VHII's into a Les Paul Q's

[Ted]

OK so I may have made a bit of a boo boo.

Got myself a calibrated pair of VHII's second hand for £100 notes. I thought that was a good deal.

However, having done this with limited research I have ended up with one pickup which is 53mm - I think thats the bridge (shorter wires) and one pickup 50mm pole spacing (longer wires).

Will this be ok to fit into my 2005 Gibson Les Paul Standard? Any LP users out there care to give me an idea?

Also my pups seem to have a scary amount of wires: red, green, white, black & unshielded! Where can I get a wiring diagram for these?!  

Any help much appreciated.
 :D
Ted

PS Depending on answers received, these may end up on ebay!!!

Bugger.   :roll:

[Twinfan]

You have an F-spaced bridge.  Not ideal for a Les Paul as the bridge spacing is a little narrower, but it's still OK.

You've got 4 conductor wiring which allows coil splitting.  If you're just going for a basic Les Paul installation join the green and white wires together and tape them up.  They don't attach to anything else.  The black and bare wires go to ground/earth (back of a pot, usually a volume) and the red goes to the input tag of the bridge or neck volume pot.

Does that make sense???

[Ted]

You have an F-spaced bridge.  Not ideal for a Les Paul as the bridge spacing is a little narrower, but it's still OK.

You've got 4 conductor wiring which allows coil splitting.  If you're just going for a basic Les Paul installation join the green and white wires together and tape them up.  They don't attach to anything else.  The black and bare wires go to ground/earth (back of a pot, usually a volume) and the red goes to the input tag of the bridge or neck volume pot.

Does that make sense???

Sweet, thanks Twinfan.  

Yes perfect sense, thanks!

[Twinfan]

No probs  :)

[Ted]

You have an F-spaced bridge. Not ideal for a Les Paul as the bridge spacing is a little narrower, but it's still OK.

Hmm - just re-read this - does that mean it will sound shite? Or have detrimental impact on the tone?

Tis a worry... :?

[Twinfan]

It just means the pole pieces are quite lined up with the strings.  You'll still get a tone out of them though, it's just not "perfect".  Line them up with your strings and you'll see what I mean.  If you're REALLY bothered by it, you could eBay the bridge pickup (or sell it on this board) and buy a new one.

[Philly Q]

The actual string spacing at the bridge of a new Gibson is about 52mm, so over the bridge pickup it's roughly 51mm or so (it varies a bit, it's worth measuring to check).

So a 53mm pickup is a bit wide, but a 50mm pickup is a bit narrow - it really doesn't matter which one you go for (IMO).  I have 53mm bridge pickups on my The Paul and my SG and they're fine.

[Ted]

The actual string spacing at the bridge of a new Gibson is about 52mm, so over the bridge pickup it's roughly 51mm or so (it varies a bit, it's worth measuring to check).

So a 53mm pickup is a bit wide, but a 50mm pickup is a bit narrow - it really doesn't matter which one you go for (IMO).  I have 53mm bridge pickups on my The Paul and my SG and they're fine.

Thanks Philly, thats a bit more comforting, i'll give it a whirl anyway...

[Muzzzz]

I screwed up the spacing when I was ordering my BK's. The pole pieces on my neck/mid trilogies don't really line up with the strings at all, but it still sounds fantastic.

[Ted]

I screwed up the spacing when I was ordering my BK's. The pole pieces on my neck/mid trilogies don't really line up with the strings at all, but it still sounds fantastic.

Double sweet!