Problem with volume-control on my LesPaul

[six]

I just realized that the volume knob of my epiphone les paul has quit its duty.
I can't turn down the volume anymore. The wiring looks ok.
I once replaced the cheap epiphone-pu-switch with an original gibson, but I guess that can't be the problem (and I think I checked everything after soldering and it worked).

any advice?
any wiring diagrams to check it all?

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Replace the pot!

Easy fix....

 

[six]

so you think it must be the pot?

ah... I "love" replacing parts; the original gibson pu-switch was about 30$ - now I really wonder how much the pot will be!

 

[Hard2Hear]

If you pay over $4 for a 500k pot, something's wrong. PS, the replacement parts for Gibson and Epi are the same parts in different packaging. I bought both to find out myself. The manufacturer and part number on the back are the exact same. So you save a few bucks by not buying the Gibson one.

H2H

 

[six]

hard2hear: the pu-switch is different. the one from epiphone is really cheap... and the reason why epiphone les pauls have that terrible feedback-whistle even at very low volumes.

so here's to everybody: DO NOT REPLACE EPIPHONE PICK-UPS because of the whistle... those salesmen only want to make money!

so a pot should be about 4$? well... that will be about 20$ in switzerland I guess .

 

[Krystof01]

Six; Can you explain what you mean about epi's whistleing and why not to change the pick-ups. Surely if you say the problem is the pu-switch than replacing that will remidy the prolem. H2H is right that pots are cheap. I don't know about the Gibson pu-switches but I can get them (good ones/but not Gibson (which doesn't necessarily mean good by the way)) for £7 ($10 ish).

 

[six]

krystof: it seems to be a common problem that epiphone les pauls start to "feedback" already at very low volumes. I guess it's not really a feedback but it sounds quite the same.
normally those nice guys in the shops tell you it's the pick-ups and they would replace it with - let's say - seymour duncans for a good price. BUT: if you like the sound of your epi keep the stock-pickups because you can get rid of the whistle by replacing the cheap pu-switch - as I mentioned above.
AND: I didn't ever had any whistling problems when playing not directly into the amp but thru an effects-pedal - and I didn't have to use a noise-gate!

the cheap epiphone pu-switch looks like a little box (inside the guitar-body), 90% is made of plastic and if you're lucky - like me - after a while the pu-switch will 'fall' to the mid-position just when shaking the guitar a bit. the original gibson switch is long and narrow but still I had to rasp a bit of the body inside the pu-switch-hole to make it fit (now the guitar sounds really thin... no way ). I think if the epi was built a bit more precisely I wouldn't have had to do this; but the little hole where the pu switch reaches the guitar-top wasn't even close to the middle of the hole pu-switch "cave" (sorry, can't find the right word).

 

[Krystof01]

Six; well I've got a good few guitars but haven't mahaged to afford a 'real' les paul yet so I make do with my epiphone balck beauty (all gold hardware and three humbuckers instead of the normal two). It is one of my oldest guitars. Tomorrow I pick up three seymour duncan pick-ups to replace the stock ones; so as you see I'm interested in what you have to say (incidentally the three pick-ups, together with the schaller strap locks, graphite nut, push-pull pots, volume and tone knobs and capicitors amount to the price I paid for the guitar itself).

I have not had the problem with feedback/whistleing and wonder if the pu-switch in mine is different. I may well have to change it when I fit the new pick-ups next week.

Hows the best way to check if the epi pu-switch needs replacing? From memoery I can't remember it looking like a box and I think it is long (like you say about the Gibsons).

I'll check it out when I get a spare minute,
Thanks,
Krystof.