Sethmetal

When you say ground area, waht do you mean. The whole electronic circuit should be grounded to your bridge (No need to solder it there, the pressure should be enough for contact. Otherwise the capacitor on the tone knob is grounded to the potentiometer's back that it resides in. the humbucker ground to the volume pot's back. the volume pot back is linked to the tone pot's back. and there is a ground from the input jack to the back of the volume pot. That should be every ground.

***??? Bill's L-500 series are fifty bucks, six bucks more for a chrome cover. Sorry, I guess it's been a while since I checked but I seem to remember them being closer to 100 bucks Maybe it's time to reconsider.....hmmmm

Ok, here are some basic rules of thumb, 1. Bridge pickups tend to be hotter, and therefore can sound muddy in the neck most of the time, but NOT ALWAYS. 2. F- spacing is only a big issue on fender style guitars (Ibanez, Jackson, other Floyd Rose equiped guitars) Regular spacing should work well in either position on a Les Paul or similar instruments. 3. Neck Pickups are often weaker and therefore don't do well in the bridge for a high gain sound. 4. A lot of bridge pickups have more emphasis in the low end to compensate for the thin sound create so close to the bridge. Conversely Neck pickups have an emphasis in the higher frequencies to add clarity to the neck position. 5. Typically the bridge is the hottest, followed by the neck, and then the middle is the weakest. In your situation, they very well could be the same pickup. Nothing is wrong with that. Steve Vai used the Paf Pro in the neck and bridge of many of his Jem guitars. The only difference is the spacing because of the tremolos tendency to flare out the strings. For the record, I have a non-f-spaced Dimarzio evolution in the bridge of an Ibanez Rg. The polepieces don't line up cosmeticaly, but everything sounds ok to my deaf ears.

I successfully filled a pickup cavity with two part wood putty. It worked awesome. It would take alot of putty to do an area that large, but I think it would be a good way to do it. I would probably fill it in several layers to ensure proper curing. Although I did the single coil slot in one layer. Just an idea -Seth

I'm afraid of going through the veneer if I sand, it is very thin. Even if I sand down to the surface of the veneer, won't there still be sealer in the pores? What is the most agressive grade paper that I should use? and what grade should I sand up to? Thanks for the help -Seth

I just read a post below about mixing the dye with alcohol to help it over sealer? What kind of alcohol should I use. Seagrams? Bacardi 151? Seriously though, are we talking Isopropyl alcohol like I can get at the drug store or is it something special. I just want to get the dye to stick over the sealer. When I used water it repeled right off the sealer (I guess that's what sealer is supposed to do). Thanks -Seth

I tried to dye over the sealer, and as I imagined, the sealer repels the dye. I'm using the Stew Mac dyes in the 2 oz bottles. Do you have any other suggestions? Otherwise I personally wouldn't recommend this. Can I mix it with lacquer and apply it by hand? Or do I need to finally make the investment on an airbrush? Thanks a ton -Seth

Thanks for all the help. I accidently reposted because I wasn't sharp enough to check the next page when my post magically disappeared the next day. I think I'm inhaling to much paint. -Seth

I'm totally a Dimarzio guy. X2N is cool for Super High Gain, Also the Super Distortions or Evolutions Seymour duncan makes an affordable version of the Invader, I believe they call it the Detonator. The Dimebucker is Pretty gnarly but kinda pricey. The screamin Demon isn't too high gain, but very tasteful. EMG (I KNOW YOU SAID PASSIVE) has the HZ series which are passive(SEE PASSIVE) I have had good repsonses with some of these that I have installed. Bill LAwrence is cool, but perhaps not on the affordable side. For good deals check out Ebay. Alot of the Ibanez pickups are very dimarzio sounding, infact some were made by Dimarzio specifically for I banez. The Ibanez IBZ USA Series are excellent as well as some of the V series pickups (Notably the V2 and V8) Carvins are ok. Their highest output humbucker the M22SD is ok, but not as strong as they bill it to be. I have recently enjoyed using their TBH60 dual coil single pickups. They basically rip the design from duncan, but only cost me 30 bucks each. I found the series sound to be pleasing in the neck against a High gain bridge. The cleans are good especially when wired in parallel (Kinda weak though in parallel). Hope that helps -Seth

Two Dilemmas 1. I have an Ibanez RG series that my girlfriend did some custom art with Prisma color(Colored Pencils) The front is random stuff and the back is a mix of HR Gieger Work. I have begun clear coating, using regular clear spray cans from home depot. I think they are poly. Is it ok to finish using this spray, or should I switch to Nitro now??? Where can I find and affordable nitro spray??? 2. I'm workung on a Saga guitar kit that came with a figured maple veneer. They sealed the wood (DANG!!!) so I can't stain the top like I'd like to. Wherre can I find a Transparent color spray? I would like to be able to see the wood grain a little. Or is it simply not worth the effort? Thanks for the input -Seth

I couldn't find any tutorials about clear coating. I got some info on the polishing stage and I have stewmac's 4 grades of polishing compound and 4 buffing pads. But before I get there, I need to finish coating. So far I have about 4 coats of clear spray (Aerosol can) I go at Home Depot. I imagine that it is a polyurethane. Now I have been told that this is a bad way to finish. Is there a successful way that I can finish this in poly? Can I swith to Nitro now??? Where can I find Nitro clear coats other than stewmac? (it's kinda pricey there) Also is there a place that sells transparent color in a spray can? I purchased a guitar kit from saga. They sealed the wood so I don't think I can stain the figured top anymore But I would at least like to transparent coat it. Thanks for the Help -Seth

What excatly is the stratoblaster? I've never heard of it. Surely you don't want to blast your stratocatser. Is it some type of preamp, or distortion module?

ooops

Sweet Thanks for all the help. I am also a bit confused on the resistor comment. What value is recommended and again where in the circuit. I didn't think of the signal going to ground when depressed. I assumed that it would be an open circuit. Basically just breaking the connection when depressed. Would there be less cliking or popping if I ran it to ground???? Thanks So much -Seth

HELPPPPPPP!!!! I have been driving myself crazy! I want to do those gibson toggle switch "Cut-outs"(You know where you turn the volume off one pickup and jack the toggle around). I want to achieve this effect on my Ibanez where I already plan to use a blade switch. I have had my hands on the solution. It rests in the Scott Ian signature Jackson. He has a button that illuminates (I oculd care less of this feature), but also cuts the signal when depressed, and it is springloaded. Essentially it is just a springloaded momentary SPDT switch. The ones at Radioshack would work, but are way too tiny and, well...........IT"S A DAMN RADIOSHACK PART. I've called Jackson custom shop and they won't answer me. I've call ALLPARTS, Switchcraft, StewartMacdonald, I even wrote Scott Ian. No one has the answer to where I can get one. Someone please help.