polvo Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 I need to replace a 3-way pickup switch (on a Epiphone Les Paul special VE), and it seems like it's gonna be a 50/50 gamble as to whether I get the pickup wires aligned properly so it matches the 'rhythm/treble' label at the base of the switch. The switch I'm replacing has two wires with black coating, each of which has one silver wire (both going to the same place on the switch- on the right of my photo). One then has a red wire going to one side of the switch and the other has a red wire going to the other side of the switch (both of these on the left of my photo). There's also a yellow wire, not sure what that is... grounding maybe? Is there any standard way of arranging this (e.g. red for neck pickup, white for bridge)? Or any way of checking without taking the pickups out to check? Or do I just need to guess and take my chances? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 (edited) Do it the simple way. Connect it up as best you can, with provision for swapping if it's not the right way round. It's far easier to do than messing about identifying, only to find that it's the opposite once you've worked it all out. Just make sure that your soldering is top quality, try it out before closing it all up, and swap if (when..?) it's wrong. Hope this helps. Edited January 25, 2023 by Dad3353 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polvo Posted January 26, 2023 Author Share Posted January 26, 2023 Quote Just make sure that your soldering is top quality Yeah, about that.... Anyway, despite my less-than-top-quality soldering, I got lucky and had the wires hooked up the right way first time round. Job done! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...