A little volume knob problem

[Erik]

I bought myself a new guitar some time back, an Ibanez RG421 (hardtail) on closeout from the US... When I received it I noticed that when I turn the volume knob to 0, the guitar is still not silent, it's as if it was turned to maybe 2 or something on another guitar. I thought that wasn't big enough of a defect to send it all the way back to the US for (I'm Swedish) because it works very well other than that. However, I'd like to fix this if possible, but I'm rather clueless as to how..? Anyone care to offer me hints?

 

[Iced In Flames]

It could be the soldering. Or even the pickups. A guy I know had a Duncan Invder pickup that even when on volume 0 it would still make sounds.

 

[Mattias the Bitch Boy]

I bought myself a new guitar some time back, an Ibanez RG421 (hardtail) on closeout from the US... When I received it I noticed that when I turn the volume knob to 0, the guitar is still not silent, it's as if it was turned to maybe 2 or something on another guitar. I thought that wasn't big enough of a defect to send it all the way back to the US for (I'm Swedish) because it works very well other than that. However, I'd like to fix this if possible, but I'm rather clueless as to how..? Anyone care to offer me hints?

You don't need to send it to the states, just give it to some swedish geetar lad.

 

[Episteme]

I would say you could just send your guitar for repair in Sweden. Nothing different.

 

[Sunbane]

I bought myself a new guitar some time back, an Ibanez RG421 (hardtail) on closeout from the US... When I received it I noticed that when I turn the volume knob to 0, the guitar is still not silent, it's as if it was turned to maybe 2 or something on another guitar. I thought that wasn't big enough of a defect to send it all the way back to the US for (I'm Swedish) because it works very well other than that. However, I'd like to fix this if possible, but I'm rather clueless as to how..? Anyone care to offer me hints?

Quite a few guitars do this, although in some it's more noticeable than in others. I've been told that you can fix it by adding a resistor to the circuitry someplace, but I don't know the details. It may also be that the potentiometer is crappy and needs replacing.

'bane

 

[Ravenous Enemy]

I'm not sure about specifics, but usually you need a volume unit to match the output of the pickup - i.e. If you've got a High output pickup (which you prolly have) then you need a higher resistance volume, in your case, the resistance is probably not quite enough. You could try replacing any wire with some slightly higher resistance wire, or lengthening the wire, but this would have effect on the output when the volume is on full, so I wouldn't recomend it. I would take it to a local guitar shop if I were you.

 

[Erik]

Thanks for the answers everyone! Seems my best bet is to take it to some guitar shop, yeah...

I would say you could just send your guitar for repair in Sweden. Nothing different.

Sure What I meant was that as I purchased it new I could just have sent it back for a new one if it was defective, but I didn't think this was big enough of a defect to warrant that.

I'm not sure about specifics, but usually you need a volume unit to match the output of the pickup - i.e. If you've got a High output pickup (which you prolly have) then you need a higher resistance volume, in your case, the resistance is probably not quite enough.

I have two pickups, Ibanez V7 and V8 humbuckers, and both do the same thing. The strange thing is that I bought the guitar new and these are the stock pickups, so you'd think that everything (resistance etc.) would be properly set up...

Anyway, another question: could this somehow affect the amount of gain I get from the pickups with the volume knob turned to the maximum position?

 

[7 Dying Trees]

Look through the wiring, see if anything is amiss, maybe replace the pot. Simple enough, look for a wiring diagram, the boys over at www.jemsite.com can help you with this, and any other ibanez related problem you may have , if it's faulty someone there knows how to fix it It's simple enough to do.