What capacitors and pots for Gibson Sg Standard

[rgbroady]

I have a 2012 Gibson sg Standard that I ordered Miracle Man pickups for. I plan to play metal in the style of zakk wylde, dimebag, pepper keenan, etc. My guitar has all stock electronics. I was wondering what size capacitors are recommended, and if I should change the pots. My volume pot is 300, and tone pot is 500. Thanks.

[Dave Sloven]

500K Mojotone CTS pots (volume and tone) and 0.022uf WD Music PIO caps are what I have in my 2011 SG Standard with a full new wiring harness to replace the PCB.

If you replace the PCB with a new wired point-to-point harness the main hassle is the bridge ground.  Eventually I had it replaced with a new ground wire by my guitar tech when I took it into him to fit a TonePros bridge and tailpiece set but before then I had quite a messy looking setup with a wire between the old ground wire and the back of the pot.

It looks like this now:

[darkbluemurder]

I would change the volume pot from 300k to 500k (audio taper). The tone pot can be left alone.

Tone capacitors is a personal choice. They are generally cheap so I would get a few different values (0.022uf, 0.015uf, 0.01uf, 0.0047uf and 0.0022uf) and experiment. The ones that sound best to you are the correct ones.

Cheers Stephan

[Dave Sloven]

I would agree, except to say that if you have a PCB you are best off lifting it straight out and placing it in a box (if you ever sell the guitar somebody might want it) and then replace it with a new point-to-point hand-wired harness with Switchcraft jack and selector switch.

It cost me around $100 for an assembled harness which I simply put in the guitar and then soldered the pickup wires to it.  It is almost impossible to modify the PCB without stuffing something up.

[jonmartin]

Our BKP 550k pots for your Tone and Volume combined with our BKP / Jensen capacitors, a 0.022 for the bridge and a 0.015 for the neck will make a great upgrade for your SG.  Most people who have tried our 550k pots have appreciated the extra clarity they give and the extra top end, a 550k will open your sound and let your pickups breathe.

[Dave Sloven]

I have to say, the one mod I would try is to replace the 0.022uf cap on the Cold Sweat neck with a 0.015uf one.