Any wiring guru's.....

Romo82

Romo82

Experienced
I just picked up a guitar with BKP Rebel Yell's in it and switched out pots. The seller told me this after I asked about the pots he used:
".....they are 500K Emmerson CTS pots, I think the caps might be 0.015pf? Honestly I am not totally sure anymore, I know I deliberated between 0.022pf and 0.015pf, but I don't remember what I decided. If you open up the back cavity, the code on the caps should be 223k if they are 0.022pf and 153k if they are the 0.015pf. It was wired in a '59 style circuit."

The guitar sounds great on clean/breakup tones but really doesn't have much girth for heavier tones, it sounds kind of thin and crispy is the best I can describe it on heavy distortion where my other guitars have much more punch. It just doesn't have the oomph I was expecting from these BKP's. The other thing I really dislike is how loose the roll is on all the pots, they shift at the slightest touch. The seller kindly left the original PRS pots in the case and I'm thinking I'm going to switch them back since they feel much stiffer and I'm assuming will undo this thinness I'm hearing.

I'm not good with electronics but to those that are, what are the impacts/purpose of these caps, would they be the cause of my concern and what is a "'59 style circuit"?

TYIA

P.S.
Here’s a pic of the pots
 

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Those caps are affecting the high end, not the lows (which you seem to be describing). The pots, too, will primarily affect the highs unless you've got some treble bleed circuit in there.

I'd focus on height adjustments first.
 
greiswig said:
Those caps are affecting the high end, not the lows (which you seem to be describing). The pots, too, will primarily affect the highs unless you've got some treble bleed circuit in there.

I'd focus on height adjustments first.
Click to expand...

Do they filter out the highs or enhance them? Set up is all good, pickups are set and have gone up and down.
 
Romo82 said:
I just picked up a guitar with BKP Rebel Yell's in it and switched out pots. The seller told me this after I asked about the pots he used:
".....they are 500K Emmerson CTS pots, I think the caps might be 0.015pf? Honestly I am not totally sure anymore, I know I deliberated between 0.022pf and 0.015pf, but I don't remember what I decided. If you open up the back cavity, the code on the caps should be 223k if they are 0.022pf and 153k if they are the 0.015pf. It was wired in a '59 style circuit."

The guitar sounds great on clean/breakup tones but really doesn't have much girth for heavier tones, it sounds kind of thin and crispy is the best I can describe it on heavy distortion where my other guitars have much more punch. It just doesn't have the oomph I was expecting from these BKP's. The other thing I really dislike is how loose the roll is on all the pots, they shift at the slightest touch. The seller kindly left the original PRS pots in the case and I'm thinking I'm going to switch them back since they feel much stiffer and I'm assuming will undo this thinness I'm hearing.

I'm not good with electronics but to those that are, what are the impacts/purpose of these caps, would they be the cause of my concern and what is a "'59 style circuit"?

TYIA

P.S.
Here’s a pic of the pots
Click to expand...
Here's an article about the difference s between 50's & modern wiring. One of the cons os 50's wiring says:
  • Some high-gain situations can yield an overly bright tone.
https://www.fralinpickups.com/2020/03/01/50s-wiring-vs-modern-wiring/
 
You have a part short somewhere, This happens with some part of the hot touching a poor ground and taking out only 30% of the signal. Typicaly the graphite paint . Take all the pots and switch out of the guitar but leave it all wired in and test it with the loom clear of the cavity.
Those pots and that wiring if working correctly will not cause your issue . The PRS pots are effectively the same and 50s wiring is just series tone instead of parallel . Could well be in the switch cavity or on the master output because it's happening on the whole output .
 
I've just noticed too that the longest wire (the hot master out from the switch) is not a screened cable. It should be really. Also check for dry joints on the grounds to the pots and in general as they can cause your issue too.
 
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