Active Pups in a thin body guitar?

M

MuddyWolfJohnson

New member
About 8 years ago I bought a used MIJ Strat. I love the sound I get from this thing but I prefer the feel of my Ibanez Saber. My best guess is that the pups are SD LW Classic Active Strats (did SD make those like 10 years ago?) but I can't be sure because there are no markings on them at all. The best clue without pulling them out and looking is that they have visable poll pieces instead of just being flat across the front like many other active pups.

Anyway I'm thinking about selling the Strat and buying another Saber. But the Saber bodies are only 1" thick. I don't know if that's enough to allow for active pups. If need be I figure I could modify the plastic cover on the back to allow extra room for a battery.

So my questions are:

Will active pups fit into a 1" thick guitar body?

Does SD make the Livewire Classic II active pickup set in a SSH configuration? I'm looking at a Saber with that layout.

And can anyone identify the pups in these pictures? Whoever made them they sound outstanding!

Thanks!

DSCN0517_3.jpg


DSCN0515_2.jpg
 
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Re: Active Pups in a thin body guitar?

Welcome to the forum.

Before you modify anything on the Ibanez Sabre, take a look into its control cavity. Not much room, huh?
 
Re: Active Pups in a thin body guitar?

hi there, i have just this minuete joined the forum and seen your post. i dont know if this is any help, but i am buying a ibanez EGEN8 platinum blonde. this is actually the same as the S570 mahongany body. as you probably know, it is wafer thin, and probably one of the thinest, if the thinest guitar body around.

a mod i am about to do is the change the pups and install the ahb1 blackouts. again as you know, this is an active system and quite chunky pups.

i know this setup can be fitted as i have seen it on youtube at 99voltsdotcom.

so would think the mod you are considering should surely be ok?

bob
 
Re: Active Pups in a thin body guitar?

There can't be much room because the body is only 1" thick. But I don't know how much space active pups require. Is it just a matter of fitting the battery? Because I can find a way around that. Or are there other things that go in there too? I don't know what's involved yet. Other than what I see behind that cover on the Strat the only other clue I've had so far is this picture:

LW-CS2s-White.jpg
 
Re: Active Pups in a thin body guitar?

im sure it will be ok. i stand to be corrected, but im sure all you will be fitting is the replacement pickups, the pots, the jack, and a battery. so the only space you are looking for as an extra is for the battery.

bob
 
Re: Active Pups in a thin body guitar?

The Ibanez Sabre guitar family bodies are very thin at the edges. They are as thick as a Stratocaster towards the middle. For modifiers, the problem is the way that the jack socket is recessed into the front.

Removing the control cavity cover plate will reveal a large chunk of wood through which the jack socket is fastened. Luckily, this socket already has the three contacts necessary to run active circuitry.
 
Re: Active Pups in a thin body guitar?

I think it depends on the active circuit. I have a Clapton Strat & this has a circuit board mounted on the body somewhere in between the neck & middle pickup. It has a rout to accommodate this and I believe it is screwed to the body. the battery is mounted under the rear trem cover as yours is. Some active pickups just require the battery others require the board. It depends.
 
Re: Active Pups in a thin body guitar?

I was testing this tonight for another project, and I was just able to drop an EMG-SA into the middle slot of a HSH saber and it sat at the right height for me, but I dont mind my middle pup at the same height as the bridge...if you wanted the middle pup low you may need to route a bit.

The other issue you may have is with HSS routed ibanez a lot of times the cable for the neck slot has to run under the middle pup...so you may need to route a channel for it or drill a hole from the neck pup route into the control cavity. In my HSH saber there is already a hole from the neck pup route into the control cavity,

You can just about squeeze a 9V battery into the control cavity behind the volume control as long as its not a push-pull.
 
Re: Active Pups in a thin body guitar?

Does anyone know if the Livewire Classic II active pickup set comes in a SSH configuration? Just in case it might actually fit?
 
Re: Active Pups in a thin body guitar?

Thanks to everyone for your very informative responses. For comparison can anyone tell me which passive single coils come closest to the tone of the Livewire Classic II active pickup set?

Also since the Saber body is so thin and I run thru 10" speakers the tone can sometimes sound a little thin meaning not enough lows. Which single coils might help compensate for that?

Thanks again!
 
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