Sethmetal

Is it a neck or bridge pickup? If it is a neck it most liekly a single coil. And I would imagine there are 2 ground wires. If it is a bridge, it could be a stacked Dimarzio or Duncan with a coil tap as suggested above. If it has a model number starting in DP...it is a dimarzio Duncans tend to have 2 letters and then 2 numbers if I remember correctly. Or it could be something entirely differnet.

The Randy Rhoads style is (too my knowledge) a 25 1/2" scale instrument. If the bridge is on the body, Measure 25 1/2" from the center position of the saddle's intonation range towards the imaginary headstock. Mark this spot on a table under the body, or a piece of paper behind the body. If you have another 25 1/2" scale guitar, like a strat. line the nut of that neck up to the line you marked. If the 22nd fret of the neck lines up with the neck pocket....you have a 22 fretter. If there is adequate space for 2 frets, then it is a 24. Of course you could put a 24 fret on a 22, but you will be cutting into the neck pickup's space, thereby eliminating it's ability to exist. ok.... I fought my laziness. I got up and measure one of my Ibanez necks (25 1/2") from the edge of the nut closets to the bridge to the 22nd fret it is a little less than 18 1/2 ". From the same spot to the 24th fret is about 19 1/4". Hope that helps I just did a search on google for "Randy Rhoads scale length" and came up with serveal 25 1/2" replies

Awesome, that's just what I wanted to hear. I heard that lacquer cracks more, so I guess a few hairline possibilities is not so bad. I was planning on waiting amonth just to be safe for dry time, so I should be totally safe. I'll post some pics when I finish.

Zakk wylde uses a 10-60 set and an 11-74 set. Pretty heavy and he shreds pretty hard. I like playing fast riffed passages, like a lot of extreme metal (Carcass, Arch Enemy, Shadowsfall). I find that having loose strings makes it impossible to play fast. Technically when you are picking, you are trying to get to the same spot quickly. This spot is the string. I find that with looser strings, that spot is often not where it should be. The string is in a different position because it is vibrating. Thicker strings have a tendency to stay with a stable range while vibrating. That way your picking is more economic, timely, and precise. Thicker strings make it harder to bend, but Who really needs to go past a full step or 1 1/2 steps? Get a floyd if you need to bend sharper. On that note, Heavy gauges make for a stiff playing vibrato due to the increased spring tension necessary to level the trem. On the topic of hybrid sets (Light top Heavy bottom). I have found these strings to be a great mix for fast tight rhythms and bendability on the top. But I often replace the 17 (Gstring) for an 18 or 19 to improve picking speed. Hope this helps. Oh yeah by the way Dick Dale plays like 13's or 16's...something rediculous like that. He is a fast mofo, and he still bends ocassionally, but it looks painful. Stevie Ray played 11's and up and he can't tear through some pentatonics.

Ok for the rattlecans enthusiasts. Who has had luck with rattlecan poly clear coats? How long have you needed to wait before buffing? What grit have you wet sanded with? What was your finally buffing step/compound? How pleased are you with the durability of the finish and have you experienced cracking or chipping? Currently I have 2 guitars that I am spraying and just gauging against what some of you more experienced brethren have accomplished. Thanks for the suggestions. Crack open a beer it's friday! I'm knockin back some Sammy's and settin up some axes. The only way to relax!

I think that it's a great idea, but....... I'm not sure which I think looks worse 1) a headless guitar 2) the factory equipped naked headstocks 3) a retrofitted guitar with the tuners in place but useless 4) a retrofitted guitar with the tuners removed I think all are ugly personally I like the Ibanez Edge system (not the Edge Pro) I think the Edge with the Rollerbearing pivot points that vigier uses would be the ultimate setup. Has anyone seen Vigier's bearing setup I'm really interested. The bearings are built to spin at rediculous speeds, so even Steve Vai couldn't damage them.

It is taking forever and I am taking a break right now. That sealer is tough and I DON'T want to know how soft the veneer is. I am determined to finish this sucessfully. I started with 600 grit as Brian recommended.....I'm starting to wonder if he was being sarcastic. 600 barely got through any of the sealer. I started using 320 and we were moving a little quicker (Still very carefully). I have gotten down to the wood in a few spots, but still have 95 percent covered with sealer. Once I get through the top sealer, I am gonna blaze through the back with my electric sander. That will be nice. I'm just really dreading going through that veneer. I wouldn't recommend getting the saga kits if you plan on doing a real stain unless you want to go through this headache. I plan to write to SAGA and request that they don't seal this kit anymore or at least offer it without. I'll post again when I get thecourage to finish it. I have 3 other project axes and 2 bands to take my attention.

The rock sound is pretty broad, but generally the "harder" the rock the more humbucking we tend to get. The only powerful sounding singles I hear are actually double coils, either stacked or sidebyside. The only thin sounding humbucker I've heard is the Humbucker form hell, which sounds close to a single. Can't go wrong with a humbucker, at the very worst you have 4 useable sounds. Series, parallel, and often two different sounding single modes, as opposed to a single coil where you have on and off.

I would suggest 1-neck 2-neck and half bridge in parallel 3-bridge in series on one pole of the 3 way wire the neck hot to the neck position and the bridge hot to the bridge position(this pole is hot) Then on the other pole run the two connected wires of the humbucker to the middle lug (this creates the coil tap) This pole gets grounded. If the middle position is quiet or thin sounding, reverse the phase of the bridge by switching the hot and ground.

Elton check this out. http://www.shrikemusic.com/guitarworks/guitar.htm In short singles are thinner weaker and brighter Humbuckers are thick warm and powerful with more sustain and bite. Both are good, but for different sounds. It sounds like you want humbuckers....which there is a ton of variety.

Oops...You're right stew mac has nitro. I'm losing my mind.

I would reccomend geting conductive paint. Stewmac sells it. Ibanez does this from the factory. that is why there is no tape. They paint it with conductive paint. You can recognize it by it's flat black appearance.

What wattage iron do you have. I use a 45 so it melts fast so I can get off of things before they damage. First you need to tin the pot (heat the pot surface and melt some solder on it. Then I place my wire on the tinned area. I hold the wire between my soldering iron and the pot, so that both items heat up. then I apply solder. Once the solder melts onto both I pull away the iron. Remember you want both parts to heat up in order to get a good contact.

StewMac sells aerosol poly, but it's kinda pricey. www.stewartmacdonald.com Otherwise I undertand that you can get 2 part poly at the automotive dealer. I guess 2 part is more toxic, but leaves the highly praised poly finish. I am about to indulge in this endeavour myself.

Surgical tubing is my favorite way to lift single coils. It replaces the spring on the screws. It is firmer so the pickups won't rock. YOU NEED TO HAVE SPRINGS. It is impossible to adjust height without them.

Schaeller makes stop tailpiece bridges with fine tuners they have a one piece and 2 piece deisgn(les Paul). I used the one piece design in conjunction with a locknut on a cheap Warlock. All went well and stays in tune till the next string change.

How do you recommend to finish the HT in order to enhance the grain. Also Does saga make a kit that isn't finished with sealer??? Thanks -Seth

SLOW AND SCARY. That is what it's like to attempt to sand the sealer off this thing. It's the SAGA PRS kit. I know a couple of people (Including myself) were curious about this, so I decided to bite the bullet. I was using 600 grit as recommended, it takes along long long long long long long long time. I finally see alittle bit of the maple. Just trying to not sand through the maple top. It loks really good when it is wet. I am so tempted just to tint coat it. But now that I'm through in areas, it won't be consitent. I think staining black first will enhance the look, but I am just so afraid of sanding through.

I can't believe you seem as calm about it as you do. I think I'd fly off to Japan, or at least be calling them everyday. Are you sure that they recieved it???? That's along time, they could have built that guitar from scratch and have Mace Bailey do his thing again by now. Very Disapointing. I love Ibanez too much not to buy anymore....ah I like the old ones better anyway.

Thanks for the offer. I talked to the guy who makes the 4 pole 5way switch (Megaswitch company) He's this German dude, his last name is EYB. Anyway, he said I could take the 3 way switch and add on their 4 pole housing. I guess it's easy to do, he said he'd make me one if I was too lazy. So that takes care of that. I'd really be curious to see a pic of your tremolo. I have a Locking trem fetish....yeah it's kinda sick......but I'd be interested to see what you've made. How does the alluminum hold up? -Seth

You're absolutely right. The Jack that Ibanez includes in the instrument is Stereo. I guess some(but not all) of the jacks that Ibanez installs are stereo. This happened to be one of them. Right after I posted, I checked on the EMG FAQ section......I always do stuff backwards.....Sure enough they mention this specific situation. I hooked up to the third lug and all is well in Iceman land. Honestly, the EMG's aren't as bad as I remember them. NOT THAT THEY ARE BAD....I just remember not liking it for some reason. Oh well, they sound good now. Thanks for all the help. -Seth

Ok I'm putting a set of EMG's(81/85) in a brand new Ibanez Iceman IC400. No problem I'm confident in electronics. But then, a mechanical setback. The pickups require installing their input jack (It controls on/off functions). Their input is the traditional style found in Strat deep dishes, except it is a stereo jack. The middle lug grounds the battery to the sleeve of teh 1/4" cable. Ibanez puts a superior style jack in their Japanese instruments, it is held by a 1 1/2" deep hole in the body (way too thick for the 1/2" deep EMG jack). WHAT THE HELL DO I DO???? Tell me if these are acceptable solutions. 1. There is an extra lug on the Ibanez jack. Does Ibanez put stereo jacks in their guitars...and simply don't use them? If this extra lug goes to the sleeve, then no problem...we're in business. But if not.......plan 2 2. A manual switch would funcition the same way. The ownere of the instrument will kill me if I drill a hole. So I guess I could use a Push/Pull. I figure down would be on, and up would be off. It would be good until she put it in her case. Close the case and "on" goes the axe. If I reverse it, I think it will annoy her. 3. If there is a rotary 2way switch I can make a master tone and use the other tone as the on/off. I could use all the help and experience available. Thanks -Seth

I don't believe that series/parallel switching can be done with a 3 way toggle(les paul style). Series/parallell switching reuires actually flipping the polarity of one of the coils, the single circuit of this switch would not allow it. However I believe that you can do this with a 4p3t toggle switch as seen on John Petrucci's music man guitar. Logically I would try to get the series/parallel switching rigged up first, then I would implement the coil tapping switches into this setup.

I have had similar problems with my headstocks. I just do the face of the headstock and no matter how well I Sand the edges, it will eventually chip off. I don't want to go around the edges because I tung oil my necks. I I have been experimenting with over spraying clear just to the sides. Then I will sand them.

for the mex tele, I'd say that the strings aren't grounded. You know that magical wire that goes from the ground to the bridge of your guitar. Might be worth checking on the jackson too.