Just bought EMG's for my RGA121

[Metaltastic]

Nah, pretty much every Ibanez with a blade toggle switch is a 5-way, even if it only has two humbuckers - I hate 5-ways however, so 3 all the way for me! (they're often sold as Telecaster switches, just make sure not to get that retarded barrel top )

 

[updog]

thanks. yeah, I think the 5-way thing is fucking useless. I mean the stock pickups definitely are far from amazing, so why have a 5-way switch to see in how many ways your tone can suck? I mean, I think it has done a decent job, using bridge for chuggaz, middle position for cleans, and neck with some tone rolled off for leads, but I've never had any use for the two positions in between those. It just makes things harder when you'll eventually want a better set of pickups on it.

 

[Metaltastic]

No argument here, the in-between stuff is utterly useless to me!

 

[updog]

would changing the switch be a bitch to do-it-yourself? There's probably tutorials floating on the internet but I just want to know if it's worth the while of trying, since all I know about the insides of my guitar is that the inside looks pretty ugly and there's some wires and the backsides of the two pots in there. I wouldn't want to completely destroy the guitar, nor the newly acquired set of pickups once I'll purchase them

 

[Metaltastic]

Well you would have to re-solder all the terminals on the switch, but with a wiring diagram it *shouldn't* be too hard:

That of course is with EMG's, but if you leave out the battery it should apply for any two-conductor pickup! (and for the four conductor ones, I think you can just tape two off, though which two depends on the manufacturer, they all use different color codes, but it's pretty easy to find them with a quick search!)

 

[updog]

man does that look scary as fuck. haha. But not impossible even for me I guess. Gotta look into that some more.

thanks for the help man!

 

[Metaltastic]

No problem dude, good luck! Honestly though, I'd just take it to a tech, it shouldn't be too expensive to have him do it

 

[kramer1309]

Ibby got a different 5 way switch than fender's 5 way switch for their HH guitars. They give you something like Neck, NeckSplit, NeckSplit+BridgeSplit/Neck+Bridge,Bridge split,Bridge.... have one in my rondomusic's guitar, its pretty cool for some innovative combinations. Right now, i have an EMG81 in the bridge and a stock no-name passive in the bridge with the following combinations: Off (hey, i wanted it ).Neck,NeckSplitCoil1,NeckSplitCoil2,Bridge.. cool variation imo..

 

[updog]

Right now, i have an EMG81 in the bridge and a stock no-name passive in the bridge with the following combinations: Off (hey, i wanted it ).Neck,NeckSplitCoil1,NeckSplitCoil2,Bridge..cool variation imo..

I thought you can't use active and passive pickups in the same guitar??

 

[kramer1309]

guess again! It damn well is possible, just needed to think of some switch wiring schemes...
It works, right now i've got it wired to a one vol (shared) and one tone (only for the passive).. but am thinking of changing to vol/vol since i don't really use the tone knob (on the neck pup, rolling off more highs would be stupid with an already kinda muddy but useful for clean pups)

 

[Metaltastic]

Hmm, they both may be functioning running to one volume, but probably aren't sounding as good as they could - active pickups (EMG's and Blackouts) are designed to be connected to 25kOhm pots, whereas typically passive humbuckers are connected to 500kOhm pots; how this would manifest sonically I'm not sure; I'm guessing if the one pot is 25kOhm the EMG will sound fine but the passive will sound kinda muffled and undefined, whereas if the one pot is the 500kOhm then the EMG would sound unpleasantly thin/harsh; I could be way off though, but yeah, to be safe, the best bet is just to have two independent volume pots!

 

[kramer1309]

I used the 500k pot with the emg as well (on a whim/sort of advice) sounded as expected, not noticably thin/harsh, but then again i haven't used a emg before so i dunno, i have posted clips so you tell me...
what do you think, should i scrap the tone knob? It only works on the neck and that is already kinda muddy, wouldn't really want a lowpass on that right? still contemplating...

 

[Metaltastic]

Tone knobs are useless to me, so yeah, I vote ditching it!

 

[kramer1309]

sadly, i'll have to wait 3 weeks (one for college exams and then 2 for carnegie mellon's winterschool) till i can get back home and get out the soldering gun :'( ..
oh well i'll have to wait to experiment..

 

[slashvanyoung]

Hmm, they both may be functioning running to one volume, but probably aren't sounding as good as they could - active pickups (EMG's and Blackouts) are designed to be connected to 25kOhm pots, whereas typically passive humbuckers are connected to 500kOhm pots; how this would manifest sonically I'm not sure; I'm guessing if the one pot is 25kOhm the EMG will sound fine but the passive will sound kinda muffled and undefined, whereas if the one pot is the 500kOhm then the EMG would sound unpleasantly thin/harsh; I could be way off though, but yeah, to be safe, the best bet is just to have two independent volume pots!

The problem with 500k pots and active EMGs is not a loss in sound quality but a loss in pot-functionality (so to say): 500k pots act (due to their value) more like an on/off switch for actives, meaning that there is hardly any middle ground between full volume and no volume at hall.

Passives with 25k pots on the other hand will suffer from tonal loss though, even if the pot is completely "open". There will be less output and lack of high end.

So if you'd want to combine both and only use one volume pot, then a 500k pot is the better choice. Using both at once (middle position) will still sound rather crappy though.

The ideal solution to use actives and passives together is wiring a preamp like the EMG PA-2 after the passives because that will match their impedance to the 25k pots.

 

[Metaltastic]

Cool, thanks for the lowdown on that dude!

 

[kramer1309]

Yup, i read people say that but it did not really end up exactly like that (that rigidly), sorry, i'm not trying to argue (I know i'm getting annoying), just stating experimental observations.

 

[videinfra]

I got my guitar back from the tech yesterday, he did an awesome job with minimal modification. The pickup and clips were shaved along with a little shaving in the cavity, but no actual routing needed. She looks sexy I must say and sounds great too!

 

[Metaltastic]

Right on!

 

[Nitrobattery]

I got my guitar back from the tech yesterday, he did an awesome job with minimal modification. The pickup and clips were shaved along with a little shaving in the cavity, but no actual routing needed. She looks sexy I must say and sounds great too!

Very cool! I like my pickups sitting fairly low in mine, so I ended up having to go to town inside the cavity. After shaving the nibs on the pickups they fit, but thanks to the quick connects they were sitting WAY too high. So after being interrupted at least 40 times thanks to doing it at the store I work in, all systems were finally a go.