alathIN
New member
Worked all day on my Ibanez Artcore AS73 - their ES335-ish guitar.
Changed the stock pickups for Seth Lovers, which was a very good move.
Also did the 'treble bypass mod' - tried the Kinman variant, which is putting the resistor and the capacitor in series. I used 220K pots and .001 uf caps for both neck and bridge volume pots.
While I was at it, I also put in quick disconnect couplers in case I ever want to change pickups again WHICH I NEVER WILL.
Seth and Seymour have a new lifelong fan.
It was a lot of work - not any part of it particularly difficult, just a lot of little jobs - and yes, f-hole semihollows are a lot more hassle to wire than solidbody guitars.
The good thing about the Treble Bypass mod compared to the "50s mod" is that for TB, you don't have to get the tone pots out. The volume pots are MASSIVELY easier to reach and work on.
I only got to play for about 15 min, but I am VERY happy with the changes.
Before with the Ibanez stock pickups I was having to fight and scrape and claw to find any kind of brightness. Now I've got brightness in abundance. Had to go set my amp back to more "normal" settings to avoid being TOO bright.
I don't think this is caused by the treble bypass mod, because when I put the pots all on 10 the mod shouldn't do anything at all - so the pickups are responsible for 99% of this I believe.
I really like the sound of the Seth's - if you can't figure it out already, I am finding them much brighter. On the bridge pup I am getting almost Tele-ish tones especially if I 'snap' at the strings. But I just LOVE how the two pups sound together, or on the neck pup. It's cool to have that deep mellow thing going on, but zero mud whatsoever. "Bright mellow." Or something. I've never gotten this tone before; it's like I was reaching for something that I thought I wanted, and now I got hold of it, it turns out to be a lot better and more nuanced than what I was imagining.
But I do think the mod is working, because I don't notice any loss of treble when I dial down the volume - which is what the treble bypass is supposed to do.
The only thing I do notice that seems new and unexpected is a steep dropoff at the very low end of the pots - I could almost erase the '2' and just put 'off' instead. I don't remember it being like this before, but then again, I don't remember playing with the volume pots that low either, so it may not be a change. The volume pots do have a nice gradual, use-able drop off from 10 to 3, maybe even 2.5... and then it's just 'off.'
I also put cream pickup rings and vol/tone knobs on, matching a Les Paul I wish I had not sold 32 years ago.
I do like the look, but the SOUND is amazing.
Appreciate all the tips and suggestions and encouragement here. Thanks Duncanites!
Changed the stock pickups for Seth Lovers, which was a very good move.
Also did the 'treble bypass mod' - tried the Kinman variant, which is putting the resistor and the capacitor in series. I used 220K pots and .001 uf caps for both neck and bridge volume pots.
While I was at it, I also put in quick disconnect couplers in case I ever want to change pickups again WHICH I NEVER WILL.
Seth and Seymour have a new lifelong fan.
It was a lot of work - not any part of it particularly difficult, just a lot of little jobs - and yes, f-hole semihollows are a lot more hassle to wire than solidbody guitars.
The good thing about the Treble Bypass mod compared to the "50s mod" is that for TB, you don't have to get the tone pots out. The volume pots are MASSIVELY easier to reach and work on.
I only got to play for about 15 min, but I am VERY happy with the changes.
Before with the Ibanez stock pickups I was having to fight and scrape and claw to find any kind of brightness. Now I've got brightness in abundance. Had to go set my amp back to more "normal" settings to avoid being TOO bright.
I don't think this is caused by the treble bypass mod, because when I put the pots all on 10 the mod shouldn't do anything at all - so the pickups are responsible for 99% of this I believe.
I really like the sound of the Seth's - if you can't figure it out already, I am finding them much brighter. On the bridge pup I am getting almost Tele-ish tones especially if I 'snap' at the strings. But I just LOVE how the two pups sound together, or on the neck pup. It's cool to have that deep mellow thing going on, but zero mud whatsoever. "Bright mellow." Or something. I've never gotten this tone before; it's like I was reaching for something that I thought I wanted, and now I got hold of it, it turns out to be a lot better and more nuanced than what I was imagining.
But I do think the mod is working, because I don't notice any loss of treble when I dial down the volume - which is what the treble bypass is supposed to do.
The only thing I do notice that seems new and unexpected is a steep dropoff at the very low end of the pots - I could almost erase the '2' and just put 'off' instead. I don't remember it being like this before, but then again, I don't remember playing with the volume pots that low either, so it may not be a change. The volume pots do have a nice gradual, use-able drop off from 10 to 3, maybe even 2.5... and then it's just 'off.'
I also put cream pickup rings and vol/tone knobs on, matching a Les Paul I wish I had not sold 32 years ago.
I do like the look, but the SOUND is amazing.
Appreciate all the tips and suggestions and encouragement here. Thanks Duncanites!
