I am trying to fix an old guitar for a friend. It has three humbuckers with a 3-way switch and VVT pots. Someone attempted to wire it, and it's all fucked up. Can it be wired like this, or should I just add a third volume?

Krev wrote: Thu Dec 29, 2022 11:50 am I am trying to fix an old guitar for a friend. It has three humbuckers with a 3-way switch and VVT pots. Someone attempted to wire it, and it's all fucked up. Can it be wired like this, or should I just add a third volume?

No idea if it is possible to wire a master tone with 2 pickups to one V and 1 pickup to the other V and have them all on the switch - maybe try a wiring diagram for a 3-pickup Les Paul Custom with 3 volumes and omit the master tone control?

You might also able to wire 1 pickup directly to one of the Volumes and put the other 2 to the switch with V and T.

Thanks, Tommy. I think the third volume is the way to go.

Not that I can help with the q but I realized how few guitar repairers around here can fix simple grounds. That and nut work have me traveling to the next city

Late to this, but I dont know why you couldnt wire it with VVT controls. Just set it up like a telecaster only two pickups (middle and neck, say) are always wired together. Should be quite simple, unless i'm missing something.

llllllllllllllllllll wrote: Tue Jan 03, 2023 8:41 pm Not that I can help with the q but I realized how few guitar repairers around here can fix simple grounds. That and nut work have me traveling to the next city

Get yourself a soldering iron and some nut files! Nothing there is TOO hard to fix.

I don't know if this matters, but Gibson uses a different switch with an extra lug on it for their 3-pickup Les Pauls vs their 2 pickup Les Pauls. Admittedly they don't do VVT though. Just mentioning it because it could be a limitation.

So 3 pickup Les Paul Customs come wired Neck/Middle&Bridge/Bridge (right?) and VVTT. If you like those switch positions, converting to master tone should be fine. You'll just have one of the two volume pots shared by two pickups.

I didn't like those combos on my LP so I converted it to Neck/Neck&Bridge/Bridge VVTT like a typical Les Paul but with a push pull that swapped the neck and middle pickup to get Middle/Middle&Bridge/Bridge VVTT. In both positions The neck and middle pickup share a volume and tone. Or maybe it is middle and bridge. Anyway, two pickups share a volume and tone from the factory, so you should be able to follow suit and make them all share a tone.

tommy wrote: No idea if it is possible to wire a master tone with 2 pickups to one V and 1 pickup to the other V and have them all on the switch - maybe try a wiring diagram for a 3-pickup Les Paul Custom with 3 volumes and omit the master tone control?

You might also able to wire 1 pickup directly to one of the Volumes and put the other 2 to the switch with V and T.

I know the three volume mod (where one V is dedicated to blending in the middle pickup and all pickups share one tone) is more common, but this works for me as I rarely use the middle position. You should be able to figure out the master tone for a VVT from that diagram.

However,

tommy wrote: I don't know if this matters, but Gibson uses a different switch with an extra lug on it for their 3-pickup Les Pauls vs their 2 pickup Les Pauls. Admittedly they don't do VVT though. Just mentioning it because it could be a limitation.

This was relevant to my mod, but without diagrams handy, I'm not sure if it would affect Krev's needs.