RS Guitarworks.

[Saul Goodman]

I placed an order with RS Guitarworks on March 21 for a LP wiring harness. Four pots and two caps on a plastic jig figuring they'd have these on the shelf readymade. Nope. I mean, it must be one of their more popular harnesses. That and probably a Strat or Tele harness must be right up there with a LP harness. You'd think they'd have these readymade. At least two or three of each on the shelf. The other harnesses they offer would be made to order since Mustangs aren't as plentiful in the wild as LPs and Strats. I could understand a bit of a delay for those.

I called and spoke with Billy for a bit on March 21 to guide me through the selection process for which LP harness was for me. He was nice and helped me make my decision. He said he was the only one who did soldering there so I felt I was talking to the right person. So I called on April 30 (40 days later) and asked the girl who answered the phone when I might see my harness. She said she'd have to talk with Billy. I said okay thinking she'd put me on hold. Nope. She said he'd call me back. I gave her my cell number and then went into Settings, Phone, unselect, "Silence numbers not in Contacts," and waited. About an hour later Billy called and asked what I needed. I guess the girl didn't really "talk" with billy but told him to give me a call. I asked Billy when I might see my harness. He looked in the queue and said I'm number 9 in the queue. He said that means he should be able to get to it Thursday or Friday which was May 1 and May 2. He said I'd get an email when it was shipped. So I checked my email every morning for the last 10 days. Nada. These guys are slow. Four pots and two caps. Seems a little ridiculous to have a six or eight week wait for a simple part. But maybe that's just me. 

[BoogieMKIIA]

Seems odd, I have not had issues like this, but I order parts and take repairs to them in person. I think all wiring harnesses are built to order. They are small and may have a number of custom guitar orders in process taking up resources.

Still, should communicate with customers about timing and delays.  Roy may look at this board and have a comment.

 

[JGale]

I suggest calling again. They have never struck me as bad people.

[Saul Goodman]

4 hours ago, JGale said:

I suggest calling again. They have never struck me as bad people.

I'm not saying anything like that. I don't think they're swindling me out of a hundred bucks. Just seems odd it takes this long for something that I think should have been on the shelf in a box and ready to go. Then again, I don't run a custom guitar shop. 

[tbonesullivan]

Wasn't there a big guitar show recently in Dallas? If they go to that, that can delay a whole bunch of things. It may also be that so many people want customized stuff that they found it better to not pre-build any wiring harnesses.

Another possibility: the instability the tariff stuff has introduced into the supply chain. Do Alpha and CTS still make Potentiometers in the USA or somewhere not hit by tariffs? Same may be true for other components. From what I see RS has their own branded components, so that may also introduce other delays, depending on who is making the parts.

Still, do they have anywhere on their website that orders can take 1-2 months to arrive?

[RobB]

1 hour ago, tbonesullivan said:

Still, do they have anywhere on their website that orders can take 1-2 months to arrive?

Not if they are smart. Why discourage sales right off the bat?

[Dave Scepter]

2 hours ago, tbonesullivan said:

Do Alpha and CTS still make Potentiometers in the USA or somewhere not hit by tariffs? 

Both made in Taiwan 

[Travis]

I’ve heard of some similar issues with RS lately. Personally, I’ve bought a couple of wiring harnesses from them over the years and had nothing but good experiences with both. I wonder what’s going on…? 🤔

[Steve Haynie]

When I was on a trip to Kentucky Roy gave me a tour of RS.  He was that proud papa like Sterling Ball.

[currypowder]

I’m in the same boat. Ordered a wiring harness about a month ago. Emailed them after a couple of weeks and got the same message, but I was number 39 in the queue, so I guess it’ll be another few weeks. Fortunately I don’t have a critical need or I’d be going elsewhere. 
 

In the past when I’ve made the same order, it only took a few days. I guess things have changed. 
 

In their defense, there is a blurb on the order page that there could be a long lead time, but no time estimate. 

[Saul Goodman]

20 hours ago, tbonesullivan said:

Wasn't there a big guitar show recently in Dallas? If they go to that, that can delay a whole bunch of things. It may also be that so many people want customized stuff that they found it better to not pre-build any wiring harnesses.

Another possibility: the instability the tariff stuff has introduced into the supply chain. Do Alpha and CTS still make Potentiometers in the USA or somewhere not hit by tariffs? Same may be true for other components. From what I see RS has their own branded components, so that may also introduce other delays, depending on who is making the parts.

Still, do they have anywhere on their website that orders can take 1-2 months to arrive?

Tariffs were introduced on April 2. My order was placed on March 21. I would imagine they have more than 12 days worth of parts on hand. But then again, I don't run a custom guitar shop. 

[Dave Scepter]

8 minutes ago, Saul Goodman said:

Tariffs were introduced on April 2. My order was placed on March 21. I would imagine they have more than 12 days worth of parts on hand. But then again, I don't run a custom guitar shop. 

I just make my own... Not sure how much you paid for that harness, but with a little time and effort, you can easily purchase a plethora of pots, resistors & caps... the internet is filled with tutorials/examples 

[Saul Goodman]

1 minute ago, Dave Scepter said:

I just make my own... Not sure how much you paid for that harness, but with a little time and effort, you can easily purchase a plethora of pots, resistors & caps... the internet is filled with tutorials/examples 

Yeah, normally I do as well. Just thought I'd go this route this once.  I probably have all the parts needed in my parts box too. Silly me. 

[currypowder]

2 hours ago, Dave Scepter said:

I just make my own... Not sure how much you paid for that harness, but with a little time and effort, you can easily purchase a plethora of pots, resistors & caps... the internet is filled with tutorials/examples 

I’m sure I could do this, but I just love the simplicity of being able to drop in the whole harness. It saves me time, which is worth it at this point in my life. Maybe when I retire, I’ll try to increase my wiring and soldering skills. 

[cmatthes]

Somehow, "saving time" and waiting 2+ months for a simple wiring harness doesn't seem to be the same thing...

[Saul Goodman]

I got an email from UPS saying they have the package and it will be delivered tomorrow to my door. Glad UPS is faster than RSGW. 

[Saul Goodman]

Well, looks like my harness is taking a tour of the USA thanks to UPS. It got delayed along the way. It was almost here. Almost. Now for some reason it went South to Nashville. Next stop, maybe GraceLand?

[kizanski]

On 5/12/2025 at 11:09 AM, Saul Goodman said:

I got an email from UPS saying they have the package and it will be delivered tomorrow to my door.

Wait... They're delivering it to your door?

[Dave Scepter]

On 5/11/2025 at 4:33 PM, currypowder said:

It saves me time, 

If you have the parts, it literally takes an hour or 2... max

[Saul Goodman]

Well, it finally made it. UPS sent it around the Eastern US on a sightseeing tour for the week. It looks quality and nicely done. Came with a easy wiring diagram which is nice since I don't do enough of this stuff to remember how it's done so saves me Google time. I got the little pointer things while I was at it. Lightly reliced to match the guitar. Next is a tone report.

[Saul Goodman]

I popped this baby in Sunday morning. Not too difficult. 

I Had to bend the buss wire a bit to make it fit. But notice what I did in the middle left, above the tone pot. I shorted it without noticing. 

Got the little pointer things in. 

Went into the music room to test. Bridge tone pot was not working. Back out to the dining room table with flashlight in hand. Noticed buss wire touching the tone cap lug. 

All set for another test. Everything worked. All buttoned up for tone test. Everything works as it should and it sounds great. The original pots were just shot. They were like a switch turned on or off. These have a nice taper. I wouldn't say there's anything exceptional about them but they work as described. This is the first ready made wiring harness I've ever bought. Made it simple when it finally arrived. I've always just replaced parts as needed in the past. I figured since all of it had to be replaced I'd go this route this time around. I don't know what other companies offer this kind of "upgrade" but maybe there is one out there with a better turnaround time. But, I wasn't in any hurry. I have plenty of projects to work on and this was just another on the list. So no big deal. I would definitely recommend RS Guitarworks for quality and phone support. I talked with Billy for maybe 45 minutes as he helped me understand which harness would suit my needs. Who knows, maybe he's on the phone helping people more than he's soldering. So I'm not complaining. Just know if you order from them it's going to be a while. Oh, and UPS, man, up and down the Eastern Seaboard a couple times back and forth. So weird to watch your package travel like that. 

[Dave Scepter]

Anybody else miss RadioShack? 😪

[velorush]

39 minutes ago, Saul Goodman said:

I popped this baby in Sunday morning. Not too difficult. 

I Had to bend the buss wire a bit to make it fit. But notice what I did in the middle left, above the tone pot. I shorted it without noticing. 

Got the little pointer things in. 

Went into the music room to test. Bridge tone pot was not working. Back out to the dining room table with flashlight in hand. Noticed buss wire touching the tone cap lug. 

All set for another test. Everything worked. All buttoned up for tone test. Everything works as it should and it sounds great. The original pots were just shot. They were like a switch turned on or off. These have a nice taper. I wouldn't say there's anything exceptional about them but they work as described. This is the first ready made wiring harness I've ever bought. Made it simple when it finally arrived. I've always just replaced parts as needed in the past. I figured since all of it had to be replaced I'd go this route this time around. I don't know what other companies offer this kind of "upgrade" but maybe there is one out there with a better turnaround time. But, I wasn't in any hurry. I have plenty of projects to work on and this was just another on the list. So no big deal. I would definitely recommend RS Guitarworks for quality and phone support. I talked with Billy for maybe 45 minutes as he helped me understand which harness would suit my needs. Who knows, maybe he's on the phone helping people more than he's soldering. So I'm not complaining. Just know if you order from them it's going to be a while. Oh, and UPS, man, up and down the Eastern Seaboard a couple times back and forth. So weird to watch your package travel like that. 

Was your previous harness "50's style" (as above)? If not, how do you like the difference? I have moved mine over to this and find it far more useful.

I really like the taper on the RS pots. I have them in another Gibson along with their caps.

[Saul Goodman]

15 minutes ago, velorush said:

Was your previous harness "50's style" (as above)? If not, how do you like the difference? I have moved mine over to this and find it far more useful.

I really like the taper on the RS pots. I have them in another Gibson along with their caps.

It was not. It had been reworked and reworked many times. Had a push/pull that wasn't used except for tone. i.e. No coil to tap. I like the 50's style and it does seem to offer more tonal variations.

This is what was in it. It also had treble bleed circuits that I'm not quite sure I liked. I wired my H535 50's style years ago and I used RS parts. I was trying out various cap values and wasted lots of time with that in my opinion. Then I found out they sell the completed harness on their website. Doh! But, I'll never attempt another F-hole rewire again, more than likely. 

[velorush]

4 hours ago, Saul Goodman said:

I like the 50's style and it does seem to offer more tonal variations...

...But, I'll never attempt another F-hole rewire again, more than likely. 

This is a pic of my F-hole Gibson factory harness coming out. I built an RS harness with their pots and caps to replace it.

Now that I've experienced the difference, I'd like to change it to 50's wiring, but good grief the hassle to move two wires!