Help rewiring a 335

Asiaprod

Just picked up an Epiphone Supernove 335 (Oasis Union-jack)
I am planning to upgrade the pickups to Gibson 57 classics.
I have a lot of experience replacing pickups in Solid body Guitars, but this will be the first time to attempt a semi-hollow.
Does anyone have any tips or info on how to deal with removing/replacing the pots and switches. Have tried on the internet, but could find nothing.

fish-head

I have a Sheraton, and when I was talking to the feller that sets up my guitars he said something about them being far more difficult to get at. Something about having to take out one pickup to get at the other..

I know my vague reccollections aren't much help but good luck!
You could always just ring a guitar tech.

Asiaprod

fish-head wrote:

I know my vague reccollections aren't much help but good luck! You could always just ring a guitar tech.

Thanks for the info, I checked that one and it seems that the wiring is routed out under the back pickup. The pots are the real issue. Unfortunately, living in Japan, english speaking guitar tech that you can trust are a little hard to find.
Thanks again for the info.

Karl Hungus

Asiaprod wrote:

Thanks for the info, I checked that one and it seems that the wiring is routed out under the back pickup. The pots are the real issue. Unfortunately, living in Japan, english speaking guitar tech that you can trust are a little hard to find.
Thanks again for the info.

Man, if you're living in Japan, I'd say you'd find no end of great guitar techs, the Japanese know their guitars. Can you not get someone to translate for you?

Asiaprod

Karl Hungus wrote:

Man, if you're living in Japan, I'd say you'd find no end of great guitar techs, the Japanese know their guitars. Can you not get someone to translate for you?

True, but they are very very expensive. I've been refitting and repairing my own guitars for 25 years now. Just never owned a 335 till I started to play swing. As a last resort will leave it into the shop, but would prefer the challenge of doing it myself. It kind of bonds one to ones axe.
Thanks for your reply though, appriciated.

Karl Hungus

Asiaprod wrote:

True, but they are very very expensive. I've been refitting and repairing my own guitars for 25 years now. Just never owned a 335 till I started to play swing. As a last resort will leave it into the shop, but would prefer the challenge of doing it myself. It kind of bonds one to ones axe.
Thanks for your reply though, appriciated.

I get you.

I know the feeling, I've been attacking guitars with screwdrivers, allen keys, sandpaper, soldering irons, drills, and just about everything else in my arsenal. It really does, as you say, bond one to ones axes, especially when you have mishaps with glue.

But anyway, I wouldn't have a monkeys about wiring a 335. Mostly solid body guitars here.

You could ask on the Seymour Duncan Forum if you're set on doing it yourself. I'm sure there's a lot of people on there with experience in this sort of thing. Good luck with it.

Asiaprod

Karl Hungus wrote:

I get you.

Thanks for the info, will let you know how it goes, its just getting them frigging pots in and out.
I know there is a trick out there for doing this.

deaddonkey

tie a long piece of thread to the shaft of the pots and leave the thread through the pot holes in the front of the guitar while you work on them through the pickup holes. then use the string to pull them back into place.

Sofaspud

Taken from an issue of "Guitar one"

Dear Guitar One:
How can I access the electronics on my semi- hollowbody guitar?
-Johnjoe Jimmyjoe Johnson
Dear Johnjoe:
Working on the electronics of a semi-hollowbody (or hollowbody) electric is a pain in the butt - no two ways about it. You'll find that most repair shops add a surcharge for wrestling with these babies., and justifiably so. That said, here's the method I've been using for many years. First, get yourself some plastic tubing - either surgical tubing, (available at a medical supply store) or flexible aquarium pump tubing - with inside diameters tight enough to fit snugly on the shafts of your potentiometers, switches and output jack. Remove the strings, pickups (mounting rings and all) and knobs (spud's note - hurhur, knobs). Then, put about 18 inches worth of tubing on each of the pot shafts, the pickup selector, and the output jack; loosen the respective nuts; and slide the nuts and washers down (but not off) the tubing.

Now snake the parts out through the f-holes and pickup cavity, making sure to keep the tubing attached while preventing it from slipping through the face of the guitar. I always write down the order in which I do this. After placing a towel on the guitar's face, to avoid scratches and solder splats, do what work needs to be done, making sure to replace any wires with ones of equal or greater length. Reassemble the parts by leading them one by one back to their respective holes with the plastic tubing, then guide the nuts and washers back on. (Follow the disassembly in reverse for the easiest job.) A set of long tweezers will help fish out stray parts when the tubing inevitably slips off. Aspirin helps too.

Hope this helps, don't know anything about them myself, though.

Asiaprod

Sofaspud wrote:

Taken from an issue of "Guitar one"



Hope this helps, don't know anything about them myself, though.

Thanks to both you and deaddonkey. That should solve my problems. How stupidly simple, surgical tubing and thread. Damn, damn, wht could I not have thought of that and I have a bloody aquarium too so I am always playing with tubing. Duh, thanks all.

On a different note, I am thinking of putting Gibson 57' classic humbuckers in it, Anyone got an alternative. I have Kinmans AVns in my Strat, for the Epi I want to get a Blues, jazz and swing tone.
What a nice forum, thanks all.

fish-head

I think the stock pickups in Sherrys are bloody great, myself.

Asiaprod

fish-head wrote:

I think the stock pickups in Sherrys are bloody great, myself.

Yes, the ones I have heard are good.
I bought this guitar used for its quality of finish and the fact that it is one of the first Oasis models produced in the US Gibson plant so it has both curio value and workmanship. However, I suspect that the previouse owner kept the pickups as all the pots are loose and the selector switch's wiring has been twisted and does not work properly.
The pickups also have no identification marks or logos so I have no idea what they are. The are not bad, but the guitar is such a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, and the union-jack paint job is flawless and a crowd puller, that I am going to make it my main axe. I will use the existing pickups in an Aria PE-60 (Santana model) that I have stashed away.

fish-head

Fair enough, I have a tobacco sunburst model myself. It's perfect for all my Chuck Berry posturing. I got mine second hand too, as it happens, but still with the original pickups.