Wiring Help Needed (pics Inside)

[Mars Volta]

Hi guys. Last year I bought a Dimarzio Blaze Bridge and Air Norton 7 for my RG7421XL. The Blaze sounds great but I've always hated the Air Norton 7, it sounds really thin and kind of nasal, maybe like a single coil, and so I've wondered if it was wired in single coil mode or something.

My only problem is I had the work done professionally (he's usually great) and from looking at it I've no idea if it is correct as I know nothing about wiring, so I've taken some pictures of inside the control cavity and if anybody could tell me if it looks right or wrong that would be great.

If it looks wrong then I'll take it somewhere else and get it re-done properly, if it looks right then it must be the pickup I don't like and I'll just swap it for a Blaze neck.

I think that it could be wired wrong because the Dimarzio site describes it as warm, open sounding and smooth and mine sounds really harsh like a pick axe some times. It also has an extreme amount of buzz and noise when I use that pickup in a room with strip lights (no other pickups or positions on the guitar have this problem.)

I can't find the right wiring diagram on the Dimarzio site but I want it wired just as it should come stock with the 2 pickups wired to the 5 way switch with the normal coil splitting options etc.

Thanks if anyone can help

[jamers]

What about this? http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wirin...c=2hb_1vol_5way

use this www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=color_codes

for distinguishing the difference between the wires compared to the Seymoure Duncans.

Just an Idea.

Edited April 5, 2008 by jamers

[Thoughtless 7]

I have a couple of Air Nortons in my guitar and they sound anything but thin. I don't like them though...they sound too bassy and full for me. The Blaze Neck on the other hand, sounds fantastic.

[Mars Volta]

From the looks of those Seymour Duncan wiring diagrams he seems to have wired it correctly, although I can't be too sure. I must just not like the pickup, I was going to swap it for a Blaze neck anyway, but mine doesn't sound bassy at all, I'd say there was barely any bass.

[scott from _actual time_]

my RG7421XL.

...I want it wired just as it should come stock with the 2 pickups wired to the 5 way switch with the normal coil splitting options etc.

the wiring in your pics is not correct because all the Ibanez two-humbucker guitars with 5-way switches use a special 5-way switch, and the switch in your pics is not it. check the Ibanez wiring diagram for your guitar to see what i mean.

the switch in the pics looks like a stock strat-style 5-way. all of those neat middle positions in the stock Ibanez wiring require that special 5-way--they are not possible with any normal strat-type 5-way. so your guitar probably does have the neck pickup wired as a single coil, and the sound is not how the pickup should sound as a full humbucker.

so you should ask your tech what happened to the stock switch. if you need a replacement you could order from Ibanez, but that takes ages. the only other way to get those switch combinations is to use a 24-pole superswitch (widely available from several different manufacturers) and lots of wire jumpers. (the Ibanez wiring diagram for the RG2027 shows that wiring scheme). the P model Megaswitch from Stew Mac has 4 of the same switch combinations, if you want to try that.

Edited April 19, 2008 by scott from _actual time_