scott from _actual time_

thanks! actually, i never use the both-humbuckers-together position. it sounds muddy to me, like a mix between bridge and neck that is less cool than either of them separately. so it was easy for me to drop that combination and replace it with others i use a lot--like the two outer coils, for that notched Tele sound. i've seen that double-barreled switching scheme before, but it's way more than i would ever use. with humbuckers, i don't need single coils in series, and i never use out-of-phase sounds because of the volume drop-off. and 10 positions is pretty much all i can remember off the top of my head.

Exton is right--your Megaswitch is the P model, and it won't do the combination that the E model will. so you either need to replace it with the E model, or replace it with a 24-pole superswitch. that switch can do anything, but you'd have to draw up your own diagram.

i use a 24-pole, 5-way superswitch and a push/pull DPDT tone pot on my H/S/H guitars. i have two separate "modes," a humbucker mode with the tone pot down that is very similar to the Ibanez JEM switching, and a single coil mode with the tone pot up that is like Strat switching. .. i like the "mode" switch idea because it changes all 5 positions with just one switch.

it's not the same guitar. the one under my name is a pro custom with H/S/H pickups; this alder one i'm building is H/S. and it's not done yet--i still have to wetsand and buff. heh! _actual time_ is my math/prog/metal band.

ok--here's a shot of the back:

what it needs is several cans of Deft sealer....

did you end up trying that Danish Oil? if so, how'd it turn out? i'm working on a mahogany 7-string body that i'm considering finishing with Danish Oil.

looks like he means exactly what you were saying in your option #2, the two bit method of cutting from the top and then the bottom. i agree that's your best option. i've looked for really tall top-bearing router bits and the tallest i've ever found is 2"--i've never seen one big enough to cut 2.5". and cutting partial width at a time will go easier on the router.

no, it has to be that exact special Ibanez switch or another 5-way designed specifically for two humbuckers. standard strat switches all have two sets of poles, but they are designed to give the classic bridge, b+m, middle, m+n, neck pickup combinations. they won't give anything close to that Ibanez switching scheme.

unfortunately, the Ibanez two-humbucker switching scheme on the 1527 is not possible with a standard strat 5-way switch. that Ibanez switch looks the same, but it's not. it has internal connections that are unique for that two-humbucker switching scheme. your pickup wire colors may also be mixed up, but the switch is the real problem. so you either need the original switch or another switch designed for two humbuckers. the Schaller Megaswitch Model P from Stew Mac has 4 of the same positions as the Ibanez two-humbucker switch--only the middle position is different.

finally got around to staining this. i used Trans Tint stain, red mahogany color. i pre-stained the alder with half-strength wash coats in a (vain) hope that it would make the staining more even. then i stained several coats at double-strength, which had worked well in my tests. i ended up backing the color down a little bit by wiping with wet rags. now to spray....

i've wired my H/H Ibanezes in this switching scheme (neck pickup at the top): i get the full-on humbuckers in positions 1 and 5, the neck in parallel for a more Strat-type sound, the inner coils for the notched Petrucci-style clean tone, and the two outer coils for a bouncy Tele-style clean tone. all accessible with one 5-way switch. and yes, i do use all 5 positions, especially for clean and medium-gain tones. i also have a push/pull pot that splits the two full-on series humbuckers to give the outer coil of each one, but leaves the other 5-way switch positions the same. i use the otuer coils because the tonal difference is more pronounced than the inner coils--sharper at the bridge and rounder at the neck.

i tried to reply to this last week, but it seems my post didn't come through. there are two ways to coil cut a humbucker, and each way gives a different coil. you can connect the series link to ground, which gives you the "first" coil [the coil that the humbucker hot wire is coming from]. or you can run the series link to hot, which gives you the "second" coil [the one the colored ground wire is coming from]. so those Duncan and other diagrams that use one SPDT switch to give either coil of a humbucker are just switching the series link to ground or to hot. unclej: i hear a big difference between each coil in a humbucker, especially in the neck position. the outer coils sounds sharper and brighter, like a Tele, and the inner coils sound rounder with more "quack," like a Strat. it makes a difference when running the cut coils alone, or when running them with other coils. most humbuckers contain two coils that are very similar in construction, and they sound different because of how far they are from the bridge. but if you have a humbucker where the two coils are not similar [like the DiMarzio D-Sonic], the sounds from each cut coil are even more different.

that is really slick--nice job. the only tiny problem i can see is that it'd be hard to keep the pot exactly at the center full humbucking position unless the pot had a center detent.

if anyone's interested, let me know in the next couple days, before the pickup goes off to auction. thanks.

dude, i feel your pain. but your wings still look pretty good, and definately fixable. a couple years ago, the wings on my maple V slipped before i noticed it, one of them about two inches. wood glue sets up a lot faster than i ever realized. i had to soak that side of the guitar in the laundry sink to get that wing off. i wish i'd taken a pic of that.

Price drop: $60 w/ free shipping in the US. Email actualtime@his.com if interested. Thanks.

a standard Strat 5-way switch will not do that. your yahama switch will not do that, and normal ibanez switches won't do it either. you need a custom switch. the E model Megaswitch will do exactly what you want. see http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_p...gaswitches.html .

here's a recent PG thread in the finishing section that has a pic of a V with the strat-style jack plate mounted on the rear face of the guitar: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=22715 . since you already own the strat-style jack plate, that would seem like a perfect solution. on my 7-string V, i mounted the jack on the inside of one of the wings. i don't have a picture of the jack istself, but in the bottom of this pic you can just barely see the hole along the inside of the wing.

only with a 24-pole superswitch. a Strat switch won't do that middle combination, no matter how you wire it. and is that middle combination each pickup wired in parallel, then both in parallel with each other? or each one in series, then both in parallel with each other? you're going to have to decide that before you design your wiring scheme.

you're absolutely right. that wiring diagram is the Ibanez 'special' 5-way wiring for two humbuckers. that wiring scheme requires a special 5-way switch, either the Cortek switch Ibanez uses or a 24-pole superswitch. the stock yamaha switch will not do that scheme.

i finally got around to those staining tests on alder today, in preparation for staining my Ibanez S7 clone body. i'm using the Trans Tint "Red Mahogany" water-soluble analine dye. i'm pretty sure it's made by the same company that makes the Stew Mac Color Tone dyes, and it may even be the same exact color as their Red Mahogany. the alder i have is scraps from my Stew Mac body blank--it's a pale rose color, with brown streaks in the grain that look like tiny slivers of caramel in ice cream. i mixed the stain in three different ratios. the far left-hand stripe on the left-most scrap is stain mixed 1:64, which is half-strength compared to what the label says (1 oz per quart, or 1:32). the middle stripe on the left-hand scrap is recommended strength, 1:32. the right stripe on the left-hand scrap, and the block next to it, and the two blocks below are all 1:16, which is double strength. and the far right stripe is double strength applied twice--brushed on, wiped off, then again. it goes on a lot browner than in those pics, then turns reddish as it dries. the half-strength and the full-strength look more pale red that i was aiming for. the double-strength and the double applied twice look pretty good to me, especially where there is enough grain in the wood to show through. i'm going to start my staining with one application of that double strength and see how it looks.

FS: Seymour Duncan 7-string SH-5 Duncan Custom pickup. Medium-high output humbucker for bridge position. Pickup is black, and comes with mounting screws, springs, and mounting ring. In brand new condition--pickup was never installed. These sell for new $76. I'll sell this one for $66, with free shipping in the US. Payable by Paypal only. Contact me at actualtime@his.com. Thanks.

i don't know if MIDI cables are shielded enough to carry a guitar signal. if i were you, i'd use an XLR mic cable to carry your signal to the wah and back. mic cables already have two conductors inside them, and they are shielded. you could wire the jacks on either end to the right signals, and you could use a stock mic cable. mic cables usually run low impedance signals rather than high impedance like guitar output, so you might want to run as short a cable as you can get away with.

that is true. it's not the shielding itself that's the problem. like lovekraft said above, "...provided the power level doesn't exceed the current handling capability of the cable and/or the connectors...". almost all shielded instrument cables are much higher resistance than speaker cables, and they can't handle the current an amp puts out. a higher resistance cable makes your amp output push harder, and that can damage or blow your amp. so like folks are saying, you can use any low resistance, high capacity cable. any pro speaker cable will do. stereo speaker wire works fine too. lamp cord, like lovekraft said, will also work.