard and the ProBuckers have the stupid quick connect plugs instead.

Pickups are simple, usually two wires, hot and a ground, unless you're planning on splitting coils of course, but they've got diagrams for all that too.

 

Swapping out pickups is a breeze, it's simple all you need is a 27 watt soldering iron, solder and a pair of cutters. There are lots of online diagrams how to do this. If you really get into it there are lots of simple and complex passive mods you can do to your guitar to achieve your own unique desired sound. Be confident and you'll easily be able to do it. good luck

 

These have the quick connect too, and the push/pull pots have a receiving quick connector too.

 

I'm actually trying to work out mod options. I'm thinking of adding the coil split in on the volume pots, an orange drop .047 on the tone knobs (as it's a Les Paul style), and am wondering whether there anything that can be added as a mod. Thinking what the options are if I put in push/pull knobs on the tone (using B500K for logarithmic curve rather than linear curve of A500K) what could the 'pull' activate as a mod? Any ideas or suggestions???

 

Invert phase.

 

Mute.

 

Bass cut

 

I quite like the idea of having a set up similar to:

• NECK HUMBUCKER VOLUME: Coil split the neck humbucker
• BRIDGE HUMBUCKER VOLUME: Coil split the bridge humbucker
• NECK HUMBBUCKER TONE: Mute all output from the guitar (as this is the tone knob closest so easier to access to mute the guitar)
• BRIDGE HUMBUCKER TONE: Possibly phase invert the guitar output, though unsure of this as I'd probably rarely use that feature (and would probably rarely use the bass cut too)

I have absolutely no idea how to wire this though, so would have a lot of researching to do.

 

Last edited: Aug 30, 2023

These are the guitars as they stands. Here's the no name Les Paul I got with the Epiphone ProBuckers and coil split. I think they tried to put in a faraday cage and some capacitors, but looks a bit all over the place

SWITCH CAVITY



KNOB CAVITY

 

And here's the cavities of the Chinese Tokai Love Rock.

SWITCH CAVITY



KNOB CAVITY

 

Free-Way 6 Position PU Toggle switch for LP guitars, Volume pot with treble bleed, Fender TBX tone control, mini 6 Position varitone switch connected to the Tone pot with varitone or TBX bybass switch. Just requires a re-arrangement of the controls functions. Keeps the guitar looking stock without additional holes drilled on it.

 

Last edited: Aug 30, 2023

That's not what "phase switch" means in this context. It means switching one of the pickups to be out of phase with the other one, so when you're playing them together (ie in the middle position) you get a kinda hollow, nasally tone - think Brian May's solo tone.

A bass cut is really useful, especially for tracking - can help parts really cut through a dense mix, and it works wonders with stuff like fuzzes, etc. Almost all Reverend guitars come with one as standard, so you might wanna chack out some vids to hear it in action. How good it sounds is quite a pickup-dependent thing though.

While I understand your enthusiasm, and desire to do ALL THE THINGS - I think you should maybe stop and ask yourself, do you really need one guitar to do all these things?

Given that you have zero experience with guitar wiring, the amount of mods you're proposing to attempt simultaneously is kinda just asking for trouble - if you're not sure how to even plan out the wiring scheme, how will you possibly troubleshoot anything if it doesn't work perfectly first time?

I'd suggest first getting to grips with coil tapping both pickups. Get that working, then you can add in one more mod at a time if you feel it's really necessary.

Things like a mute switch might seem super useful, but how much are you actually gonna use it? Unless you're trying to do a bunch of manual tremelo stuff, prob not that often, since your volume knob is literally less than an inch away.

Adding more and more stuff just adds more and more potential points of failure, and potentially alters the tone of the guitar. I'd strongly suggest not trying to run before you can walk.

(If you really can't resist tinkering, then I'd suggest something simple, and way more useful than a mute switch - install treble bleeds on your volume pots).

 

Last edited: Aug 30, 2023

Most LP players I know, myself included, rarely use the neck pickup. Just turn it down, and the pickup switch becomes a 'mute'

 

I agree with this. I am being super ambitious. I am also aware that if I don't do it whilst it's all out and doing work on it already, I'll never do it

Perhaps keeping it simple may be the way to go for now I may just transpose the Epiphone ProBuckers into the Tokai with the coil split switches, and add in the orange drop capacitors and call it done.

.....I am quite liking the idea of a mute functionality though