Epiphone SG special how do i make it have a real toggle switch

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epiphoneSGman

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hey guys im new to the guitar and i got the Epiphone SG Special
ElectricSetup.jpg
you aee in this picture it has a toggle switch but only 2 pots and it needs 4 to do it. so with that said i need 2 more pots but i dont know which 1s i need.  please help!!  i really wanted a SG and i found this one at Guitar Center for a great price so i bought it even though it didn't have 4 pots because i knew about this site so i thought, hey ill go to warmoth and buy some pots.  so now all i need to know is which ones to get and what i need to buy to install them without ruining my guitar.   :help: :help: :help: :help: :help: :help: :help:
 
What is this "real toggle switch" supposed to do? It looks like you have a real toggle switch in between your volume and tone pot, or is that a "fake toggle switch"?
 
well with a toggle switch with only two pots just selects the humbucker but with four pots it will actually change the pitch and/or tone of the guitar.  like a Les Paul
 
I think you should leave it alone, it works right?

It seems you want pots and knobs for the sake of having them, but yet, you seem to not even know what they are for.

I would sugest don't screw with it for now, Learn to play it first. Then when you get a chance, buy the Warmoth parts and build that SG just the way you want it.

John


 
epiphoneSGman said:
well with a toggle switch with only two pots just selects the humbucker but with four pots it will actually change the pitch and/or tone of the guitar.  like a Les Paul

Dude, four pots on a LP are two volumes and two tone pots, each set controls one pick up, the "REAL" toggle switch allows you to play when down the bridge pickup, when up the neck pick up and when in between both pickups together.  I don't know what the fake toggle switches do.
 
I think that what he must be referring to is coil-tapping humbuckers, but he hasn't any clue of what he's talking about.

EpiphoneSGman - Assuming you're not a "troll" on the board, I think it's obvious that you don't really have much clue about what you're talking about or listening to someone else that doesn't know what they're talking about. There are different wiring schemes you can use to implement guitar electronics, and fundamentally having both pickups share a set of volume/tone pots instead of having separate ones does not necessarily make any difference tonally. If what you are actually talking about is splittable humbucking pickups - they will have a separate switch to go from humbucker to single coil mode - a decent set will cost at least as much as you paid for that Epi SG Special.

You're never going to get a $150 guitar to sound like one that costs at least ten times as much, so you might want to take Alfang's advice and concentrate on learning how to play the guitar you have, it's perfectly OK for a beginner's instrument. If you save your money while you're learning to play that SG, you should be able to afford a better guitar by the time you're proficient enough that it would make a huge difference.

 
I like the fact that you are wanting to change your stock SG but for a beginner I would learn to play and understand what each part does and why before doing any major surgery. Don't let the gruffness of some of the members get you down for it's easy to forget what it was like to be a beginner. Keep playing and doing research on the guitar. :rock-on:
 
i get what all u are saying but if you heard what the toggle switch that i have on it now does, well actually u couldnt because it does absolutly nothing!!!  that is why i want to get the pots.  so for all of you that are saying that i dont know what im talkin about i have done alot of reasearch and i know what im doing i found a better thing to do on guitarelectronics.com  it has a kit by gibson that is a les pau style but is made for the SG  it comes with 4 pots and a toggle switch.  so thanks for all of your input on the subject but i found waht i was looking for, :rock-on: :headbang: :party07: :guitaristgif:
 
If you really need to have separate volume and tone pots for each pickup, you could use the concentric dual pots that Warmoth sells. The advantage of these is that you don't have to drill new holes into your guitar.
http://www.warmoth.com/hardware/parts/parts.cfm?fuseaction=include_potentiometers

The addition of separate volume and tone pots for each pickup will give you pickup output level blending and high-cut tone control, but it WILL NOT effect pitch changes. The tonal changes will only be the variable attenuation of high frequencies. The tone controls in a passive guitar aren't especially profound in their effect.

If the 3-way toggle switch in your guitar doesn't make any tonal differences between pickups selected, it just might be broken or miswired (or just subtle). Based on the normal manufacturer and reseller markups in the industry, if your guitar cost you $200, it was made for about $50 to $60. Don't expect a profound tone machine at this price point.

A real LP is a mahogany body with a maple cap (usually) with a mahogany set neck. These typically street for $800 (faded GC) to $3,000, with $2,000 being the norm for a relatively common one.

A real SG is a mahogany body with a mahogany set neck. These typically street for $600 (faded GC) to $2,400, with $1,500 being the norm for a relatively common one.

These Epi guitars have bolt-on necks with less than premium and less than well-known wood bodies. The pickups won't be especially good either.


These are just the facts, not a comment or reflection on you or your choice. We all started somewhere in our journey. While substantial improvement can be made from effective wiring schemes and pickup replacement, be careful where you do this. If you do make a profound improvement in the sound of this guitar, remember that it will always be what it WAS in lineage, and never will allow you to recoup what you spent on improving it.


For demented wiring schemes, chech out this link:
http://guitarnuts2.proboards45.com/index.cgi


 
epiphoneSGman said:
well check this out this is what i found on guitarelectronics.comhttp://guitarelectronics.com/product/PK3S

epiphoneSGman,

That would be a four pot set up for what you describe that you wanted (on the guitar electronics website). But what most persons who have responded to you are concerned about is possibly "fubaring" your guitar. One thing you have to consider is do you have enough control cavity space to fit 4 pots? I don't know you or your skill level or knowledge on guitar building, refurbishing and wiring but that will all come to play once you start what your attempting. chrisk brought up a very sound and valid point in his post when he mentioned about the concentric dual pots you dont have to drill any new holes, replace your toggle switch if it dont work $15 to $20 bucks is a whole lot cheaper than screwing up your guitar.

Bootlegger.
 
I see what you're saying SG man.  Your SG has a master volume and tone pots instead of a volume and tone for each pickup like a genuine SG or LP.

I think your best bet to do this properly is to go and buy the concentric pots like they were talking about.  If you havent checked them out yet what they are is basically 2 pots in one. Its got an outer knob and an inner knob for you to turn.  If you wanted to drill new holes for traditional SG style knob and switch positions you'd have open holes in your guitar because that one isn't layed out the same as a normal SG.  Concentric pots are the way to go.  That way you'll have 4 pots and 1 toggle in the same 3 holes you've already got drilled in your guitar rather than drilling 5 new holes and havin 3 open ones with nothing in them.  Hope that was helpful.

On a personal preference note.  I actually think I prefer just one volume and one tone.  I play on a Dean EVO and its got a 3 way toggle like a LP but only 2 pots.  It just simpler and easier to make sure you dont bump the knobs while you're playing and have to turn your volume back up when switching pickups because you accidentally turned it down or something.

My warmoth is here and sitting at the UPS office, im going to pick it up on monday. its a LP and i've got everything I need to wire it up like a LP but i was actually thinking of just wiring it up with 2 pots like my dean and just sticking the other 2 pots in there for show.  Maybe at some later date i'll wire them up if i find an advantage to using it like that or if my preferences change..  Just a thought.
 
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