S90 with strange wiring

[GoodWassabi]

Hi folks, new member to the board here but been loving Guilds for years. Thanks to Captjuan for advice on starting a new thread for my question. I recently am the new owner of a '71 S90. LOVE the neck on this baby. Feels like a baseball bat. And the tone is just plain sweet. The problem is the body sustained damage some time in the guitars history. It appears the body cracked around the electronics cavity. Who ever did the repair did a good job because the body feels sound. However, it looks like the pots and caps are not original. I have a pic of the cavity but I'm a bit challenged on how to post it here.

It looks like it has one flat disc capacitor, tan in color, wired to two posts of the volume pot and then there is another cap, I think, that is green that is wired between the volume and tone pot. I've been playing for about 30 years but just recently really started studying the guts of my guitars, and this just does not look right! Maybe it is? I have the stock humbuckers and they sound great, but I occasionally get kind of a fendery tone. I'm wondering if the flat disc cap is doing that? Again the pots don't look like they are original and have a tendency on both the volume and tone pot to get most of the response between 8 and 10. Anyone know if there is a source for the original pots? If not, I'll probably throw some Gibsons in. Since it looks like I'll be doing some replacing I'm thinking of experimenting with different caps to see how the tone is affected. Anyone have suggestions on types and values? Sorry for the long winded first post!!

 

[Default]

Sounds like the cap wired between the pots is preventing the highs from being rolled off when the volume pot is turned down. I think cj might have brought that up in the other thread. It's a pretty common mod.
Pics?

 

[capnjuan]

Sounds like the cap wired between the pots is preventing the highs from being rolled off when the volume pot is turned down. I think cj might have brought that up in the other thread. It's a pretty common mod. Pics?

Hi Def: t'weren't I ... I was the one who suggested he post his questions as a fresh thread instead of patching them into an existing one thinking his questions would get better exposure. Besides, I haven't had any good ideas in a week or so anyway ... :wink: CJ

 

[Qvart]

Who ever did the repair did a good job because the body feels sound. However, it looks like the pots and caps are not original.

I'm not an expert on these things, but I can show you a pic of what the wiring looked like in the '72 S-90 I used to have. Maybe it will help:

I have a pic of the cavity but I'm a bit challenged on how to post it here.

You'll need to host your pictures on a website such as Photobucket or Imageshack, then use the "IMG" selection you see in the formatting options above where you're typing. Put the URL for the picture between the "IMG" brackets. Hosting websites will also give you the "IMG" code for each of your pics to copy and paste. Here's how I was able to post the picture you see above:

Also, what I did when I first started posting on LTG, was to click "Quote" on someone's post and I would see what formatting they used for pictures, fonts, etc.

Well, hope all that helps. Welcome to LTG.

-G.

 

[GoodWassabi]

Thanks so much Qvart! The pic you posted has the identical wiring that I see in mine. Just seemed rather odd. Was the volume taper smooth when you rolled off? I get the cliff effect where its almost an on/off rather than an even roll off.


Thanks for the info on posting pics as well. I'll try to get some pics posted soon.

 

[Qvart]

Thanks so much Qvart! The pic you posted has the identical wiring that I see in mine. Just seemed rather odd. Was the volume taper smooth when you rolled off? I get the cliff effect where its almost an on/off rather than an even roll off.


Thanks for the info on posting pics as well. I'll try to get some pics posted soon.

I didn't notice any issues with mine. Everything worked smoothly. Maybe you need to replace the pots if everything looks to be wired up correctly. I can't tell you what the original pots were though. Hope it works out - those are sweet guitars. I decided to sell mine only because it wasn't getting played much. I give much more attention to my '74 S-100C. And it worked out well because the guy I sold it to is in a pretty well-known band and now the guitar is off on a world tour.

 

[GoodWassabi]

The pots in the pic you posted look like the ones I have. But I agree, as much as I hate to change from the original, I may try a new set of pots to see if it helps. THen ,lol, the whole thing has probably been reworked since the damage. The back of the headstock is black but the neck and body are all walnut stain. Its got history I don't know about, but its got a lot of music I'm loving pulling out of it. I do love the sound and feel of this one. That old wood just has just terrific tone in it. I've been using it for slide and lends itself very very well to it. Lots of shimmer in the slide transitions and a full brite sound. Where would I see yours on tour?

 

[Qvart]

Where would I see yours on tour?

Here at Lollapalooza.

 

[GoodWassabi]

Too cool. My son was there, I'll have to find out if he caught there show. Next year maybe it'll be us 8)