Tweet
Pegasus & Sentient vs. Ibanez Dyna Mix 10 switch
This is my first post here, please be gentle.
I am not a complete noob when it comes to (guitar) electronics but this isn't my day-job either. With that said, I have this dilemma regarding an SD Pegasus & Sentient set wired through an Ibanez Dyna Mix 10 switch.
These are the standard combinations on an Ibanez guitar featuring Dyna Mix 10:
1a: bridge humbucker
2a: bridge "down" coil + neck "up" coil
3a: bridge humbucker + neck humbucker
4a: bridge "up" coil + neck "down" coil
5a: neck humbucker
1b: bridge power tap
2b: bridge "down" coil
3b: bridge power tap + neck power tap
4b: neck "down" coil
5b: neck power tap
I assume that "humbucker" means two coils in RWRP configuration. With SD colors, that would be "down" coil start as Green, end as Red, connected to "up" coil start as White and end as Black. I also assume that in position 2 and 4 without power tap, the two pickups will operate as one humbucker, at least on an Ibanez AZ series HH guitar. For this to be true, the magnetic polarity would have to inverted between the two pickups. So if the bridge humbucker is North/South, the neck should be South/North. So in position 2, neck South + bridge North would operate as humbucker, and in position 4, neck North + bridge South would also. However, the adjustable polepieces in the SD Hiperion are "up" on the neck, and "down" on the bridge, and according to SD, on SD humbuckers the adjustable polepieces ALWAYS indicate South.
The pickups I'm replacing (Ibanez Prestige V77 & V87) are inverted polarity, I checked. They are not the original pickups in my cheap Ibanez GRX 720 though, so again, I'm not sure if that means anything. What I mean is that on the V77, the adjustable polepiece is the same polarity as the non-adjustable polepiece on the V87, and vice versa. On the neck pickup, the adjustable polepieces are "up", and on the bridge, they are "down". So "up" and "up" are both North(?), and "down" and "down" are both South(?). On a Dyna Mix 10, if my observations and assumptions are all true, this would create an RWRP configuration in position 2 and 4, since both would include one North and one South coil.
However, the SD Pegasus & Sentient pair is different, the polepieces are the same polarity between the two of them, so the two outer coils would be South and South, and the inner ones North and North. Therefore, position 2 and 4 would not be RWRP.
I don't know how the SD Hiperion pups are configured in an Ibanez AZ - are they following the SD tradition of polepiece being south, or the Ibanez tradition (?) of inner and outer pairs being of opposite magnetic polarity.
When I first wired up my SD pups, I followed this picture, but the results were not optimal.
A lot of the positions were noisy, and the neck-humbucker-only position was pretty much silent. I assume that the coils are very evenly wound and they were in phase so they completely canceled each other out.
Then I disconnected the neck pup and reconnected it in a fashion that I - again - assume would accommodate for the polarity of the SD pups.
In my wiring, both bridge and neck pups connect to the Dyna Mix 10 solder points like this:
upper hot: Black
upper cold: White
lower hot: Red
upper cold: Green
GND: bare
The humming is gone when in HB positions, and even the SC positions seem to be less humming. I checked every position by tapping the coils with a screwdriver, and everything follows the Ibanez legend, with one notable exception, but this was actually my intention. In my wiring, in position 2, instead of the outer coils, it is the "down" coils that are connected; and in position 4, instead of the inner coils, the "up" coils are connected. This results in a South + North combination, presumably reverse wired, too.
So is this OK? I see one potential issue with my solution - position 2 and 4 will produce almost the same sound? I guess they are the two closest sounding positions anyway, and this way they are even closer. I could rotate the neck pickup 180 degrees, so position 2 and 4 would return to outer coils / inner coils but... Would it not work against the reverse winding and reintroduce the hum? Also, with the power tap switch engaged, in positions 3, 4, and 5, the neck pup's "strong" (or singled out) coil would be even closer to the neck. Which may be a good thing or a bad thing. Finally, the Seymour Duncan engraving would be upside down, too. Alternatively, I could swap the neck pup upper and lower wires:
upper hot: Red
upper cold: Green
lower hot: Black
upper cold: White
GND: bare
This would be closer to the wiring shown on the Reverb photo, except mine would keep the cold/hot designations, and not reverse them.
Anyway, I apologize for the long post and would welcome any advice / insight / recommendation, critique.
I am not a complete noob when it comes to (guitar) electronics but this isn't my day-job either. With that said, I have this dilemma regarding an SD Pegasus & Sentient set wired through an Ibanez Dyna Mix 10 switch.
These are the standard combinations on an Ibanez guitar featuring Dyna Mix 10:
1a: bridge humbucker
2a: bridge "down" coil + neck "up" coil
3a: bridge humbucker + neck humbucker
4a: bridge "up" coil + neck "down" coil
5a: neck humbucker
1b: bridge power tap
2b: bridge "down" coil
3b: bridge power tap + neck power tap
4b: neck "down" coil
5b: neck power tap
I assume that "humbucker" means two coils in RWRP configuration. With SD colors, that would be "down" coil start as Green, end as Red, connected to "up" coil start as White and end as Black. I also assume that in position 2 and 4 without power tap, the two pickups will operate as one humbucker, at least on an Ibanez AZ series HH guitar. For this to be true, the magnetic polarity would have to inverted between the two pickups. So if the bridge humbucker is North/South, the neck should be South/North. So in position 2, neck South + bridge North would operate as humbucker, and in position 4, neck North + bridge South would also. However, the adjustable polepieces in the SD Hiperion are "up" on the neck, and "down" on the bridge, and according to SD, on SD humbuckers the adjustable polepieces ALWAYS indicate South.
The pickups I'm replacing (Ibanez Prestige V77 & V87) are inverted polarity, I checked. They are not the original pickups in my cheap Ibanez GRX 720 though, so again, I'm not sure if that means anything. What I mean is that on the V77, the adjustable polepiece is the same polarity as the non-adjustable polepiece on the V87, and vice versa. On the neck pickup, the adjustable polepieces are "up", and on the bridge, they are "down". So "up" and "up" are both North(?), and "down" and "down" are both South(?). On a Dyna Mix 10, if my observations and assumptions are all true, this would create an RWRP configuration in position 2 and 4, since both would include one North and one South coil.
However, the SD Pegasus & Sentient pair is different, the polepieces are the same polarity between the two of them, so the two outer coils would be South and South, and the inner ones North and North. Therefore, position 2 and 4 would not be RWRP.
I don't know how the SD Hiperion pups are configured in an Ibanez AZ - are they following the SD tradition of polepiece being south, or the Ibanez tradition (?) of inner and outer pairs being of opposite magnetic polarity.
When I first wired up my SD pups, I followed this picture, but the results were not optimal.
A lot of the positions were noisy, and the neck-humbucker-only position was pretty much silent. I assume that the coils are very evenly wound and they were in phase so they completely canceled each other out.
Then I disconnected the neck pup and reconnected it in a fashion that I - again - assume would accommodate for the polarity of the SD pups.
In my wiring, both bridge and neck pups connect to the Dyna Mix 10 solder points like this:
upper hot: Black
upper cold: White
lower hot: Red
upper cold: Green
GND: bare
The humming is gone when in HB positions, and even the SC positions seem to be less humming. I checked every position by tapping the coils with a screwdriver, and everything follows the Ibanez legend, with one notable exception, but this was actually my intention. In my wiring, in position 2, instead of the outer coils, it is the "down" coils that are connected; and in position 4, instead of the inner coils, the "up" coils are connected. This results in a South + North combination, presumably reverse wired, too.
So is this OK? I see one potential issue with my solution - position 2 and 4 will produce almost the same sound? I guess they are the two closest sounding positions anyway, and this way they are even closer. I could rotate the neck pickup 180 degrees, so position 2 and 4 would return to outer coils / inner coils but... Would it not work against the reverse winding and reintroduce the hum? Also, with the power tap switch engaged, in positions 3, 4, and 5, the neck pup's "strong" (or singled out) coil would be even closer to the neck. Which may be a good thing or a bad thing. Finally, the Seymour Duncan engraving would be upside down, too. Alternatively, I could swap the neck pup upper and lower wires:
upper hot: Red
upper cold: Green
lower hot: Black
upper cold: White
GND: bare
This would be closer to the wiring shown on the Reverb photo, except mine would keep the cold/hot designations, and not reverse them.
Anyway, I apologize for the long post and would welcome any advice / insight / recommendation, critique.
Comment