Reinstalling The Electronics
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 at
10:01 pm
Finally! Time to ditch the cardboard and reinstall the electronics into my Epiphone Riviera P93.
In this two-part video, I demonstrate the trick to getting it all back in though the f-hole. It ain’t easy, but trust me- you can do it. Just be prepared that it may take a few tries to get right. Expect to get everything half way in and then realize that something’s twisted or upside-down, requiring you to pull it all out and start over. It’s no big deal if you’re expecting it 
And how sweet it is to have it all back together again.
Tagged with: Electronics • Epiphone Riviera P93 • Video
Filed under: Guitar
Hi John,ur tutorials are great!keep up the good work and btw love ur guitar too!
Thanks for this video. Was emboldened by you to replace the input jack on my semi hollow body. It works great now.
im sorry but the first part made me laugh lol
Is it easier to use string, or slip some tubing over the shafts of the pots etc to pull them through? Thx.
excelente como siempre………..A1
yeah, this is why i’m not in a hurry to do anything with mine. how long has it been?
is it a boy or a girl?
nice tricks with the jack, very helpful. I might have the stones to do this to my own guitar now.
I just re wired my les paul copy and it sounds alot better…i’ve had it for about 9 years, i used fairly thick wire, I wonder does the size or type of wire really matter?
Well, I’m sure you could get into big theoretical arguments about this! Yes, heavier gauge wire has lower resistance over extremely long runs, and can carry larger current. But in my opinion as a pragmatist, it doesn’t make too much difference in in a guitar circuit. A typical guitar circuit is very low power and maybe has a total of 30 inches of wire
I typically use 20 or 22 gauge stranded wire.
-John
Tools to work with Guitar Jacks and controls:
1. String Swing Guitar Jack and Ferrule Tool $18
2. String Swing Pickup Jack Installation Tool $18
There are some tools for potentiometers and other things. The 1/2″ Deep Socket and an 1/2″ Open Wrench are required for most American Guitars to tighten the nut on jacks. Many Pros use sockets and wrenches covered with plastic on edge or apply plastic or tape to prevent damage to the guitar’s finish “just in case”.
Thanks for the video.
@kgamino – man, i’m surprised to see that jack tool — there’s a special tool for everything!
a bit spendy for the amateur who will probably only need them a few times (and can get by with cheap needle nose pliers, crescent wrench, etc). but looks ideal for a pro guitar tech.
after seeing that, i will never buy a semi-hollowbody
BRAVO! BRAVISIMO JOHN!!!!
how do you use the tremolo without getting out of tune??? everytime i use the trem in miy p93, the guitar get completely out of tune =/
Mine stays in tune really well, but I don’t play it too hard (you can hear the mid vibrato I play at the end of the second video).
Are you wailing on it? Are you using new strings that haven’t fully stretched in?
You’re using a roller bridge, so I’m assuming it’s not catching on your TOM saddles. If you’re just doing mild vibrato and it’s still going out of tune, it’s possible your strings are catching on the edges of the nut? Mine was filed down a bit when the tech did the tune up. Try some nut-sauce or other lube?
-John
oh, we’ve been talking about this guitar last november when i was in NY. I bought the roll bridge you told me too.. but i can barely use the trem =( if you have a solution, please help me!
thanx!
This is a great video tutorial for me. I’m buying an Epiphone Dot for 20 bucks that needs to be refinished and rewired and it’s nearly identical to this setup. Thanks for these videos.
@HotPocketEXE – sounds like a great project. for $20, you can feel free to experiment and make mistakes. have fun!
Excellent series of tutorial videos.
Thank you!
I want to change the pickups in my ES-335 but this looks like a nightmare!!!!!!!! Yikes. Stinks because I want to be able to do it.
@richedie – if you just want to change the pickups, without removing any electronics, you can do it relatively easily by removing the pickups, snipping the wires (leaving yourself enough slack to solder the new pickup wires directly to the old wires). Then just screw in the new pickups. if the pickup holes don’t line up though, you’ll need to fill and drill for those (see my other videos in my channel for how to do that). Good luck!
Hi, thanks for responding. I hadn’t though of doing what you mention in just solderin in the new pickups. Honestly I do not do a lot of volume and tone roll back, but do once in a while on the bridge pickup. Only problem is I would have to be sure I am matching up the correct wires! Did you do a video on this method? -Thanks
@richedie – You’ll be able to keep all the same electronics- you just need (as you say) to pay attention to which wire is ground and which is signal. To see which is ground, you can use a multimeter to test for continuity with the jack shield (see my blog faq for info on using a multimeter). I haven’t made a video about it, but there’s a short youtube video by Dan Erlewine (author of some great guitar tech books) on the subject. Good luck!
AMAZING
THX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi, I want to set up a semi-hollow body guitar, an es335 from epiphone with emgs 81tw and 89r´s and i want to know how could i set up the pick ups in and the batteries that feed the emgs… any suggestions will be much appreciated. Could you please have any answer sent to edbl@live.com
Changing your pickups from passive to active will require new lower-resistance (usually 25k) volume and tone pots, and a new switched jack. See the installation instructions at EMG’s website.
You’ll need a battery holder- you could probably just use strong double-sided tape to stick the battery inside the guitar cavity close to the f-hole so you can reach in to change the battery.
Good luck!
-John
my question is what is the north start north finish south start south finish wire from the pick ups and what do you do with them ?
@acrock21 – see the posts “Humbucker Wiring” at my planetz blog on October 9, 2010, and “Splitting the Coils” on November 9, 2010. should have the info you need. (Youtube won’t let me post links here, but you can find them easily)
thanks!
GREAT videos! I’m going to attempt this with my Delta King today – very helpful and I’m looking forward to tackling it on my own. Be nice to deprive the luthier of $100 for installation and setup! THANKS!
Absolutely fantastic. Thanks for the video.
you sir, just saved my life…..you are like a life raft in a sea of broken semi hollow guitar parts.
It’s pretty apparent how much effort you put into these videos, dubbing them, and even the snip sound effects haha. Great work, thanks for a cool video
Superb tutorial thank you
Fantastic tutorial – thanks for the 720p. One question, using that type of wrench to tighten the nuts, doesn’t it run the risk of scratching the finish of the guitar since, wouldn’t it be better to use a screwdriver type of wrench?
@westfield90 -yes, a deep socket-type wrench would better, but I didn’t have one at the time. Stewmac has a nice set.
GREAT job! I started watching with your p93 review and got hooked on your pickup replacement tutorials and then electronics tutorial. You have my respect for doing all of that so well and professionally. cheers!
i’m doing a project like this and i have the same type of knobs! They’re cool lookin’ knobs.
i liked the OH YEAH at the end.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO! I just rewired my Epiphone Riviera this past weekend, and your videos were CRITICAL to the easy success I encountered. Thank you!
@dukeh62 – great! happy to hear it.
one dislike……ONE dislike……thats not even cool man…
You are a saint for doing this, thank you!
Perfect vid, man! I really needed instructions on how to do this and you delivered! Great job!
i gotta tell you this is a beautiful guitar, i want to get one someday, and maybe replace the electronics to my liking. you did a very good job, thanks for the vids man
@hutch356 – thanks! Something you may be interested in, when you’re ready to buy: Epiphone recently released the ES-345 and ES-355 which are similar but with 2 humbuckers instead of 3 P-90′s. I probably would have got the ES-355 instead of this, if it had been available at the time.
All your videos are excellent! You have solved several problems I had working with my semi-hollow. Also, I came up with the idea to fish my pieces of string through the body with a long zip tie and it worked like a charm saving me from picking up the guitar and shaking the string down.
Thank you so much for your hard work in putting these videos together.
Great to hear! Thanks Bill.
Zip ties- smart idea!
-John
Excellent Job AND Demo !!! THX !!! I have to replace my pickups on my New ES 339 VS PRO Epiphone and the 2 volumes pots wich are push pull pots…As I decide to put a Set of Seymour Duncan Phat Cat on the guitar,I ll have to change these two volume pots but cause the wire is so tide inside ,I have to remove also the 2 Tones Pot and The Jack input like on your demo…So,THX for showing us how to do that properly…
(for the Volume pots ,I choosed 2 Mini 500k CTS pots sqo I wont have to refill my holes ,it is 8 mm also…Bye and Keep on Playing Man!! Dan
I forgot one thing : The Seymour Phat Cat P90 are with 2 conductors only so that is why I must change the Volume Pots wich are coil tapping pots…
I like this guitar and planning to buy soon. You really pulled off a great job here. Last time I did this with my Ibanez guitar, I did not use any towel to protect the finish and luckily it was not that messy. When I watched this video and saw you used towel, I went “oh yeah right”. Ha ha.
I’m constantly dropping screwdrivers, screws, etc. If I didn’t use some kind of dropcloth, my guitars would all be covered in dings
Nice… If I wanted to switch for a 2 volume wiring to a single volume pot should i rewire the whole electronic?
Hi, I hope you can help me with this, I have a problem with my Guitar. I’ve got a Gibson ES 335, and it has EMG pickups in (rare showcase edition with stock EMGS). I’ve not been getting any response from the tone knobs, and have wanted to change the pickups anyway.
I’ve watched all the videos on how to change pickups and rewire, but would it be different because it’s got active pickups in now, rather than passive? If so would it be difficult to do?
If you’re planning to change from active to passive, you’ll need to replace your pots too. Active circuits typically use low-resistance pots (like 25k), but your passive circuit will need at least 250k or higher pots. If you’re replacing with new active pickups, then you should be able to just drop them in (paying attention to how the preamp is wired, etc).
Thanks for the reply, but yeah I knew about the pots. I found out a little after posting this from another video, it sucks. Shouldn’t be too hard but I’d want the original parts. What I was wondering was if the wiring would be any different?
And I’m wanting to change them to passive really, being stock EMG’s from Gibson they’re pretty top range. I’d just like feeling in it really
Yes, a passive circuit is wired differently from an active one (e.g. there’s no preamp). Search for a schematic / wiring-diagram of each type and compare them. Passive circuits are simpler, and you should be able to see what you need to do from a wiring diagram.
thanks for your videos, they’re my favourites!…only I don’t get one thing: how did you connect the electronics with the humbuckers without soldering? Maybe I’ve lost some step…
thank you!
I had already soldered the pickups to the volume pots before this video. I’m not sure if I showed that step anywhere, but you can see my channel for my “Wiring Up Guitar Electronics” video series.
I’ll check then, thank you very much!
thanks for your videos, they’re my favourites!…only I don’t get one thing: how did you connect the electronics with the humbuckers without soldering? Maybe I’ve lost some step…
thank you!
cant imagine my plans difficulty for my cheap epiphany pup change…
Yeah, working on semi-hollows is way harder than solid-bodies.
But it’s all doable, with patience. Good luck!
The dude knows what he’s talkin’ bout. Supafly!
Geez…gotta have the patience of a saint to do this stuff!!! My hands are shaking with frustration watching you do this….not to mention I have horrible dexterity. No problem with the “What do to” puzzle, but the “do it” part….why I never became a brain surgeon and decided to just drive a cab.
Yes, working in a semi-hollowbody is a lot like that old game of “operation”. Frustrating indeed
Sooooooooo helpfully!!! Thanks a lot for the explanations!!!
seriously?