Six String Supplies - Guitar Electronics

sixstringsupplies · April 2018

Hi everyone,

I have been “lurking” on The Fretboard for a very, very long time and never had the confidence to dive in and get involved with the forum.

Having chatted to a few of the guys on the FB stand at the Birmingham Guitar Show in Feb, it’s time I got stuck in.

My name is Ed and I run Six String Supplies - what started as hobby has evolved into a business. Six String Supplies deals in Guitar electronics - wiring kits, prewired harnesses and individual components.

Very niche I know but I can’t compete with other suppliers who literally sell every single guitar part imaginable under the sun.

May as well stick to what you know eh?

We sell high quality individual electronic components, unassembled wiring kits and prewired kits for those without the confidence to solder themselves.

we have a range of wiring guides and video tutorials on our website with the aim of showing others how to wire the kits themselves (it saves me having to solder them!) and most of our organic website traffic comes from people searching how to wire a particular guitar.

Yes, it’s ultimately a business - but our website has a lot of free information.

The business started out just from pure passion and has been growing steadily the past few months.

i don’t believe in snake oil as sadly this
industry is full of it but ultimately believe that good quality electronics can make a big difference to your guitar. Switchcraft/CRL etc...the normal jazz.

I’ll periodically update this thread with photos of my work and bits and bobs.

Cheers all

Ed

Alegree · April 2018

Welcome Ed.

sixstringsupplies · April 2018

Today I've been working on a Jimmy Page style harness order for an Epiphone Les Paul.

It uses 4 CTS push pull pots (some really don't like them, I think they are superb)

The kit allows multiple options including coil splitting and out of phase switching. There is probably too much available to use in a live situation having to faff around with 4 push pull pots but it seems popular enough.

I tend to leave colour coded pickup "pigtails" on the harness so when it comes to installing you simply solder your pickup wire to the pigtail......otherwise getting your pickups in when it is sat in the control cavity is a right ballache.

Image: https://s25.postimg.org/q3ukx0hvz/Jimmy_Page_harness.jpg

Image: https://s25.postimg.org/xjtuisxvj/JIMMY_PAGE_WIRING_HARNESS.jpg

I really enjoy wiring these kits.....but sometimes they can take a couple of hours to fully wire and pack and it can get a wee bit tedious.

A lot of heat shrink tubing gets used (though not really visible in these photos)

TTony · April 2018

Welcome Ed.

A tip - put a clickable link to your website in your signature. Makes it easy for people to find you on the www.

sixstringsupplies · April 2018

cheers Tony. Done.

Keefy · April 2018

Hello again Ed, we met briefly at the Bristol Guitar Show last year

sixstringsupplies · April 2018

Keefy said:

Hello again Ed, we met briefly at the Bristol Guitar Show last year

Hi mate - apologies....I don’t remember. Most of last year’s show went right over my head: I am so bad with names and I was all on my own on the stand...as I will be this year. Pop on the stand this year I’ll sort you out some plectrums and what not. Cheers!

daveyh · April 2018

Ive recently bought a strat wiring kit from Ed, totally recommended. First call for me in the future

sixstringsupplies · April 2018

daveyh said:

Ive recently bought a strat wiring kit from Ed, totally recommended. First call for me in the future

Glad you like it Dave

sixstringsupplies · April 2018

So for the past 6-7 months or so I have been doing the electronics for Lucem Guitars - Graeme is actually a trained/educated electrical engineer and sends me wiring diagrams of his various circuits. Basically, he doesn't have the time to solder his electronics so sub-cons it out to me! Lovely...

The standard circuit for Lucem models incorporates a master volume in series as well as individual tone/volume controls for each pickup.

Each volume control splits each humbucker.

Recently, I have provided him with a Jimmy Page circuit to fit his "Supermarine" Paradox (photos below)

I'm a very big fan of his work (regardless of the fact he's a customer) but its great to see UK builders pushing the boundaries and designing unique shaped guitars. I genuinely believe we are truly spoilt for choice at the moment in the UK market with custom guitars....and pickups obviously.

Lucem do a Nick McCabe (The Verve) signature so I was naturally thrilled to contribute. It's a fairly weird circuit....non-standard shall we say.

Each harness feautures Switchcraft toggle switches/jack, CTS pots, cloth wire/bus wire (the normal jazz blah de blah)

Got the hakko soldering station in the black Friday sales in November - what a steal...and worthy investment.

and here is the stunning guitar it went into. The Lucem Supermarine Paradox

that neck joint though....

The above photos of the guitar don't do it justice as I've just screenshotted instragram....but if you look at his Facebook page, you see the whole thing in its beauty.

I appreciate this is probably boring AF for many members - but I love it!!

Keefy · April 2018

sixstringsupplies said:

Keefy said:

Hello again Ed, we met briefly at the Bristol Guitar Show last year

Hi mate - apologies....I don’t remember. Most of last year’s show went right over my head: I am so bad with names and I was all on my own on the stand...as I will be this year. Pop on the stand this year I’ll sort you out some plectrums and what not. Cheers!

Cheers Ed - hoping to get there again this year, can't blame you for not remembering one person among hundreds!

GoldenEraGuitars · April 2018

Good to FINALLY see you here, Ed

sixstringsupplies · April 2018

Cheers Scott @lonestar ;

sixstringsupplies · April 2018

Evening all!

For those of you who love building partscasters.

Premium wiring kits for those DIY enthusiasts.

Each kit features:

CTS "TVT" (true vintage taper pots)
Switchcraft or CRL switches
Switchcraft jack
Orange drop capacitors
Push back cloth wire/braided guitar wire.
Heat shrink rubber tubing
Wiring diagram

Treble pass capacitor is optional

Wiring guides available here
Each guide includes photo step by step guide and a video on how to wire it up.

I won't load a photo for each wiring kit....

Kits available for:

-Strat
-Tele (3 and 4 way)
- Les Paul (long and short)
-ES-335
- SG
- Jazz Bass
-Precision Bass
-Les Paul/SG Jr

Image: https://s25.postimg.cc/5c4va4v1r/Epiphone_Les_Paul_Wiring_Kit.jpg

Image: https://s25.postimg.cc/vkfzzimv3/Gibson_SG_Wiring_Kit.jpg

Image: https://s25.postimg.cc/lzwdcn58v/Strat_Wiring_Kit.jpg

sixstringsupplies · May 2018

Playing catch up after one hell of a busy period sandwiched between a house move and a guitar show in the space of 3 days.

Few prewired kits that left earlier today.

Custom job for a PRS Tremonti - Jimmy Page style kit

Image: https://s25.postimg.cc/x4rt4udi7/IMG-0134.jpg

Next up, Strat with master vol, master tone and a blend control...

Image: https://s25.postimg.cc/b5lehmoy7/IMG-0131.jpg

Classic Strat with treble pass capacitor on the volume.

Image: https://s25.postimg.cc/dzojv3e9r/IMG-0130.jpg

and everyone's favourite and my soon to be enemy - Jimmy Page Les Paul.

TTony · May 2018

Love the neatness of the wiring, and the "no mm wasted" approach!

sixstringsupplies · May 2018

TTony said:

Love the neatness of the wiring, and the "no mm wasted" approach!

Haha thanks. Yes whilst I love the CTS push pull pots, getting four of them in a Les Paul wth all the wiring can be a PITA.

GoldenEraGuitars · May 2018

TTony said:

Love the neatness of the wiring, and the "no mm wasted" approach!

+1.

Ed’s work is absolutely brilliant. Once I get the Junior stripped down I’m going to do away with the clip in wiring nonsense and get a new wiring setup from our man here.

sixstringsupplies · May 2018

lonestar said:

TTony said:

Love the neatness of the wiring, and the "no mm wasted" approach!

+1.

Ed’s work is absolutely brilliant. Once I get the Junior stripped down I’m going to do away with the clip in wiring nonsense and get a new wiring setup from our man here.

I'll sort you out Scott - I forgot to comment on your instagram post the other day about refinishing the pink LPJ...

DO IT BLACK!!

GoldenEraGuitars · May 2018

sixstringsupplies said:

lonestar said:

TTony said:

Love the neatness of the wiring, and the "no mm wasted" approach!

+1.

Ed’s work is absolutely brilliant. Once I get the Junior stripped down I’m going to do away with the clip in wiring nonsense and get a new wiring setup from our man here.

I'll sort you out Scott - I forgot to comment on your instagram post the other day about refinishing the pink LPJ...

DO IT BLACK!!

I was debating black with the tort guard... Uber cool. Buuuut, I think I’d be lynched for changing the colour

maxdown · July 2018

Just received and installed the Jimmy Page pre-wired assembly (and also the 3 way switch) into my recently acquired 2002 LP standard. I'd rate myself as 60% proficient with a soldering iron - but even I managed to get the job done with only the merest whiff of scorched laquer from one inadvertent dab of the iron tip to the guitar body!

One small thing I'd ask you to consider for that assembly Ed is that it would be great for the not so great solderers if you devised some sort of grounding tails or legs from both the Vol pots and maybe the bridge tone pot. Once the assembly is in place, the plastic covers on the lower pot on the DP pots gets in the way when trying to solder/ground the tailpiece ground wire to the BV pot, the pickup bare wires (both Vol pots) and the output jack ground (bridge tone pot).

I got round it by soldering some short shrinkwrapped tails onto the metal pot bodies that reached past the plastic covered lower pot before fitting the assembly. (Well OK I actually fitted it in place and then took it out again when I saw the problem - but the whole thing does need put in and taken out a good few times initially before doing any soldering anyway because you have to get the pot shafts set to the right amount of sticky outiness for your LP carve)

From that point on it was really easy to hook it all up 'from the top' with everything solidly anchored in place.

[edit] I do realise that it would probably be possible to hook up the pickup, bridge and output grounds with the assembly flipped over on the body of the guitar before fitting normally - but in my case the pickup wiring had been cut (by previous owner I assume) to leave not enough slack to do this - in fact I still had to solder some extensions on to the bridge pickup tails to reach the tails on the assembly [/edit]

I've a good sounding 50's wired LP now with all the Page #2 options should I feel like it.

I'd have likely given up trying to wire that assembly myself from scratch - really neat and handy job there Ed.

I highly recommend Ed/Six String Supplies!

sixstringsupplies · July 2018

@maxdown many thanks Max glad you like it.

yes I understand the point you make above - I’ve recently filmed a video for the YouTube channel on how to install this harness (I have wired so many of these kits) but only actually installed one in a guitar once so I didn’t appreciate how difficult it can be to ground the bridge and pickups so the sides of the push pull pots until very recently.

im looking at making the whole thing sodlerless but it’s taking a lot of time/research and sourcing.

i can look at putting tails in for grounding but then it starts to look incredibly messy and like spaghetti junction.

thanks again for the feedback,

cheers
ed

sixstringsupplies · October 2018

In the 2-3 years since I started Six String Supplies, I have had quite a few enquiries for solder-less kits (not too many mind) but enough to keep it on the radar and I have always been meaning to offer them as an alternative to customers/potential buyers who either do not have the equipment to solder themselves or don't have the confidence to do it themselves (or those who simply can't be arsed

These are all very simple to install, assuming you've got one of those small screwdrivers

It is still a work in progress, and they will never be my "main" product so to say, but I have started offering a few solder-less kits, currently only for your typical F-style models.....and currently only T-type and bass models.

Classic 3 way T wiring (pictured with UK made control knobs I had made for SSS)

Image: https://i.postimg.cc/59mMxJFP/IMG-0290.jpg

Solder-less PB kits

Image: https://i.postimg.cc/cCdyQ9PM/IMG-0291.jpg

....and JB kits

Image: https://i.postimg.cc/cCTqT7Sq/IMG-0293.jpg

They're not cheap though! No shame! I reckon I could wire a standard T-type kit, blindfolded in about 20 minutes, and fairly neatly, given the number of them I have wired the past 2 years or so and the habit its puts me in. The solder-less version takes so much longer and is quite fiddly. And they result in more finger burns

Fret-Friend_-_Victor · April 2023

Hey Ed

I don't come here as often as I ought but it's good to see you on here. You already know that you are my 'go to' when I need wiring help! I'll be sending you a message soon as I need some wiring advice on one of my own.

Victor [Fret Friend Guitar Workshop]

sixstringsupplies · April 2023

Fret-Friend_-_Victor said:

Hey Ed

I don't come here as often as I ought but it's good to see you on here. You already know that you are my 'go to' when I need wiring help! I'll be sending you a message soon as I need some wiring advice on one of my own.

Victor [Fret Friend Guitar Workshop]

Hey Victor,

I'm on holiday at the moment but if you send your message on email I will get back to you when I'm back next week,

I hope the new workshop move is going well!

bennyg85 · August 2023

I bought some pots and a switch for a Les Paul from you many moons ago. Fair pricing and great service. Highly recommended!

lovestrat74 · August 2023

bennyg85 said:

I bought some pots and a switch for a Les Paul from you many moons ago. Fair pricing and great service. Highly recommended!

Same here. Always my first port of call for harnesses

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Six String Supplies - Guitar Electronics

Comments