got a bit of a problem for a luthier

[johnny ForTiorI]

hope this topic fits into this part of the forum. i want to pimp up my old cheap Ibanez. right now it has a humbucker - single coil - humbucker configuration, but i want to ditch the single coil and just go with two humbuckers. how would you close up the single coil slot so it´s really even and ready for a new finish?

 

[tedtan]

After removing the existing finish, fill it with wood (ideally the same kind as the body wood). Once the glue is dried, sand it flat and add a coat of primer. Sand that flat, rinse and repeat until the seems are completely flat and invisible, then spray and sand your color and clear coats as you normally would.

Having said that, why would you want to ditch the single coil? Slap a vintage strat type single in there and try it for your singing leads and beautiful cleans. You may be surprised.

 

[johnny ForTiorI]

cool, thanks for the tip. this is actually for a different guitar. i have two Ibanez´s (an S and an RG) i want to do major upgrades on. the S will be for leads and cleans and just has two humbuckers and a nice tremelo. the RG has the single coil and doesn´t have a trem (or at least not a usable one) and is not as well built as the S, so this one will just be a brutal rhythm machine. plus i hate single coils in the middle. i don´t like how it looks and it´s totally in the way of my picking.

 

[newamerikangospel]

If you are set on it, then Tedtan's info is the way to go.

However, the single coil in the middle can make some monstrous tones if you put a hot rails in. I had one for my Ibanez EX, and putting in series with bridge made a great big thick sound for chords (clean or 5ths under gain), and wired in parellel with the neck made awesome cleans, and was great for tracking harmonies (one with neck, the other with the middle). Sit kept the tones separate, but still cohesive.