ASY-LP4 Upgrade Installation Instructions Revised: May 3, 2016

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1 ASY-LP4 Upgrade Installation Instructions Revised: May 3, 2016 Before you start, completely read these instructions first to learn how to successfully install this product. This is because instructions added to the end of this document will not be in the correct assembly sequence. Assumptions This Pickup Switch Upgrade TM product is designed for your Les Paul style guitar (Epiphone, Gibson, PRS, etc.) with four controls (two volume/two tone). This upgrade uses one Volume and one Tone control for all of your instrument s pickups. This upgrade lets you independently control all four coils of two 4-wire humbucker pickups (required for this upgrade). Note: Active (i.e., battery powered) or piezoelectric pickups are not supported. Tools You need one or more of the following tools (not included with purchase) to install this product. Preamble Wire cutters / Wire strippers Regular pliers Small Phillips & straight slot screwdriver (a 4-way screwdriver can be used as a deepwell socket to tighten switch mounting nuts. Ohmmeter to measure continuity Rotary file and electric drill 1/16" (1.6mm) drill bit 1/8" (3.2mm) drill bit 9/32 (7.1mm) drill bit Soldering iron (25/30 watt) with fine tip; rosin-core solder.022 dia. Installing this upgrade is for someone who either has intermediate upgrade skills or knows someone who does. We assume that you don t need extensive hand-holding to complete this installation. This ASY-LP4 instrument upgrade will have you cutting existing wires, drilling holes, and soldering. It may also be necessary to make wire connections, increase the length of existing wires, and remove some wood in your instrument body cavity. Because you will be making several changes to your instrument, you need to have a plan to install this Pickup Switch Upgrade TM product. Refer to applicable Figures later in this document. Use a pencil to draw the Original Circuit of your instrument before you proceed. When you record where the wires (and colors) were removed from your instrument, you can restore your instrument to its original condition should it become necessary. Adding Extra Wire If your pickup wires are too short to easily reach the specified connection of the green terminal strip on the T4-Switch, here is what to do. Measure out the needed length of the RED or BLACK wire in the included PARTS BAG to permit the wire to reach the applicable connection. A length of 4 (10cm) is budgeted for each wire extension. Put a ¼ (25mm) length of clear shrink tubing over each pickup coil wire sliding it away from the electrical connection. After soldering the wire, slide the shrink tubing over the connection and apply heat from the soldering iron to the shrink tubing rubbing it back and forth around its circumference to reduce its diameter and firmly grip/insulate the connection. Although soldering the input jack wire connections to the correct locations, the optional 71B grey wire nuts can be used are used to connect the input jack wires. They will let you easily disconnect the T4- Switch and Volume/Tone controls if needed. Note: If either your pickup or input wires use a shielded/braided cable, you will need to solder black wire to the cable because the green terminal strip (J1) does not directly accept shielded cable. Document Caveat: This is a NEW product so this document may not be as robust as it should be. Thank you for being kind and also sharing your improvement suggestions with us. 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 1 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

2 ASY-LP4 UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS You have received an assembled and tested ASY-LP4 upgrade product that you can install into a standard Les Paul style guitar. Your standard guitar will typically have an upper (Neck) and lower (Bridge) pair of volume and tone controls. A 3-way switch will be mounted in the upper horn area of the body. To install this upgrade, your guitar must have two 4-wire humbucker pickups installed. If your guitar has two 2- wire pickups, either single-coil or humbucker, you must replace them with 4-wire humbucker pickups. This upgrade uses our high performance T4 Pickup Switch Upgrade TM product. It is designed to use one tone and volume control to give you control of two 4-wire humbucker pickups to produce 68 unique pickup tones. What you received Your upgrade product contains the following items. 1. An assembled and tested T4-Switch, designed to independently control four separate pickup coils. 2. A Parts Bag that contains the following items. Website location to download this installation document A six hole finishing plate Six marine grade stainless steel washers A 20 (508mm) length of black and red insulated 28 gauge twisted pair wire (to lengthen pickup and input jack wire if needed) 2 (59mm) clear shrink tubing to insulate 28 gauge pickup wire extension connections, if needed 2 grey wire nuts (71B) to optionally connect input jack wires to your upgraded product Several business cards to share with friends AweSome Musical Instruments headstock decal to apply to your instrument 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 2 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

SECTION 1 Initial Preparation Here are the preliminary steps to prepare your instrument for the upgrade. STEP: 1. Remove the diamond shaped rear plastic cavity cover plate.

3 SECTION 1 Initial Preparation Here are the preliminary steps to prepare your instrument for the upgrade. STEP: 1. Remove the diamond shaped rear plastic cavity cover plate. Draw your original circuit using the provided Original Wiring drawing on the last page of this document to draw your original circuit. 2. Remove all four volume and tone control knobs. 3. Remove the fastening lock nuts and washers for all four volume and tone controls. 4. Remove both sets of volume and tone controls from their body mount. 5. Disconnect all the original 3-way switch wires from the controls. 6. Disconnect the pickup wires where they are connected to the Volume/Tone controls. 7. Disconnect the input jack hot and ground wires from the controls. Keep the wires on the input jack. 8. Disconnect the bridge ground wire from the controls. At this point, the volume and tone controls are removed from the body cavity (similar to the below illustration). The wires coming from the 3-way switch are disconnected, as are wires from the instrument input jack, bridge ground wire, and pickup wires. You want your body cavity to be empty and free from obstruction. If needed, dress the pickup and input jack wires out of the way by looping the ends back into the body hole. 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 3 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

4 SECTION 2 Pickup Removal Needed? We repeat, this upgrade requires that your guitar has two 4-wire humbucker pickups installed. If you already have two 4-wire humbucker pickups installed in your guitar, go to the SECTION 3. If you are replacing your pickups (either 2-wire single-coil or 2-wire humbucker pickups) for this upgrade, remove your strings first. This will make it easier for you to remove and replace your pickups with 4-wire humbucker pickups. Remove the four screws that hold the pickup surrounds for each pickup. You should be able to remove the pickup and withdraw the attached wire from the body hole for the pickup wire. Put each pickup assembly, including the screws, into a separate Ziplock bag. Mark each pickup as the bridge or neck pickup. When removing the pickups, take note of the screw lengths that are used to attach the pickup surrounds. They will likely be different lengths for the Bridge and Neck surround. Also take note of the different thicknesses for the Bridge and Neck surrounds. Installing the pickups and connecting the wires is described in a later section of this document. For this demonstration upgrade we used two Seymour Duncan 4-wire humbucker pickups. However, you can use any manufacturer s 4-wire humbucker pickups. You should also know that the pickup pole spacing is slightly different for the Bridge pickup and the Neck pickup. The bridge pickup end-to-end pole spacing will be slightly wider than that of the neck pickup. This is because the string spacing is wider at the bridge, and gradually converges at the bone nut with a string spacing that is smaller. In addition, we now include our K1 Kill Switch with your purchase. Brief instructions are now added to the end of this document. If you decide to install it, you need to remove your strings. You will also be removing the existing 3-way switch and the two pickups. The included K1 Kill Switch shielded 2-conductor wire needs to be snaked from the 3-way switch cavity through the two pickup cavities into the control cavity and will be connected to the two input jack wires. 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 4 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

SECTION 3 Drilling Holes to Mount the T4-Switch The T4-Switch will be mounted where the lower (i.e., Bridge) Volume and Tone controls were previously located.

5 SECTION 3 Drilling Holes to Mount the T4-Switch The T4-Switch will be mounted where the lower (i.e., Bridge) Volume and Tone controls were previously located. Use the six-hole finishing plate included in the Parts Bag as a guide for marking the center point of the four mounting holes on the top surface of your instrument. Position the finishing plate as illustrated below. When correctly positioned, the two outer holes of the finishing plate will show an equal amount of the original Volume control and Tone control holes. Marking the Holes Use a washable marker to put a dot on the guitar surface in the exact center of the four inner holes. This identifies where the T4-Switch mounting holes need to be drilled. Also notice that the original Volume and Tone control holes will typically have a small amount of additional material that may have to be removed by elongating each hole in the direction away from the other holes. How to elongate the holes is described in another section. 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 5 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

Drilling the T4-Switch Holes The four marked holes need to be drilled progressively wider to minimize the chance of chipping the body paint. It is advisable to use fresh/new drill bits.

6 Drilling the T4-Switch Holes The four marked holes need to be drilled progressively wider to minimize the chance of chipping the body paint. It is advisable to use fresh/new drill bits. While drilling, let the drill bit do the work. Avoid aggressively pushing the bit into the work. Insert the 1/16" (1.6mm) drill bit into your electric drill and drill the four pilot holes. Next, use the 1/8" (3.2mm) drill bit to incrementally increase the diameter of the four holes. Finally, use the 9/32 (7.1mm) drill bit to increase the diameter of the four holes to their required sizes. The shank of the 9/32 (7.1mm) drill bit can be used to gently elongate (i.e., scrape) the two original Volume Tone control holes and provide the necessary clearance for all six mini toggle switches of the T4-Switch product to enter from the interior of the body cavity and stick out from the front surface of the guitar. Here is the result of this step. 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 6 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

Here is a picture with the finishing plate laid over top of the holes confirming their correct position.

Removing a Circuit Board Corner In many instances, a small corner of the T4-Switch printed circuit board must be removed so the T4-Switch will mount into the body cavity recess with no body cavity

8 Removing a Circuit Board Corner In many instances, a small corner of the T4-Switch printed circuit board must be removed so the T4-Switch will mount into the body cavity recess with no body cavity interference. If it is necessary, here is where the corner is removed using tin shears or a saw blade. A sturdy pair of scissors can also be used by progressively making small cuts for removal. (This is now being done for you prior to shipping your upgrade). Special Note: Make sure you do not cut the Circuit Foil identified in the picture. 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 8 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

Confirming T4-Switch Mounting Hole Clearance Having completed the previous steps, your T4-Switch should now easily nestle into the body cavity with all six mini toggle

9 Confirming T4-Switch Mounting Hole Clearance Having completed the previous steps, your T4-Switch should now easily nestle into the body cavity with all six mini toggle switch shafts sticking out of the front surface of the instrument body. 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 9 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

Body Cavity Wood Removal After confirming that all six mini toggle switch mounting shafts can be inserted into the holes, you may need to remove some wood in the body cavity interior to permit the

10 Body Cavity Wood Removal After confirming that all six mini toggle switch mounting shafts can be inserted into the holes, you may need to remove some wood in the body cavity interior to permit the T4-Switch product to mount flush up against the inside of the body cavity. Because some instruments may have routing that has a non-flat surface, you may need to remove some wood material to ensure the T4-Switch will be mounted flat up against the wood that is underneath the front guitar body surface. Using a router would be helpful. But if one is not available, you can use a rotary file bit and your electric drill to remove the needed material. Here are two different types of rotary file examples, and how they are used with an electric drill. Note: During this wood removal step, it is advisable to have someone else firmly hold the guitar body stationary. The guitar body should be mounted on a firm surface (bench, table, etc.) with several folded clean towels serving as a cushion to prevent the back of the guitar body from getting scraped. 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 10 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

11 Wood Removed from Body Cavity Here is the body cavity with the wood removed from back side of the guitar body front surface. 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 11 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

Here is a close up view of the smoothed wood surface.

13 Installing the Required Pickups At this point, we replaced the original pickups that were removed with two 4-wire humbucker pickups. We used the mounting screws and springs for the pickups and the original surrounds to install them. The pickup wires were threaded into the tunnel holes going from the pickup cavity to the control body cavity. If the pickup wires need to be extended, use the Black/Red twisted pair wire. A length of 4 has been budgeted for each extension. Use the included clear shrink tube to insulate each soldered connection. A ¼ length of clear shrink tube has been budgeted for each soldered connection. 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 13 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

14 Connecting Your Pickup Wires There is no industry standard for pickup wire lead colors. More common color pairs are red/black, red/white, black/white and white/shield. You are advised to use consistency when connecting your pickup wire color pairs to the [+] and [ ] pickup connections on the green terminal strip (J1). Determine which wire color for each pickup coil will be attached to the applicable [+] and [ ] green terminal strip connector on our PTM board. If one of the pickup wire connections is a shielded lead, always connect the shield to a BLACK [ ] wire to be inserted in the green terminal strip on our switching system. Determine if there is enough wire length from each 2-wire pickup coil to comfortably reach the corresponding connectors on the green terminal strip on the Pickup Switch Upgrade TM circuit board. If not, refer to the Adding Extra Wire topic (page 1). WARNING: If your pickups have a metal bottom and if either pickup coil wire is grounded to this housing (use an ohmmeter to check each wire to body), make sure your instrument s body cavity is not lined with grounded metal shielding and the pickup housing does not have a separate grounding wire. Reason: This will cause the pickup to short to ground when the pickup switch is put into the regular/reverse phase. To fix this, isolate the pickup housing from the body cavity shielding with soft foam. Strip off 3/16 (4.76mm) insulation from the end of each pickup wire and also the input jack wires then twist the exposed wire strands so they are tightly bound. Insert the wires of each pickup pair into the correct location on the green terminal strip (J1) using the process described in the above Terminal Strip topic. Attach the wires using either of the following instructions. Note: If you have a ground wire coming from the bridge (and maybe from body cavity shielding), connect them to ground lead on the input jack. 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 14 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

15 Wiring Detail One of the Volume and Tone controls needs to be wired using the diagram shown below. This step will mostly be one of unsoldering a few cut leads and soldering a few additional wires. This Volume and Tone control is mounted into the upper holes of the body cavity. When correctly wired, install the Volume and Tone control into the original upper holes. Put on the flat washer and screw on and tighten the lock nut for both the volume and tone controls. The volume control should be mounted in the hole closest to the neck. Green Terminal Strip Here is how to attach wires to the green terminal strip (J1) that is on the PTM circuit board. Use a small screwdriver or writing pen tip and press down on the square release button located directly above the wire hole. Hold the button down and insert the stripped wire completely into the wire connection hole and then release the button. Lightly tug on the wire to confirm it is firmly gripped by the Terminal Strip. A legend is printed on the circuit board with the name of each terminal strip wire hole from left to right. Attach each wire to the correct terminal strip hole. T4-Board (10-hole terminal strip): [GND] [VOL] [+]NECK2[-] [+]NECK1[-] [+]BRDG2[-] [+]BRDG1[-] Caution: Do not insert hard items in the wire holes because it will decrease reliable electrical connection. 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 15 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

16 Connecting your pickup and input wires to the T4-Switch Green Terminal Strip Refer to the above figure when connecting the pickup wires. Firmly press in and hold the button of each terminal, insert the stripped/tinned wire into the corresponding hole and release the button. Gently tug on the wire to confirm it is firmly gripped by the terminal strip. Connect your south NECK pickup coil wire pair to the Connect your north NECK pickup coil wire pair to the Connect your south BRIDGE pickup coil wire pair to the Connect your south BRIDGE pickup coil wire pair to the [+]NECK1[-] connections on the green terminal strip [+]NECK2[-] connections on the green terminal strip [+]BRDG1[-] connections on the green terminal strip [+]BRDG2[-] connections on the green terminal strip Connect the Red + wire coming from the volume control to the VOL connection on the green terminal strip Connect the Black wire coming from the input jack ground to the GND connection on the green terminal strip Connect the Black ground wire coming from the bridge to the ground connection of the guitar input jack Green Terminal Strip Connections The back of the printed circuit board contains a white color legend that identifies where each wire is connected. 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 16 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

17 Installing the T4-Switch Now that all of the wires are connected, insert the T4-Switch through the mounting holes. While holding the T4-Switch in place, place the finishing plate over all six mini toggle switch shafts. The finishing plate should be flush against the top surface of the guitar body. Place the six nautical grade stainless steel washers over each of the mini toggle switches. Attach the mounting nut and only tighten them snug. Do not try to torque these nuts aggressively as damage to the product and/or your instrument may result. This damage is not covered by our warranty. Here is a rear view picture of the body cavity with the T4-Switch installed. 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 17 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

18 Here is a front view with the T4-Switch installed using the finishing plate and the stainless steel flat washers. T4-Switch Identification and Use Summary 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 18 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

19 Here is a summary of switch use for this product (see page 18 figure for switch identification). Document #C will help you map the pickup tones you get from the T4-Switch. It is available for download from our website s Document Library at S1N, S2N, S1B and S2B are ON-OFF-ON switches that turn on individual pickups in normal or reverse phase S5N and S5B are ON-ON switches that change select pickup coils from Parallel to Series connectivity S1B S2B S5B S1N S2N S5N turns on south BRIDGE1 pickup coil, either in normal phase (down), or reverse phase (up). turns on north BRIDGE2 pickup coil, either in normal phase (down), or reverse phase (up). When this switch is down, both bridge pickup coils will be in a Parallel circuit. When this switch is up it puts BRIDGE1 and BRIDGE2 pickup coils in a Series circuit. Both pickup coils must be on, either in normal phase (down) or reverse phase (up) or no sound will be produced. turns on south NECK1 pickup coil, either in normal phase (down), or reverse phase (up). turns on north NECK2 pickup coil, either in normal phase (down), or reverse phase (up). When this switch is down, both neck pickup coils will be in a Parallel circuit. When this switch is up it puts NECK1 and NECK2 pickup coils in a Series circuit. Both pickup coils must be on, either in normal phase (down) or reverse phase (up) or no sound will be produced. Validating Connect your instrument to an amplified source with the volume set to low. Turn the switches on and off as described in Switch Identification and Use Summary topic while gently tapping the magnet of the pickup coil that should be on with a small screwdriver to confirm pickup response. Also confirm the correct operation of the Volume and Tone controls. If you receive the stated results, attach the rear access plate, install the Volume and Tone knobs. Next, install a new set of strings. Welcome to the Grand Canyon Wide range of 68 AweSome pickup tones. Miscellaneous Notes Although the 3-way switch in the top horn can be left intact for "stock" appearances, it will not be functional after the upgrade. We also have a KILL (stutter) switch (item #141) accessory available on our website products page that replaces the 3-way switch to give you added functionality. Our quality Kill switches are rated at 1,000,000 mechanical operations for a lifetime of continued performance. This is arguably the most incredible upgrade that exists. When correctly installed, it gives you more pickup tones than the standard Jimmy Page (guitarist for Yardbirds, Led Zeplin) modification. His awkward upgrade yields 21 pickup tones. Our elegant upgrade yields 68 pickup tones. That is 47 MORE unique pickup tones. Our document library at contain this document, document #C and document #M that contains information to span coils and produce a 4-coil humbucker pickup that will sound so fat it s incredible. In addition, document #M will give you access to 88 pickup tones. And finally, thank you for your purchase. We believe that you are going to be favorably pleased with the incredible performance of our Pickup Switch Upgrade TM products. Original Wiring 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 19 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

20 Use the following image to document your instrument s original wiring. Be sure to identify wire colors where needed. Use a pencil when doing this. You need to draw the pickup switch in your instrument. K1 Kill Switch assembly (color may vary) 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 20 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

Installing the K1 Kill Switch We now include our K1 Kill Switch with your purchase. These basic instructions describe how to install the now included K1 Kill Switch for your LP style instrument.

21 Installing the K1 Kill Switch We now include our K1 Kill Switch with your purchase. These basic instructions describe how to install the now included K1 Kill Switch for your LP style instrument. This switch uses a 1/2" (12mm) diameter back threaded switch with a locking nut that requires 19/16 (14mm) open end wrench or socket. The switch has two small Phillips locking screws used to attach the wires to the switch. Also included is a 16 (406mm) length of shielded 2-conductor cable. If you decide to install this K1 Kill Switch, these basic instructions will help you. You need to remove your strings. You will also be removing the existing 3-way switch and move the two pickups out of the way. The included shielded 2-conductor wire connects the K1 Kill Switch to the input jack wires. This shielded wire needs to be snaked from the control cavity through the two pickup cavities into the 3-way switch cavity. Without moving both pickups out of the way, you will find this to be an impossible task. Here are the basic steps to install the K1 Kill Switch. STEP: 1. Remove the stock 3-way switch by unscrewing the locking nut and the attached wiring. You may need to cut the wires of the 3-way switch at the control cavity end to permit the wiring removal. 2. Prepare the shielded wire by removing about 4 of grey sheath from one end and about 2 of grey sheath from the other end. Remove the foil shield from each end of the wire length exposing the two wires (red and black) as well as the non-braided shield wire. 3. Clip the non-braided shield wire from the 2 end. Strip 1/4" of insulation from the end of the red and black wire. Twist the wire to be tightly bundled and tin the wires with solder. This end will be attached to the K1 Kill Switch. Because the insulate red and black wires will easily slip out of the shield, 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 21 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

Also twist the nonbraided shield wire mating it with the black wire so both are tightly bundled. 5.

22 use needle nose pliers to hold each wire while stripping off the insulation. 4. Twist the non-braided shield wire at the 4 end to be tightly bound. Strip 1/2" of insulation from the end of the red and black wires. Twist the wires to be tightly bundled but do not tin. Also twist the nonbraided shield wire mating it with the black wire so both are tightly bundled. 5. With the pickups removed or moved out of the way, insert the wire (short stripped end) from the control cavity, through the pickup cavities and into the 3-way switch cavity. The end with the tinned wires will be connected to the K1 Kill Switch. 6. Using a needle nose pliers, bend the tinned wires so they are at a 90 degree angle. Using a small Phillips screwdriver, loosen the two locking screws at the back of the K1 Kill Switch. Thread one of the wires through the Kill Switch hole and tighten the locking screw. Do the same thing with the other wire. Either color wire can be connected to the Kill Switch. 7. Rethread the pickup wires back into the control cavity. Be attentive of marking the position of the pickup wire (i.e., Neck pickup or Bridge pickup.) 8. When completing the installation, the red wire will be connected to the Hot input jack wire, and the black wire (with the unbraided shield) will be connected to the ground input jack wire. Here are a few photos of the shielded wire. 2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights reserved worldwide 22 ASY-LP4 Upgrade

2013, AweSome Musical Instruments, All rights

PTM Jazz Bass Control Plate Installation Revised: March 2, 2011

PTM Jazz Bass Control Plate Installation Revised: March 2, 2011 Before you start, read these instructions first to understand what you need to do to install this product. Assumptions This patented Pickup