Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

[Chapps]

I have an Ibanez S670FM - slim mahogany body, maple top and rosewood fretboard.

I am pretty much set on changing the neck and bridge humbuckers to Invaders. I'm after suggestions for the centre pickup - looking at the SSL-4 Quarter Pounder - is this a good match? Currently I find that the INF humbuckers sound OK but don't really sing, and the centre / tapped humbuckers and centre options sound really weak on the guitar.

Any alternative suggestions? Also any help with wiring diagrams much appreciated...

 

[Mincer]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

Welcome to the forum!

Well, most single coils won't be a volume balance match with Invaders- they are so high in output. But that might not be a concern (some think it is a feature). What you have to decide is if you want the middle position to be hum-cancelling or not. If not, a Quarter Pound or SSL-6 Custom Flat are good choices. If so, the Hot Stack bridge or Hot Stack Plus would be a good choice. You can get cleaner, clearer pickups, but generally, they will be lower in power and volume.

 

[Chapps]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

Thanks!

Another NewB (to changing pickups) question - is there any advantage to buying the bridge and neck pack (e.g. do Seymour Duncan match them specially) or can I buy them separately with no adverse effect (it's a good amount cheaper in the same shop to buy them separately for some reason)

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

Thanks!

Another NewB (to changing pickups) question - is there any advantage to buying the bridge and neck pack (e.g. do Seymour Duncan match them specially) or can I buy them separately with no adverse effect (it's a good amount cheaper in the same shop to buy them separately for some reason)

They come cheaper as a set most places, but other than that there is no difference over getting them individually.

As for your middle pickup, they sell an Invader single coil. I've never used it and there are few online reviews of it, but it's tone is that of a split Invader.

 

[gregory]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

DiMarzio Chopper

 

[Mincer]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

They come cheaper as a set most places, but other than that there is no difference over getting them individually.

As for your middle pickup, they sell an Invader single coil. I've never used it and there are few online reviews of it, but it's tone is that of a split Invader.

The Invader single coil comes from the Custom Shop, so it is also a little more expensive than the production pickups.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

The Invader single coil comes from the Custom Shop, so it is also a little more expensive than the production pickups.

But given the OP is getting the neck and bridge for less than the price of a normal set, the $120 middle wouldn't be too crazy. But if price is a concern, I'd go with a Quarter Pound for the middle.

 

[Chapps]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

Thanks all.

I have ordered the pickups. I found a great deal online for a set of invaders for £95 which is a steal when the best I had seen elsewhere was £79 each so £158 for a set. I also ordered a Quarter Pound RWRP for the middle.

So now I just have to wait for them to arrive and then figure out how to wire them up to the Ibanez 5 way switch...

 

[Mincer]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

Are you splitting the Invaders? Why go with a rw/rp middle pickup? You will have to let us know how they sound when you get them installed.

 

[Chapps]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

Are you splitting the Invaders? Why go with a rw/rp middle pickup? You will have to let us know how they sound when you get them installed.

My plan is to keep pretty much the standard configuration so on the 5 position switch it is neck Humbucker, split neck and centre, centre, split bridge and centre and Humbucker bridge.

Hopefully I can achieve that with the standard switch - it’s how it is wired now.

This is the current wiring:https://forum.seymourduncan.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=63121&d=1430806434

 

[gregory]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

Because you bought an RW/RP, you'll have to split to the outer coils if you want hum-cancellation. This will require changing the wiring from the Duncan standard to make the auto-split work.

To use an inner coil and have it be hum cancelling you'll have to flip magnets.

I'm happy to lend my assistance if you need it.

 

[Chapps]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

Because you bought an RW/RP, you'll have to split to the outer coils if you want hum-cancellation. This will require changing the wiring from the Duncan standard to make the auto-split work.

To use an inner coil and have it be hum cancelling you'll have to flip magnets.

I'm happy to lend my assistance if you need it.

Thanks for the heads up on that. It’s first time I have done this so am learning as I go. Splitting to the outer coils is not a problem. Any advice on how best to achieve that is appreciated.

 

[Chapps]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

Or it’s not too late to swap out the rwrp model for a standard one as it wasn’t in stock so hasn’t been dispatched to me yet. I’m sure they will let me change the order....

 

[gregory]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

You can make it work any way you want with either standard or RW/RP. I prefer the inside coil for the bridge and outside for the neck, which will always mean partially disassembling one pickup in order to flip a magnet (for an invader it means flipping 3, if I have that right).

 

[Chapps]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

You can make it work any way you want with either standard or RW/RP. I prefer the inside coil for the bridge and outside for the neck, which will always mean partially disassembling one pickup in order to flip a magnet (for an invader it means flipping 3, if I have that right).

Lots to learn I can see... I’ll leave the order as is and experiment when they arrive.

Will probably start out with splitting the outer coils and see how that sounds to begin with..

Am I right in thinking that to achieve this I should connect white to ground, red to output, and wire green and black together for the split to ground on the Humbuckers? That would seem to make sense to me as it should keep the phase correct but just swaps around the coil order...

Sorry for all the questions! And thanks so much for all your help guys.

 

[gregory]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

White with bare to ground, red to hot and black/green as the coil junction to take to ground in order to split to the outside coils; that's correct.

 

[Chapps]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

Cheers :yourock:

 

[Chapps]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

So today my pickups arrived and I have installed them. Will leave the wiring for another day as it’s getting late and i don’t want to make mistakes.

You may notice that I went for a different neck pickup in the end, so I have a pearly gates neck, quarter pound middle and invader bridge. Can’t wait to hear it...



Hopefully the picture works

 

[Chapps]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

Ok, so this evening I got the soldering done, fired it up and the 2 humbuckers work fine, but the splits and the centre pickup have zero output. Hmmm. So checked everything over and decided that’s maybe I had pinched a wire or something running the centre pickup cable under the bridge Humbucker to get it to the right place, but no. After getting it apart again I spot this:



An earth wire screwed to the body under the centre pickup which is grounding the bottom of the pole pieces on the centre pickup and stopping it working. So, cut a pickup sized piece of plastic CocaCola bottle and insert under the pickup, put it back together and wayhey - everything works -Humbuckers, split outside coils joined with centre, centre on its own. A good variety of tones coming out.

Only problem now is the kids are in bed so I can’t really crank it and give it a good test!

Thanks to all who gave knowledge freely and made this a relatively simple task.

(Spot the drips of sweat and tears on the guitar in the pic - no blood spilled though)

 

[gregory]

Re: Middle pickup suggestions - Ibanez S670FM

WTF?!? That's a lame place to earth the cavity.