Re-wiring Ibanez Prestige'03 from scratch

[howarddavidp]

Hello,

I recently got a deal on an Ibby Prestige, however the deal included the worst wiring I have ever seen. The middle pickup was removed and replaced by some LED light array, I have gutted all the wires and started from scratch.

I tried to follow the RG wiring diagram, however the OEM pickup are gone. The config is HSH, however only my neck is 4 wire (Dizmo), the middle is a 2 wire Ibby single, and the bridge is a 2 wire Ibby INF4 bucker. I have the 5 way switch which came with it, the import style where all the poles are single file. I also have a 500k EVH low friction volume pot, and I also have a no-name (cts?) tone pot with a 22uF capacitor I bought from GC.

I wired it up according to the RG diagram (from the guy who frequents this site), but the bridge only position does not work. The pick in the bridge works in position #2, just not #1. Also, the tone does not work as intended. If I turn the tone all the way CCW, it will cut the sound like a volume kill, but the rest of the turning does nothing and does not affect the sound?

Any ideas what I have done wrong? I followed the diagram as best I could, making alterations for the 2 wire bridge buck since it lacked 4 wires, otherwise it is almost good?

Thanks,
David

 

[howarddavidp]

Re: Re-wiring Ibanez Prestige'03 from scratch

Thanks for the input, are these forums active?

So, it turned out the Ibby 5 way is defective, and makes a terrible hum. I replaced it with a standard Fender 5 way, hum is gone, and all works now.

I did something different, in that I used PC style solder-less connectors to wire everything up. I had to solder the wire leads that go into the socketed connectors, obviously, but once my 5 way, volume and tone pots, and the input jack all had leads attached, I slipped on the connectors, and started to use male-male patch wires to hook everything up.

Snags I ran into were my lack of experience of crimping the ends, which after about 30 attempts I got this down. I also had issues using 22 gauge wire, switching to 24 and 26 gauge fixed this. So, once I had the right wire, and got the crimping down, it went well. I went with a Custom Shop 78 Bridge, stock Ibby single, and a DiMarz in the neck until I have enough $$$ to order a 59 for the neck. I have both buckers grounding the middle wires when the 5 way calls on the middle pickup position, so I have a tap working as intended.

I also recently got a JB Jr., which will replace the Ibby single. In order to tap that, I will switch to a push-pull tone pot to make this happen, so when I pull up on the pot, it will turn the JB Jr. into a bucker again (default will be single coil use unless the pot is engaged).

I will try and post some pics, but it is nice being able to change the wiring without having to get the solder gun out. I can switch from a 0.022uf to a 0.047uf cap in about 10 seconds now (I also made the caps plug-able). Switching from a 250k to a 500k tone is also a snap, takes only a few seconds now and no solder.

I guess pictures will do this more justice, I am thinking about selling a solder-less kit on eBay, maybe $50? I saw other solder-less kits, but this were meant for the active style pickups, whereas my kits will work with any type pickup arrangement.

David