Hi all,
Long time lurker; first time poster....
I have finally acquired my first Rick, a perfect black 350 Liverpool from 1995 with hi-gains that I hope to turn into a 350SH look-a-like someday, with all that pretty binding. But first I will install 2 toasters and 1 HB and alter the wiring.
I've been playing a Les Paul forever that I just modified to Jimmy Page wiring with 4 push/pulls: 2 p/p cut one coil of each HB, 1 switches them out of phase, and the fourth switches between series/parallel. I also have a Brian May, and I love the versatility of his switching system, with phase and on/off for each single coil pickup.
I want to fit all of this into the 350, and keep the original look and feel, by swapping all the pots for push/pulls, and using 2 toasters and 1 HB like on the 350SH. I would of course keep the original wiring harness separate, just in case.
My idea is below. It basically combines a common RIC mod of 5th knob for middle p/u volume, Neck/N+B/Bridge toggle switch, Brian May phase switching for each p/u, Jimmy Page coil tap on the HB and series/parallel switching between 2 p/ups.
I'm wondering about some of the RIC-only details I have not experienced in my previous messing around with Gibsons and strats...
1. Will a commonly-available push/pull (ie Stew-Mac) fit in the 350 cavity? Those pots are usually 1 inch deep.
2. Should I use a 500k pot for the HB and 250k pots for the toaster volumes & tone? Or Use RICs 330k ? Or all the same?
3. I think the most versatile switch for a series/parallel is with the neck and middle p/ups, but I've never heard that/done it. Has anyone got info on that?
4. Also I was thinking about using the "Free-Way" 6-position Les Paul switch at Stew-Mac to allow more flexible p/u selection, but its getting bad reviews. (Its like two 3-position switches side-by-side - can work like a normal 3-way switch, but when you "up-shift" to the other side, it adds the middle p/u in the 3 other positions. Designed for a JPage 3-HB Les Paul)
Thanks for looking, and I look forward to any feedback anyone has!
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File comment: 350SH photo
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