G&L tech resources: Wiring harnesses

 
 

These 3 Superstrats, all introduced in January 1985, models share the copper shielding plate and hence have the same shape and size cavity in which one finds the wiring harness. The simplest is the one used for the Rampage, like the exemplar from 1985 below, with just a single CTS 250kΩ Audio Taper volume potentiometer with a 200pF ceramic treble bleed capacitor. When adding a second humbucker, like on this 1986 Superhawk w/Kahler and Superhawk w/Leo Fender Vibrato from 1987, the volume control is identical as for the Rampage but 2 identical tone controls, one for each pickup, are added. These use a CTS 250kΩ Audio Taper pot in series with a 22,000pF (.022µF) cap to ground. Even though each pickup on the 1991 Superhawk ‘Leo’s last project’ prototype comprises of 2 S-500 coils, the wiring harness turns out to be identical to the 1987 Superhawk. On both of these guitars, one finds a 3-position MTA206PA mini-toggle pickup selector. The Invader on the other hand has a single volume control and tone control. The former is implemented in the now familiar way, a CTS 250kΩ Audio Taper pot with a 200pF ceramic treble bleed cap. The tone control is the same as found in the Broadcaster wiring harness, introduced in May 1985: a CTS 250kΩ Audio Taper pot with a 100,000pF (.1µF) treble bleed cap and in series with a 6.8kΩ resistor to ground. Each of the pickups on this model have their own on/off MTA106D mini-toggle switch. Below, the harnesses for a 1986 Invader w/Kahler and a 1987 Invader w/Leo Fender Vibrato for illustration.

 

Rampage/Superhawk/Invader