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Help with HH wiring in Ibanez S-series

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  • #91
    Re: Help with HH wiring in Ibanez S-series

    Yeah, I think that's it and it makes sense, but I agree it's very poor form not to include this in ANY documentation anywhere. Could have saved a lot of trouble.

    Comment


    • #92
      Re: Help with HH wiring in Ibanez S-series

      Originally posted by RexRemus View Post
      Yeah, I think that's it and it makes sense, but I agree it's very poor form not to include this in ANY documentation anywhere. Could have saved a lot of trouble.
      I've been reading customer reviews on this set. I looked specifically at reviews of the pickups as an aftermarket purchase - not as an already-installed set in a Mark Holcomb signature guitar. So the reviews I am looking at are coming from people who had to go thru the install process. Of course, some percent of the installs were not done by them but someone else, either by a friend or a hired tech.

      I have found zero mention of anyone encountering this issue where the neck pickup magnet is flipped but the coils are not reverse wound. Since most people would not know to wire the neck pickup backwards, they would be finding 60 cycle hum when splitting the coils. This doesn't bode well for our earlier theory that all neck pickups in the set came like that from the SD factory. Instead it seems more like a one-off mistake.
      Sanford: "The hardest part about tone chasing is losing the expectations associated with the hardware."

      Comment


      • #93
        Re: Help with HH wiring in Ibanez S-series

        Hmmm, well just lucky then I guess... just not the good kind of lucky

        Comment


        • #94
          Re: Help with HH wiring in Ibanez S-series

          So had some time and decided that since I was doing this over pretty much from scratch, I'd take another stab at the VLX91 since I just like the way it feels better than the EP1112. Since I was sort of eyeballing it before as far as a shim to level it off to the lip of the switch cover plate and routing in the guitar.

          So I took some time to measure, model, and 3D print up a shim plate for it and it does work... it's not quite perfect and in the extreme positions (1/5) it does sit a little close to the plate, but it's definitely usable.

          So once that was done I set about mapping the wiring between the two switches which just took a little time with the continuity meter but was fairly straightforward - the VLX is a weird switch, but it works exactly the same so this wasn't too bad to do. I found that in the end it led to a much neater cavity and has a much more positive engagement... just better "feel", I dunno. But I'm glad I took the time to do it.

          I also shielded the cavity while I was in there - not sure it'll have a huge impact but the room I record in has a TON of noise - my active bass pickups just get murdered and no direction or orientation I set my bass in solves it entirely - so I figured it couldn't hurt to do. And lastly, I swapped in a brass tone/sustain block and dropped the string gauge a little bit as I'm hoping that'll take a little bit of the mud out of the bottom as that seems to be the biggest issue with this guitar and low tuning.

          I still need to do a final setup and intonation (there's a little more string buzz than I'd like and sustain is getting clipped on the higher strings) but initial impressions are good. I honestly really like the bridge, zero thoughts or complaints there, it's aggressive but retains really good clarity and note separation it sounds good heavily distorted and pretty good clean - it can be a little bitey on cleans though, but it's not "bad". But for chugga-chugga I really like where it lands. The neck pickup is still a bit muddy but vastly reduced from the mojotones and I'm hoping once I get the action and everything set I can do a little height adjustment to maybe clean it up a little more. It's very woofy. The good news is that cleans up a good bit once you hit the parallel switch. In blended positions 2&4 (inners/outers) provide a nice "twang" and some chime and are probably going to be the go-to spots for cleans or slight crunch. I especially like these blends with the neck in parallel - I realize it's 3 coils at that point, but for whatever reason the mellowing effect of running the neck in parallel just makes it really nice in those positions. Position 3 is maybe the only spot I'm not thrilled with, it almost feels like you get the "worst" of both pickups. It's boomy on the low-end and sort of undefined on the high-end (you lose the aggresion of the bridge and don't really get the smoothness of the neck), again the parallel switch helps some witht this, and maybe with a different amp or a pedal I can make this position more usable, but right now it's the one I'm the least impressed with. That being said - I'm quite happy with this swap and the tones from all the other positions for the most part. Just a little final adjustment to do to dial it in and I'm hoping that just makes it all better. If I can't clear that woofiness out of the neck I may bug you all again for some tips to cut it out - I assume I need to drop a cap in somewhere, but not sure where - and then I'll hopefully be done and can just enjoy playing this thing.

          Here is a link to a few pics - I should have taken more, but didn't think about it at the time. I use trem blocks to help speed up the setup of the trem and with the new block, I had to print new ones to see which would fit the best.



          I want to thank Jack for all of his help through this entire process. I've learned a lot. This is a truly great community and as a total noob I never felt unwelcome or talked down to. That's truly rare to find these days. I look forward to the next adventure in here.

          Comment


          • #95
            Re: Help with HH wiring in Ibanez S-series

            Originally posted by RexRemus View Post
            So had some time and decided that since I was doing this over pretty much from scratch, I'd take another stab at the VLX91 since I just like the way it feels better than the EP1112. Since I was sort of eyeballing it before as far as a shim to level it off to the lip of the switch cover plate and routing in the guitar.

            So I took some time to measure, model, and 3D print up a shim plate for it and it does work... it's not quite perfect and in the extreme positions (1/5) it does sit a little close to the plate, but it's definitely usable.

            So once that was done I set about mapping the wiring between the two switches which just took a little time with the continuity meter but was fairly straightforward - the VLX is a weird switch, but it works exactly the same so this wasn't too bad to do. I found that in the end it led to a much neater cavity and has a much more positive engagement... just better "feel", I dunno. But I'm glad I took the time to do it.

            I also shielded the cavity while I was in there - not sure it'll have a huge impact but the room I record in has a TON of noise - my active bass pickups just get murdered and no direction or orientation I set my bass in solves it entirely - so I figured it couldn't hurt to do. And lastly, I swapped in a brass tone/sustain block and dropped the string gauge a little bit as I'm hoping that'll take a little bit of the mud out of the bottom as that seems to be the biggest issue with this guitar and low tuning.

            I still need to do a final setup and intonation (there's a little more string buzz than I'd like and sustain is getting clipped on the higher strings) but initial impressions are good. I honestly really like the bridge, zero thoughts or complaints there, it's aggressive but retains really good clarity and note separation it sounds good heavily distorted and pretty good clean - it can be a little bitey on cleans though, but it's not "bad". But for chugga-chugga I really like where it lands. The neck pickup is still a bit muddy but vastly reduced from the mojotones and I'm hoping once I get the action and everything set I can do a little height adjustment to maybe clean it up a little more. It's very woofy. The good news is that cleans up a good bit once you hit the parallel switch. In blended positions 2&4 (inners/outers) provide a nice "twang" and some chime and are probably going to be the go-to spots for cleans or slight crunch. I especially like these blends with the neck in parallel - I realize it's 3 coils at that point, but for whatever reason the mellowing effect of running the neck in parallel just makes it really nice in those positions. Position 3 is maybe the only spot I'm not thrilled with, it almost feels like you get the "worst" of both pickups. It's boomy on the low-end and sort of undefined on the high-end (you lose the aggresion of the bridge and don't really get the smoothness of the neck), again the parallel switch helps some witht this, and maybe with a different amp or a pedal I can make this position more usable, but right now it's the one I'm the least impressed with. That being said - I'm quite happy with this swap and the tones from all the other positions for the most part. Just a little final adjustment to do to dial it in and I'm hoping that just makes it all better. If I can't clear that woofiness out of the neck I may bug you all again for some tips to cut it out - I assume I need to drop a cap in somewhere, but not sure where - and then I'll hopefully be done and can just enjoy playing this thing.

            Here is a link to a few pics - I should have taken more, but didn't think about it at the time. I use trem blocks to help speed up the setup of the trem and with the new block, I had to print new ones to see which would fit the best.



            I want to thank Jack for all of his help through this entire process. I've learned a lot. This is a truly great community and as a total noob I never felt unwelcome or talked down to. That's truly rare to find these days. I look forward to the next adventure in here.
            Congrats on the successes! And thanks for the kind words.

            So just to be clear: Positions 2 and 4 - with the Neck pickup NOT set to parallel mode - now seem free of 60 cycle hum?

            As a next potential mod to help with the woofiness in the neck pickup that you are describing, check out this writeup and video demo of what adding a Bass Cut control could do for that problem.

            The PTB Circuit was one of many G&L innovations. After the frantic soldering fest that was The Pagey Project, I figured it might be time for a nice, simple DIY wiring project. At the suggestion of tonefiend reader JH, I played with variations on the 2-band tone control that appeared in some G&L [...]
            Sanford: "The hardest part about tone chasing is losing the expectations associated with the hardware."

            Comment


            • #96
              Re: Help with HH wiring in Ibanez S-series

              Yeah, confirming - all seems good. Thanks again! I'll take a look at that article. I don't know for sure if I need to go there yet, but once everything is setup and the ups are adjusted and I play with it a bit I'll make the call if I need to do something more drastic. The fact that across 2 different sets of pickups there's STILL a bit too much mud in the neck position tells me, I might. It may just be that this is how this guitar is. It's certainly reduced, but not "good" just yet. So maybe it needs to be addressed via other means. But we'll cross that bridge (neck, really) when we get there - and in a new thread

              Comment


              • #97
                Originally posted by RexRemus View Post
                Re: Help with HH wiring in Ibanez S-series

                Yeah, confirming - all seems good. Thanks again! I'll take a look at that article. I don't know for sure if I need to go there yet, but once everything is setup and the ups are adjusted and I play with it a bit I'll make the call if I need to do something more drastic. The fact that across 2 different sets of pickups there's STILL a bit too much mud in the neck position tells me, I might. It may just be that this is how this guitar is. It's certainly reduced, but not "good" just yet. So maybe it needs to be addressed via other means. But we'll cross that bridge (neck, really) when we get there - and in a new thread
                I have had a few S guitars and they are really warm/round sounding guitars. Light weight, thin neck, resonant. Not alot of bottom end, smooth top. Its a rock guitar, gets EVH tones easy.

                The PW guitar is ash so it may be completely different, but I bet its still pretty "mushy". I can't imagine down tuning it like OP has.

                I thought the S was pretty good with a Full Shred in the bridge. Probably a JB would work well.

                Comment


                • #98
                  Yeah, I just checked out the artist this model was made for.

                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BHT...=IbanezGermany

                  Thats what S guitars sound like. Rounded top, strong mids because there isn't much bass. Warm. I think that just how these guitars are.

                  Downtune with it? Lol no.

                  Comment


                  • #99
                    Originally posted by RexRemus View Post
                    Re: Help with HH wiring in Ibanez S-series

                    Yeah, confirming - all seems good. Thanks again! I'll take a look at that article. I don't know for sure if I need to go there yet, but once everything is setup and the ups are adjusted and I play with it a bit I'll make the call if I need to do something more drastic. The fact that across 2 different sets of pickups there's STILL a bit too much mud in the neck position tells me, I might. It may just be that this is how this guitar is. It's certainly reduced, but not "good" just yet. So maybe it needs to be addressed via other means. But we'll cross that bridge (neck, really) when we get there - and in a new thread
                    Rex,

                    I may have found the answer why one of the pups in your Alpha/Omega set had a mag flip but was not also reverse wound.

                    See from Reply # 25 and a few prior, in this thread:

                    https://forum.seymourduncan.com/foru...e2#post6049143
                    Sanford: "The hardest part about tone chasing is losing the expectations associated with the hardware."

                    Comment


                    • Jack you sly devil. You necro the thread, someone else responds, you delete your original response and repost after, making it look like someone else necro.

                      Comment


                      • Originally posted by Top-L View Post
                        Jack you sly devil. You necro the thread, someone else responds, you delete your original response and repost after, making it look like someone else necro.
                        No no, i didnt do it to make you look bad. I just wanted to ensure whenever Rex did come back and saw this thread updated, he didnt miss my comment and its topic, since mine was a different topic than the new discussion you started after. Which by the way, i think your replies have some great insights and i hope he finds them helpful as well.
                        Sanford: "The hardest part about tone chasing is losing the expectations associated with the hardware."

                        Comment


                        • Originally posted by Jack_TriPpEr View Post

                          Rex,

                          I may have found the answer why one of the pups in your Alpha/Omega set had a mag flip but was not also reverse wound.

                          See from Reply # 25 and a few prior, in this thread:

                          https://forum.seymourduncan.com/foru...e2#post6049143
                          Just saw this! That's a good find, thank you!

                          Comment

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