This one’s had me really head-scratching; particularly at 3am. Part of the problem is I’m not Bill Lawrence and the other part is I’ve never touched an L6-S. (Atchly, I’m not even much of a solder monkey, never mind a Bill Lawrence). Ironically, according to Bill’s own website he wanted the guitar to have two 3-way toggle switches but the bean-counters at Gibson forced the rotary on him.

So far as I can make out, the rotary does not change the internals of the humbuckers – it alters the combination of those two. Given that the aforementioned bean counters wanted stock Gibbo components used, it’s safe to say that the each HB is wired internally in series and there’s a hot wire and a ground wire.

If that’s the case, then I am definitely head-scratching. Position 1 (series, in phase) should be such that both bypass circuits are disconnected but your descn sounds like the opposite is happening. Hmmm, before I go any further Ghost, it might help if you can describe how the sound is affected when the control is turned. Then I can do some more thunk.

1) Should be the beefiest, fattest of the lot but we know it’s dead.
2) Should be warmer and bassier than (5). Tapping the pups with fingernail should get a click out of the amp for the neck but not the bridge.
3) fingernail should get taps out of both. Can’t compare the sound to (1) unfortunately but slightly more Fenderish than a Gibson “both on” setting.
4) Ditto to (3), except the output should be reduced quite a bit and be “quackier” for want of a better term.
5) Brighter than (2) and the fingertap should only get a pop from the amp on the bridge pup.
6) Fingertap should get amp pop from both pups. Should get thicker, louder “quack” than (4). Can’t for a minute think why it should sound like (5).

Let us know what you do get, especially from the “finger tap on pup case” test. If inconclusive, use a metal coin but keep your amp vol down as I don’t want your speaker blowing.

Sorry Bass, didnt see your reply. I do believe you are right about having a tec look it over, and that you are also right about not having a 3 way put in to replace it (I would never ever do such a thing). I have been searching the web for this rotary but with no luck. The closest I have come to it is the 6 way push pull that is found on Lucille. It might have to come to that. Although as luck would have it there is a great guitar show coming to my town on Feb 19th. I have a feeling I might get lucky mingling amoung the folks. But I was in hopes of having this sweetie just right to show it off, as many people will be doing with there prized stringed instruments.

Thank you for your responce Blues,
I’m not the best tuned string on the axe, what is the input connector?

Took me a while before I found out what the rotary does (well done, vintageguitar.com):

[quote]The positions available on the rotary are: 1=both p.u. in series in phase; 2=neck p.u. only; 3=both parallel in phase; 4=both parallel out-of-phase; 5=bridge only; 6=both in series out-of-phase. [/quote]

Two facts to consider here. (1) You’ve had the guitar since new, so that rules out the rotary being yanked out and replaced with a three-way, then a botched return to the original 3-way. (2) Your neck-pup-only and bridge-pup-only settings work fine, so we can rule out pup damage. There are some strange things that I don’t quite figure out, but it looks like either the connections to the rotary’s tabs or the rotary internals themselves are at fault.

Having narrowed it down like this, it’s worth spending just a little money having a decent tech look it over. It beats trying to describe things by email. If that 6-way needs replacing that might be a difficult part to find, but resist any lazy tech’s “solution” of replacing it with a toggle switch.

could just be bad input connector!!!

Hi Gang!
I’m new to the site and just happened upon this discussion when I typed Gibson L6-S into search. ok, enough of that. The reason I’m on the search is because I have a L6-S and I’ve had it since it was new. But after many years of hiding it from myself deep in the back of the closet it would seem it no longer wants to work as I remembered it. I think my problem is in the 6 way dial switch, Helens chicken head “lol”. It works in some positions and not in others. Position 1 I get no sound at all, positions 2 through 5 seem to be in order but position 6 sounds the same as position 5. I’m trying to figure out if I may have a short between the two pickups or if I might be in need of a new 6 way. Anyone have a thought on this please let me know. In regards to the price of this guitar I have seen 3 of them on e-bay. They went from $550 to $650. So I think the price quoted in here at $750 is a good estimate. Almost nothing brings what it’s really worth at e-bay.

Goodo, had to ask the “suck-eggs” question, just in case they hadn’t been 🙂 . Seeing as the pups need a bit of life breathing in, I’d suggest Bill Lawrence and Lindy Fralin, in that order. If it’s a bit expensive/time-consuming and you’ll settle for Dimarzio et al, I’d just suggest that you make sure of replacements that don’t cause any extra holes, and hang onto those originals for a future sale.

One thing did occur to me, Helen. Sorry if it’s such an obvious question, but it is a bit unusual for both pickups on a guitar to go AWOL. Is the rest of the wiring OK? I bought an old WEM bass for a friend, a real basket case. I got no output at all from either pup, but the problem was a really worn jack socket not really making any connection with the lead. Once I’d soldered a new socket in, both pups worked fine. You have checked for this (and any other loose connections) before blaming the pups?

Hi Helen,

1BL is right, don’t even think about replacing the pickups, they probably just need to be rewound.

The Bill Lawrence suggestion is a good one, I’m just not sure how much repair work he does these days. In the States, Lindy Fralin has a good reputation for repairing vintage pickups. I had him rewind a single coil from my 60’s National Newport and it turned out great. You can’t be in a hurry, my recollection is that it took him about 4-5 months to return my pup. Shipping to the States is a non issue.

You may also want to look at the list of pickup repair people I have listed at the bottom of my vintage guitar links page:

http://vintaxe.com/guitar_links.htm

The Vintage Guitar Price Guide values your guitar around $750 USD. It is likely worth considerably more in NZ. Good luck, sb

Helen, something made me think of Bill Lawrence. He’s not in your neck of the sheep, but he’s very up on p’ups and I thought worth a look:
http://www.billlawrence.com/

Then a bit more clicking got me this:
http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/L6S.htm

and it looks like Bill had a major role in the design of the L6S. I’d suggest you goto the homepage and contact him. He’d probably be interested in your guitar, and who better to fix your pups? Sending pups by airmail isn’t that expensive; I’ve done it a bit myself.

EDIT: I’ve just emailed Bill Lawrence. If he replies, I’ll put up the news. If he posts here directly, I’ll sing Pie Jesu in my best soprano 🙂

Dont replace the pickups, it can affect its value, when selling vintage guitars buyers like to have all original spec.
Best take it to a repairers, the pickups CAN be fixed.