Three Classic Les Paul® Wiring Options:
So... What is the Best Les Paul Wiring Harness?
The Les Paul has remained relatively unchanged since humbuckers were added in 57'. From then till now, three simple wiring layouts have remained dominant for their ability to draw out a myriad of soul turning sounds.
We have laid out what we know about the 'vintage 50's', 'modern 60's' and '60's Plus / Treble bleed' wiring, to help you find the best Les Paul wiring setup.
Before we get started:
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You need to use your tone and volume controls...
The Les Paul wiring harness and most others are designed in such away that they will have very little effect on your tone with everything set at ten. These all use 500k pots, they all use a 0.022uf capacitor, and with everything set to max, your high notes will do their high note things, and you mids and your bass notes will do their things too.
Set any dial to nine, or seven, or four, and the differences between the below three wiring options start to shine.
If you do not like using your tone and volume controls - you can likely find a better wiring setup for the way you play.
What about the SG, Tele Deluxe, PRS Blah blah blah...?
Good question, easy answer. This whole guide applies to all of them. If you have two humbuckers, two volume controls, two tone controls and a three way switch, this guide will probably work for your guitar too.
Why are the wiring diagrams not complete?
We are focusing on the differences between these diagrams so to keep it simple, we have ignored everything else.
Also note that the physical wiring of the tone control has changed over the years, but the result is the same. These changes are not shown in our diagrams.
Les Paul 50s Wiring
The Vintage 50s Les Paul wiring is the 'Holy Grail' for many. It is perfect for rolling between your classic 'crunch' tone and soulful cleans as smoothly and simply as possible.
The technical difference:
Its all in the order of the tone and volume controls. Vintage 50s wiring places your tone controls, after your volume controls.
Les Paul 50's Wiring Diagram:
Volume Control:
Lug 1: Input from Pickup HOT
Lug 2: Output to switch + Tone Control Circuit
Lug 3: Soldered to Ground / Back of Pot
The ground wires, or outer braid of vintage style wires is soldered to the back of the pot.
The difference for you:
Vintage 50's wiring is the easiest way to roll between clean and crunch tones.
Setup your amp so it is at the edge of break up at around 7 on the volume control, with your tone controls at 10. Crank the volume control up to 10 to drive your amp through to overdrive, or back it down towards zero for your cleans. Bliss.
The catch - The tone controls will effect your volume levels, making your perfect tones harder to find in a live situation. Clarity at lower volume levels is easier to find than with a modern 60s wiring setup, but not as achievable as with the ever clear 60's Plus / treble bleed wiring.
Advantages
- Smooth treble roll off with volume control
- Easily roll between crunch and clean
Disadvantages
- Tone controls also effect volume levels
- Not as tweakable as '60's Plus' Wiring
Modern Les Paul Wiring
Used in most Les Paul's from the 60s till now. Modern 60s wiring puts the tone control circuit before the volume control. This makes the tone and volume controls more independent, but causes an abrupt treble roll off with the use of your volume control.
There may be some who love this wiring, but we have not me them...
The technical difference
The modern 60's Les Paul wiring moves the tone control circuit in front of your volume controls.
Modern Les Paul Wiring Diagram
Volume Control:
Lug 1: Input from Pickup HOT + Tone Control Circuit
Lug 2: Output to switch
Lug 3: Soldered to Ground / Back of Pot
The ground wires, or outer braid of vintage style wires is soldered to the back of the pot.
The difference for you:
The modern 60's wiring separates out the effect that your tone and volume controls have on each other.... almost.
The catch - a new issue is created, where the resistance in the volume control, works in series with the capacitance of your cable, to create a big, inescapable tone sink. The result - wind back your volume and lose all of your highs / treble / clarity.
Advantages
- Tone controls will not effect volume levels
Disadvantages
- Abrupt treble roll off with volume control
- Sharp drop in volume levels at top end of volume control
'Obsidian® 60's Plus' / Treble Bleed Wiring
Just like the modern 60s wiring, but with a magical treble bleed circuit on each volume control. This lets your treble frequencies skip the resistance of the volume pot, so they don't get stuck in your cable.
Genius right.
I would love to say we thought of this, but, we didn't. If you know who did, let us know so we can thank them.
The technical difference:
The Obsidian 60's Plus wiring is like the modern 60s wiring, but it includes a treble bleed mod.
Les Paul 60's Plus / Treble Bleed Wiring Diagram:
Volume Control
Lug 1: Input from Pickup HOT + Tone Control Circuit + Treble Bleed
Lug 2: Output to switch + Treble Bleed
Lug 3: Soldered to Ground / Back of Pot
The ground wires, or outer braid of vintage style wires is soldered to the back of the pot.
The difference for you
This setup offers the greatest clarity at lower volumes, and the is most versatile of the three classic Les Paul wiring options. The volume controls are also have the smoothest taper from 1 - 10, and the tone controls will not reduce your overall volume.
The catch - It is not as simple to smoothly roll between clean and crunch as the vintage 50's wiring.
Advantages
- Retains clarity at lower volumes
- Smoother volume control taper
- Tone controls will not effect volume levels
Disadvantages
- Not as simple to use as Vintage 50s Wiring
What is the best Les Paul wiring?
The best Les Paul wiring harness is the one that helps you find the tone you want, as easily as possible.
Vintage 50's - If you desire an amazing sounding Les Paul, that can smoothly roll between excellent tones without all of the tweaking, give the Vintage 50s wiring a try.
60's Plus / Treble Bleed - If you desire clarity at lower volumes, and don't mind tweaking two controls to find your perfect tone, the 60's Plus / treble bleed wiring may be best for you.
Modern 60's -If you want to roll from beautiful crisp crunch to deep warm cleans then we wont judge you one bit for choosing the classic modern 60s wiring.
Or... Choose different wiring for each pickup
The best part about Les Paul wiring - Each pickup gets its own suite of tone and volume controls, so you can choose a different wiring setup for each side.
We use Vintage 50s wiring for the neck / rhythm pickup, and '60's Plus' wiring for the bridge / lead pickup.
How do they sound?
The Best Les Paul Wiring Harness for you...
The above is a quick start guide to lead you in the right direction.
The best way to really hone in on exactly what works best for you, is to give these all a try. Play them loud, play them quiet, play them with effects and play them straight in to the amp. Experiment with the tone controls and the volume controls to see where they work best, and how they can work for you.
And always remember, you change over time and so does your music. Its okay to change favorite wiring setups along the way too.