thenerd

awesome thanks for the help ill give it a try, im not using a middle pickup so i guess it should work. Thanks again

A couple of questions:

• What kind of 5 way switch, a std Strat, or something fancier?
  
• Why do you have the ground wire hooked up to the switch?
  
• What are you trying to get the switch to do?
  

its a standard 5 way switch which came on my Ibanez RG1570, nothing fancy, has 8 "pegs" (or whatever they are called) on it in a straight line. I wrote wrong in the original message, the 5th peg is connected to the volume pot not ground sorry. i would like if possible to get split sounds from the dimarzio as well as humbucker sounds, i was told earlier i could do this but im not sure how to wire it, i would really apreciate some help :-). I also wonder if because the same sound is coming out on two different positions on the switch if that means im gettin lower output.

thanks for the help

THe NERD

i have two dimarzio pickups which i have connected to a 5 way switch......neck red wire to peg 8 and bridge red wire to peg 6...ground to peg 5. I get the same sound on position 1 & 2 and same sound on position 4 & 5.......im wondering if these positions are giving me full serial humbucker sound or is the power being cut due to the sound being sent to two different positions?

thanks in advance

check out the wiring diagrams on DiMarzio and Ibanez's sites to see the stock wiring and figure out how the switch works [it's a standard Strat-type 5-way for 3 pickups, and the Ibanez wiring automatically coil cuts the humbuckers in the 2 and 4 positions].

since that switch is designed for 3 pickups, not 2, there's only one two-humbucker coil cutting scheme you can wire up with that switch. if you don't solder in the middle pickup at all, you'd get this:

1 - neck humbucker

2 - neck HB coil cut

3 - nothing, no sound

4 - bridge HB coil cut

5 - bridge humbucker

if you want something different, you'd need a new switch. the Megaswitch E as suggested by Scott Rosenberger above is a great choice, it would give you the same ones as above but instead of a kill switch in position 3, you'd get the outer coils for a notched Tele-style clean tone. the Megaswitch model P is designed specifically for two humbuckers and would give you the same coil cut combinations as the PRS rotary switch. Stew Mac sells the Megaswitches and has diagrams of their switching schemes.

if you wanted something really crazy, you could get a 24 pole switch which can do anything, but those are very complex to wire if you don't have a lot of wiring experience.

how exactly would i wire it, i dont really understand this 5 step switch. thanks :-)

HI, I bought a Ibanez RG1570 yesterday which comes with a H-S-H configuration and a 5 way switch, and i wanted to remove these pick-ups and install two dimarzios (no single coil) and use the extra positions on the 5 way switch for spliting the dimarzios (Evolution on the bridge and Paf Pro on the neck). im having a really hard time understanding how this 5 way switch works. Could someone tell me if this is possible and how i would go about wiring it, im tired of testing and starting to consider spending 30 bucks on having someone do it for me........UHG

thanks in advance

Eric