Support / Gibson & Epiphone Thunderbird Bass Wiring Diagram & Fitting Instructions

Removal

Find somewhere safe, dry and secure to place your Thunderbird Bass guitar while you work on it.
Remove the control knobs x 3.
Remove the 3 x pot nuts and washers.
Undo the screws that hold the control plate at the back of the guitar.
In the control panel, cut the wires from the pickup closest to the pot as possible.
Cut the 2 wires from the Jack socket if you are not replacing it.
The wiring harness should be free to come out and so should the jack socket.

Replacement

At this point you may want to clean pot holes on the front of the guitar from where the old pots have been.
You will need to check the size of the holes for the pots as on some guitars they are drilled small for cheap electrical components. If they are small, the best way to enlarge them to 10mm to fit CTS pots, is to use a round file.
Fit the new harness into place and tighten the nuts and washers on the pots
Fit the jack socket into place with the nut and washer if you are replacing it
Solder the pickup wires to the pot (refer to wiring diagram)
Solder the ground bridge wire to the back of the pot (refer to wiring diagram)
Solder the jack socket wires if you are not replacing it etc
Once this is done, you should test to make sure everything is working.
You can now replace the control plate cover
Re-fit the control knobs.

Tools & Equipment

Tips

Gibson & Epiphone Thunderbird Bass Vintage Wiring Harness