Low-tech no-solder hardwire for Les Paul frets

**ND1310** · Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 778

i did this mod and it worked perfectly but then when i closed it up the green button didnt work

. i opened it up and all the wires were fine. whats wrong with it?
any help is appreciated

**brad16752** · Joined: 14 Oct 2007 Posts: 770

I figured I'd give a little update.....

I did this mod about 6 months ago and my controller still works perfectly. I have not had a single fret failure since I did this fix and I am pretty careless and clumsy with my controller.

Also, I lol'd reading the "void warranty" screw post, the exact same thing happened to me and I was baffled for about an hour.

**SkaterGamer** · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 462 Location: England

oh my god whoever came up with this is a LEGEND. It worked perfectly for me, no more dropped holds w000000t

took me 2hours though because i didn't have the correct screwdriver, i was trying to do it with a flat head, lol. And I wasn't sure if 1mm cpc cable would work but it did, just perfectly, I used the temporary fix of moving the contacting plate forward but onfortunately that only worked well for a few days then I had to end up taking the neck out and licking my finger and rubbing the contacts every 10 minutes, it was becoming a nightmare but now no more worries, highly recommend doing this! It's fiddly, and time consuming but well worth it in the end.

Those instructions were very helpful too. thank you!!!!

750k ttfaf here i come.

EDIT: Oh i stripped the ribbons insulating material with my teeth, that worked fine, my wire strippers wouldn't work on it at all:(

And to make the hook, i used a pair of pliars to fold the cable back on itself then crushed the hook tight keeping the ribbins end of the cable firmly in place, gave it a quick tug to make sure it was secure then taped them up.

And about the faceplate... I just put in about 4 screws, 2 on the neck and 2 on the body, then put the neck into the body all the way, you can still get the faceplate on no problem because it's flexible, I could have put all the screws in first then added the faceplate last but I was just being careful. So it is easily possible to get the faceplate back on just slide it over the whammy bar then, point the whammy bar AWAY from the guitar and it will all just slot into place real easy.
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**nfntjy** · Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 187

awesome guide. thanks.

CAT-5 cable is a perfect source for the wire. There's 8 individually colored 22-gauge wires in there, and you can leave the outer insulation to keep everything looking nice.

I actually went so far as to install jacks in the neck and the body. Does anyone know of a decent way to make it so i could actually run the cable between the neck and body outside of the guitar?

**rodrod** · Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 120 Location: Duluth Minnesota

So, to wire them together, theyve got to be reversed, right? The ones on the right end go to the left end of the other side and so on? thanks in adv

EDIT: LOL I just wired them I backwards. Here is the deal: Red + Blue = Red. Yellow+Blue= Yellow. Yellow+Orange or Blue+Organge goes to the left on the Xbox menu rofl. Can someone PLEASE show a picture or arrange a drawing showing the proper wiring? Thanks

**rodrod** · Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 120 Location: Duluth Minnesota

bump? its kinda urgent

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**TheRiff** · Joined: 18 Jan 2007 Posts: 1570 Location: Miami, FL

Thanks for the great tutorial! Works great for me, sucks for the people who don't have these resources. Thats probably thousands of people.

Used 24 gauge copper wire for anyone wondering what a good size would be.
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**rodrod** · Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 120 Location: Duluth Minnesota

I got pissed of, removed the ethernet cable I was using, and simply directly connected the grey wires deom the frets to the ones in the guitar using tape. Works great, Only thing is that if I want to remove the face plate I have to take the nexk screws off, but I don't care, I don't ever change it lol.
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**hate.machine** · Joined: 10 Jul 2008 Posts: 56 Location: Right behind you!

Red fret was wonky the first time, opened it back up and readjusted a loose connection and it works like a charm.

I was using copper wire that had no insulation and had to use quite a bit of tape.

**eMan2718281828** · Joined: 07 Sep 2007 Posts: 97 Location: Rockville, MD

I just spent a few hours doing this to my Wii controller.

1st try - no fret buttons worked
2nd try - all but orange worked
3rd try - no fret buttons worked...but figured out that the 6th wire makes the rest of them work
4th try - only green and red work
5th try - green, red, and blue are good.
6th try - SUCCESS!

Electrical tape is a freakin' BITCH to remove after it's been wrapped around wires...especially wires in close proximity. Also, for anyone doing this, I recommend attaching your wire to the body first, and then the neck...the existing wires on the body are much shorter and are much easier to hook up if the other end of your wire is not already attached to something.
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**gamerkim28** · Joined: 05 Jul 2008 Posts: 160 Location: SoCal

i did this mod quite a while ago, but my guitar is starting to drop notes again.

Can we solder the points and THEN tape over it?

I guess this defeats the purpose of it being a no solder mod, but i think the wires became loose over time for me. I'm thinking I should solder the wires then wrap them in tape.

Is this a good idea or not?

Otherwise I'll just have to re-tape my wires again.
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**6lake6bodom6** · Joined: 08 Dec 2007 Posts: 450 Location: postin' up in: AZ

can someone PLEASE do a drawing of which wire connects where? i want to know what im suppost to be doing defore i cut the PCB off my LP, and it doesnt say anything detailed about this in the OP

thx in advance
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**gamerkim28** · Joined: 05 Jul 2008 Posts: 160 Location: SoCal

if my yellow is the only fret that's acting up (on a 360 les paul) which number wire(s) should i check?
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**BriGuy** · Joined: 04 Mar 2006 Posts: 1894 Location: Boston