# LTD EC-1000 modding



## bannyd (Oct 9, 2013)

So I've always been a fan of the ESP/LTD Eclipse body style and playability -- and i've had my blue EC-1000 for a few years now and I never really LOOOOVED the EMG pickups... so i found a member on here who traded me the EMG pups for a set of DiMarzio PAF Pro and Super Distortion ... yeah i know he made out on the deal, but whatever -- its all good lol

So since I'm going with passive pickups, I came across this Free-Way switch. I'm sure most of you have heard of it... or maybe you havent 

Either way, its basically a LP style switch (3 position) BUT... it has 6 positions... 

I picked one up for like $15 and it seems pretty cool - It'll be wired to run 
top position left - neck
middle left - neck & bridge
bottom left - bridge

top right - neck coil tapped
middle right - both inside coils
bottom right - bridge coil tapped

I picked up new 500k CTS pots as well 

Here's the kicker - I purchased a strat style output jack which i plan on mounting on the side of the guitar - so its easy to route my cable around my guitar strap for playing live!

needless to say, this is my first time i've ever heavily modified a guitar - and i think this should be pretty cool!

here's a picture as she stands right now with just the pickup selector in place





also i had to cut out a chunk in the back so the pickup selector would work





i'll be sure to update this thread very soon


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## BlackMastodon (Oct 9, 2013)

Liking where this is going but I do have a couple pennies to throw your way about the Free Way Selector switch. 

I had quite a few issues with mine, which may have been due to faulty wiring/grounding but there was a lot of humming coming from it. At first, it was just whenever I touched the switch that it would hum, but then after a few months it would just make the most atrocious noises when I switched positions. I read a few reviews on StewMac and it seemed pretty common and there was a pretty general consensus that the switch was rather cheap. Another thing I didn't like about it is that you don't really have much room for customizing which positions will be wired to which sound; it has 6 or 7 schematics online for different pickup configurations and that seems to be the only ones that will work with it.

I ended up replacing the FWS switch for a 6 position rotary switch and I much prefer it. It feels a lot sturdier and there are no hum issues or anything. And FWIW, my build used EMGs so I don't know if the active pickups had anything to do with it. Anyway, just some food for thought if you were curious.

Really looking forward to seeing what you do with the strat mounting jack. Is there enough meat on the side of the guitar to keep the plate there?

Happy modding!


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## bannyd (Oct 10, 2013)

BlackMastodon said:


> Liking where this is going but I do have a couple pennies to throw your way about the Free Way Selector switch.
> 
> I had quite a few issues with mine, which may have been due to faulty wiring/grounding but there was a lot of humming coming from it. At first, it was just whenever I touched the switch that it would hum, but then after a few months it would just make the most atrocious noises when I switched positions. I read a few reviews on StewMac and it seemed pretty common and there was a pretty general consensus that the switch was rather cheap. Another thing I didn't like about it is that you don't really have much room for customizing which positions will be wired to which sound; it has 6 or 7 schematics online for different pickup configurations and that seems to be the only ones that will work with it.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the input! I was really hoping I could get some real reviews of the switch, but they seemed hard to come by. 

If the switch doesnt work out, I'll definitely try the rotary switch - besides, how fun would it be to have an extra knob up at the top horn of a guitar?

I'm pretty sure there's enough meat/thickness on the side of the guitar for the strat jack - but until i get it in my hands, i'll be able to figure something out. if that doesnt work, it was only $5, so i'm not all that worried. 

I'm sure this guitar will go through a ton of changes in its lifetime - this is just the start of it!


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## BladeDTMGuitarist (Oct 10, 2013)

I also have an LTD EC-1000 and there is enough meat on the guitar for the stratocaster jack, i haven't done that mod on my guitar though. since you are already changing the pots you should change the caps too it will give a lot more usuable range on the tone knob.


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## BlackMastodon (Oct 10, 2013)

bannyd said:


> If the switch doesnt work out, I'll definitely try the rotary switch - besides, how fun would it be to have an extra knob up at the top horn of a guitar?


Just know that the hole for the FWS switch is a bit bigger than the hole for the rotary switch so you may need to dowel and redrill or if you're feeling really lazy just use a washer to hold it (which is my case right now ).


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## bannyd (Oct 11, 2013)

i just got the strat output jack in the mail this morning -- all the pieces are here -- i just need wiring and we're on our merry way!


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## bannyd (Nov 1, 2014)

so a little update to this post -- I had the guitar all wired up w/ the free-way switch - and i wasn't too crazy about it -- i thought it made the pickups sound like absolute crap -- and i had it wired like that for a few months. Just recently, i rewired everything with the original 3 way pickup selector - and it still sounded like shit! - I thought the pickups I had were just horrible... until.... 
It turns out I had an extreme DERP moment 
I WAS LOOKING AT A SEYMOUR DUNCAN WIRING DIAGRAM... not a DiMarzio one... 
apparently, between the two brands, the red wire and black wire are switched
so when i wired my pickups, they were out of phase
I rewired AGAIN and BOOM -- absolutely beautiful tone from the PAF and SuperDistortion 
I dont have the coil tapping anymore, but, hell - i've come this far, i'll keep modding this thing forever
I never installed the strat output jack - but, i think i'm over that now 

I'll get pics when I can


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