Table of Contents
I like to support my customers as much as I can so here is my drawing of Gibson Modern Wiring – Les Paul.
The modern wiring is used in most Les Paul’s and it’s great for players wanting to roll off some treble when the guitar volume is turned down.
The difference between the modern and 50’s wiring is in how the tone capacitor is connected to the volume pot. It’s a very simple modification if you have 50’s wiring and are curious.
Modern Wiring – Les Paul diagram
An explanation
Here is a link to my Les Paul 50’s wiring diagram so you can see the difference.
The difference between modern and 50’s wiring is which leg of the volume pot the tone cap (in green) connects to. You will see that the tone pot is also wired differently but that doesn’t actually change anything, its just another way of doing the same thing. So if you simply want to go from modern to 50’s wiring disconnect the capacitor leg from the end lug of the volume pot and attach it to the middle lug – simple.
It’s a very simple modification if you have a soldering iron so its worth experimenting with to find which works best for you.
Remember, if you play with the volume and tones at full it makes no difference if you use modern or 50’s wiring. It’s when you use the volume and tones that things start to happen.
Another thing to remember is that you can actually use both wiring methods on the same guitar. It is possible, for instance, to use 50’s wiring for the neck pickup and modern for the bridge. That way the neck pickup would retain some clarity as you lower the volume.
The bridge pickup (with the modern wiring) looses some high end as the volume is turned down smoothing off the treble. It just depends on what you’re trying to get out of your Les Paul. Neither wiring method is right or wrong.
Then there’s capacitor choice, pot value, coil tap or series/parallel, or even out of phase – the list goes on. I will be writing more blogs to cover all that at some point. For a simple circuit there are a lot of possibilities.
As with all guitar mods I think it is important to use your ears and your musical taste. Try things out and find out for yourself what works best for the sound you are trying to achieve. Plenty of people will tell you that 50’s is best, that
It’s always important to remember that here is no right or wrong, despite what you may read on social media. It’s all just a matter of personal taste. These wiring differences are all subtle too, the place to start is with great pickups.
In this diagram I’ve used my humbucker colour code. I use the same colour code as Seymour Duncan. I felt it was easier that way as there is so much information and diagrams out there for this colour code. If you need to figure out the wiring for a different manufacturer there are conversion charts available on line.
50’s wiring
Here’s my diagram for the 50’s style wiring https://mrglynspickups.com/2022/10/12/50s-wiring/
Here are some demos of my humbuckers https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOdXLT6XwMykEOjfDKlY6fBikNmVCBQXB
I plan to draw more useful wiring diagrams in the future so please let me know if there’s anything you’re interested in.
Enjoy this? You may also like…
updated 24 March 2025
Modern Wiring – Les Paul
