WIRE CHOICE
Some like ‘modern-style’, others opt for ‘vintage’. But what do different wiring methods actually bring to your sound, asks a reader
QAs a novice 70-year-old guitar player/collector, I have 13 guitars: Ibanez, Gretsch, Spear, Indie and some others. I get somewhat confused by the different pickups on offer and how they are wired, and which one does what. But my question is, does it make a difference how the pickups are wired to the pots/ jack socket? Does the wire gauge make a difference? Some guitars for sale say they have ‘50s style’ wiring, whatever that means.
I have just made a T-style guitar from different parts and while I’ve used the original wiring for the neck pickup, I used telephone wiring – coloured orange, white, blue, white for the bridge pickup and jack socket – and it all works okay. But I haven’t seen anything relating to the actual wire. So, can you tell me, does different gauge for wiring affect the sound?
Tony Lloyd, via email
AI remember a visit some years ago to Fender’s USA factory where the late, great Dan Smith was showing us around, including the company’s ampmaking section. He held up a piece of cloth-covered wire and explained that nobody else used it any more but Fender did “because it sounded better”. He winked then laughed. And, of course, cloth-covered wire does sound better, doesn’t it?
A guitar-playing friend’s son works for a hi-fi shop in London. Now, if you asked him the same question, you might get a different answer, particularly when it comes to speaker cables. He made me a special kettle lead for my amp head from unobtianium smoke-and-mirrors gauge virgin copper that you just can’t buy and said it’d improve my sound. I still use that lead because it was a very nice gesture. Did my tone change or improve? Err…
A Mod Squad mantra is to try different things for yourself be it caps, pots, wire and so on. If you can hear a difference, go with it. If you can’t, don’t bother. A famous USA guitar maker likes to throw us a curveball or eight with his tuning tweaks: the length of shielded hook-up cable in a guitar circuit, a capacitor to delay the time of the highfrequency content, and quite a few more. But for the vast majority of us with normal ears, can we really hear these oh-so-subtle differences within a guitar’s circuit?
I think if you simply use good-quality stuff – pots, caps, hook-up wire – that you can buy from numerous suppliers such as WD Music UK, you’ll be fine. Gavitt’s 22 AWG cloth covered push-back wire is the perfect stuff: it’s pre-tinned copper, easy to use and looks nice and vintage (so it must sound better!) and is available in different colours. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with plastic-covered wire, though. The silver-braided Gibson-style wire used as hook-up wire for the classic
PAF humbucker is another popular choice, but remember sloppy wiring means that the uncovered braided shield might touch another bare hot wire in the circuit and cause a short.
I’d be a little more concerned about the ‘rat’s nest’ wiring of your T-style guitar in the picture you sent in than the actual wire you used. Make a sketch of the wiring diagram before you start. Use white (or a coloured wire) for your hot signal and a black for the ground. Obviously, the colour doesn’t affect anything but does help you see the signal path as you’re working. Cut each wire to the right length, make sure the ends are tinned and that your soldering iron is powerful enough to give you a clean connection on the back of a pot to avoid any dry joints. Plenty of companies offer prewired control harnesses, as well if you’d prefer that route, which can save you time and ensure everything is wired properly. In the case of your Tele, all you’d have to do is wire the hot pickup outputs to the switch and solder the pickup grounds to the back of the volume pot.
The so-called ‘50s’ or ‘vintage’ wiring versus ‘modern’ wiring is a thing, but again I suggest you simply experiment. All guitars, even Gibsons made before 1965, for example, did not always use ‘vintage’ wiring. You can find a very good piece with wiring diagrams online here: www.seymourduncan.com/blog/tips-andtricks/lespaulwiring.
Personally, I like the ‘vintage-style’ wiring, especially on a Les Paul-style guitar, because it simply changes the relationship, if you like, between your volume and tone control. I like the way it cleans up on the volume control and there’s a thinning of the sound on the tone control before it becomes fully ‘woofy’. If you keep your volume and tone full up then it doesn’t matter which type you use. But if you can use a soldering iron, it’s very simple to experiment between the two.
“If you can use a soldering iron, it’s simple to experiment between the two”
That should give you something to think about till our next issue.
In the meantime, if you have any modding questions, or suggestions, drop us a line - The Mod Squad.