50's VINTAGE LES PAUL PRE-WIRED HARNESS w/BUMBLEBEE CAPS, LONG SHAFT POTS

59 Parts Vintage pre-wired harness upgrade kit for Gibson Les Pauls. Kit includes BUMBLEBEE PIO caps and Switchcraft input jack. Vintage 1956-60 style!

The Bumblebee capacitors are for sure the most discussed caps with an almost magical touch on them! They are usually from the late 50's and can be found in a lot of guitars from that era but they are famous for the appearance in the 58 and 59 'Burst' Les Pauls and some say that they are responsible for the magic tone of that guitars. The colored stripes were the old fashioned way of marking tiny electrical components with their values. Bumblebees are identical in construction to the Black Beauty. A shiny black plastic tube with little circles. In the circles will be a number 2. A circle and a 2 means Sprague! From 1956 until 1960 Gibson used Red/Red/Orange/Grey/Yellow striped Bumblebees (.022mF 400vdc). These are 1.25" long by about 3/8.

59 Parts harness uses calibrated CTS pots and USA made Switchcraft input jacks. This kit is a great way to improve the tone of your Les Paul by better retaining high-end frequencies when turning down your guitar's volume controls. Direct replacement for your non-Historic Les Paul (Standard, Traditional, Classic, Studio, Deluxe, Custom, etc). Our wiring gives a better current flow for good tone and quiet electronics, smoother overall sound with less noise and hum and more clarity.

The difference between a vintage and a modern harness is that a modern one uses inferior grade 300k linear taper pots which can choke off the high-end, making the tone dull and muddy.

- 4 USA CTS 500k long shaft True Vintage Taper audio taper pots (2 volume, 2 tone). Highest quality, split long shaft, True Vintage Taper potentiometers from CTS. Pots are calibrated - We do measure all pots and use higher values for the volume positions. 3/8" diameter mounting shaft, 3/4" mounting shaft length, low turning torque.

- 2 .022 uf vintage repro BUMBLEBEE PIO (paper in oil) tone capacitors by Luxe. These caps are handmade, faithful to vintage specs, complete with varnished tubing on the leads. They have a very warm and creamy sound.

- 1956-1960 style wiring

- Black 22 Ga. Stranded Cloth Covered wire

- 20 Gauge Buss Wire - genuine silver-plated 20 gauge solid copper buss wire for grounding the pots like the originals.

- Switchcraft J11 1/4" mono input jack

- Includes a wiring diagram

Please note: this kit is designed for Gibson Les Pauls that use long shaft pots

Les Pauls with long shaft pots:

Fadeds, Classics, Studios, Traditionals, 50's & 60's Tributes, Historic '68 Custom RI, 1977-current Standards, 1977-current Customs, 1977-current Deluxes, 1977-1982 Pros

CTS pots require a 3/8" hole; most USA made guitars are drilled this way, however imported guitars often are not.

Please note that the holes can be enlarged very easily to fit CTS pots on your Epiphone, Tokai, Greco and other imported guitars.

If you have an import guitar with metric size holes in the body they are too small for the 3/8" US sized bushing to fit into so you will have to ream the volume and tone control holes open just a little bit (about 1/16") for the 3/8" sized volume and tone pot bushings to fit correctly. Be careful not to scratch the top. A hand wood reamer with a T handle that you can find at most any hardware store works great for opening up the holes in the body. You can also roll up some 100 grit sandpaper into a small tube and use it as a file to enlarge the holes.