Convert 24-fret Body To 22-fret With Neck Single Coil?

[stratoskier]

Hi,

I picked up an Ibanez RT body that originally had a 24-fret neck with a standard heel and a long overhang. It also had a neck humbucker. For several reasons (basically I have several 22-fret necks and prefer single coils in the neck position), I'm considering converting it to a 22-fret with neck single coil. There are no problems with bolting up the 22-fret neck as the route is standard. However, replacing the humbucker with a single coil is getting into tricky terrain. As seen in the pics, the body has a deep lower cutaway. I would need to extend the route toward the neck about 1/2". The sides of the new route would come about 1/4" to 3/8" from the nearest part of the lower cutaway. I'm wondering if you folks think this would be a very poor idea.

I could alternatively position the single coil within the existing humbucking cavity, but that would place it about 1/2" out of the customary "sweet spot" for a neck single. Obviously, I'm going to need a custom pickguard for whichever option I go with.

Hopefully the pics below will make the situation clear. Any input is appreciated!

Thanks,

Bert

Existing routing (middle of the 3 feint pencils lines is approximate location of new routing):

Location of new route to accomodate a single coil in the neck position:

Existing routing with 22-fret neck in position:

[Reinhold]

It would work fine probably if you get a single coil with a small base. The existing route should probably be filled in as well.

[Tim37]

i dont think that pickup placement is that improtant. after all that sweet spot changes as soon as you fret a string.

btw just make sure the scale is right.

[stratoskier]

Thanks for the replies so far. The scale won't change -- it'll remain 25-1/2" with either neck as the heel route location is standard. The shallow route between the heel and the humbucker is to accomodate the long fretboard extension. And yes, I planned to glue in some wood blocks to fill in both the fretboard trough and the unused humbucker cavity.

[avengers63]

basically I have several 22-fret necks and prefer single coils in the neck position

This statement is the only one in your post stating anything resembling your reason for wanting to do the conversion. If that's the only thing you have, I have to ask you what's so important about having a 22 fret neck instead of a 24? It'd be a lot less intrusive to the body to simply trade out the neck pup and get a new p/g. For my $0.02, the less you do to implement the conversion, the better.

[stratoskier]

I can understand your skepticism. I've pretty much always been a 22-fret guy (though I have a couple of other 24-fret Ibanez RT guitars) and really prefer the sound of a single coil in the standard strat location. Yes, there has been much debate about whether or not having the pickup situated directly under the 24-fret node really makes a difference or not. I'm one of those who thinks it does make a difference whether playing an open or fretted note.

BUT... I'm not enough of a purist that I wouldn't consider putting another 24-fret neck on there, especially a maple board one. The problem is that I have three 22-fret, square heel Ibanez necks and no 24-fretters. There are lots of 24 fret Ibanez necks for sale, but most are the thin Wizard or Wizard II's and I like a beefier neck profile than that. The RT's had Viper necks which are terrific necks, but it's rare to find a used one of those. I priced out a Warmoth neck and they're around $275, a little high for this project.

[avengers63]

Yes, there has been much debate about whether or not having the pickup situated directly under the 24-fret node really makes a difference or not. I'm one of those who thinks it does make a difference whether playing an open or fretted note.

Good enough for me.

All I have for it then is for you to be EXTRA CAREFUL when you rout out the cavity. You already know that there's not any room for error. Also, the p/g will be right on top of the edge of the cutaway, so there are some aesthetics to consider.