ADA Depot - A Forum To Support Users of ADA Amplification Gear
Non ADA Gear => Guitars => Topic started by: Dante on April 19, 2015, 09:35:03 PM
-
Guys,
I am in perpetual search of a Strat-like guitar that I can really bond with. I have gone through about six guitars so far, two of them Strats, one Tele, and this is my second Ibanez attempt. Honestly, the first Ibanez I had (an 80s Roadstar II) was the best Strat I ever had....until now.
I picked up this 2005 Korean made Ibanez SAS 36 FM (SAS = model, 36 = model number, FM = Flame Maple). It's a HSS configuration, with a Push/Pull coil split for the humbucker. This is no ordinary humbucker, it's a triple coil & doesn't lose any power when you split it :thumb-up:
The pics feature the new girl and my gold top, which is also a 2005 Korean made Ibanez. I don't know what the hell they were doing in Korea in the mid 2000s, but apparently the guitar making was top notch. These two guitars are by far the best value for the money spent.
Back to the new girl: I feel like I'm playing a guitar I've had for a long time. It's very comfortable, very thin, very light. I love it. I'm considering naming her Lucy or Ruby (BTW: I resize my images to 800 pixels wide max.)
Thoughts?
PS. Magnus: I traded my RG Shredder for this, but took the Evolution out first ;)
-
Very nice Dante, It's good when you find a guitar that you can bond with, sounds like you might with this one :thumb-up: Looks like a very well made guitar. My Epiphone SG is a Korean one. The worst about it was the hardware (and it had a bent fret LOL), I got it for $350 2nd hand in a hard case. I had the neck shaved, new frets, machine heads, wider bridge, came up well. While I liked the PUs they were a bit microphonic so I tried a JB bridge/Alnico neck, didn't do it for me so I put in some Gibson 57 re-issues ($300 each back then (ouch)) but sounds great. Although like all SGs that frets stop where neck joins, it falls left all the time. I was thinking about a brass tail piece and maybe thick brass control cavity cover to counter balance it LOL.
So when do we hear it ??
-
Richard,
Sounds like you're describing the 'neck dive' that I have with many of my Ibanez double cutaway guitars. The headstock totally dives when I take my hand off the guitar. The brass control plate may work, but I read a forum post about a guy who put some fishing weights in the control cavity to keep the body heavier :lol:
I must admit, I'm pretty smitten by the new girl right now. The cleans are simply amazing, I'm just trying to find that magical heavy tone with this stock bridge pickup. I'm hoping I can use the stock bridge PU because it sounds really great when split, many of the Humbucker's I've used simply lose their power when split. This one is strong, meant to be coil-split and keep on coming. ^-^
-
Nice guitar bro!
You might wanna check out the Evolution in the bridge. Wire it for normal series operation/split inner coil when in the the bridge/middle position and use a push/pull pot for parallel....Single Coil sound with enough Level but without hum :thumb-up:
BTW, here´s the original SAS36FM wiring diagram:
(http://www.ibanez.com/supportResources/wiring/2006/W05001W.gif)
Just did some research...the TrueDuo HB is a DiMarzio Humbucker (http://dimarzio.com/sites/default/files/diagrams/Tduo_to_standard.pdf (http://dimarzio.com/sites/default/files/diagrams/Tduo_to_standard.pdf))
And here´s the Series/Parallel switching I mentioned above....just transfer the DPDT-Switch layout to the push/pull
http://dimarzio.com/sites/default/files/diagrams/hss5w_1v1t_splitB_DPDTdualsndB.pdf (http://dimarzio.com/sites/default/files/diagrams/hss5w_1v1t_splitB_DPDTdualsndB.pdf)
-
Wow! Thanks Man!!!!
BTW: I just went to a local pawn shop to buy a case. Got one for $15.
While there, I noticed my new guitar hanging on the wall, in flame grey instead of red. I got it for $134 out the door, with a case :amaze:
I didn't take it home yet, I felt too impulsive about it & just put it on layaway. But for that price, HOW CAN I GO WRONG?!?
-
I think 134$ is a real bargain.
-
Hey Dante, just buy it man, at $134 :banana: , hey here a case is worth $80 - $100, that one IMHO is a no brainer :thumb-up:
Yeah I though about some fishing sinkers or similar, funny, the SG is the only one I have an issue with (falling left...) and it didn't help the weight distribution when I put on some grovers (the schaller replacement tulips poped the back off 2 of them :( , 1 ok put up with that got a replacement, 2 mmm I was over it). Grovers are great but a little heavier so made matters worse (in terms of fall to the left). But I thought if I got a brass control cover made say 3/16" (would need a little routing) it would do the job ? Upside of lead things though is you could just add more until it ballanced. But then you could take that weight and make the control cover just right... (as nicer way to go, albeit more expensive).
Hey I'd definitely buy the grey one (if I were you), that's a very good price and you already know you like them >:D
-
11 days and I'm still smitten by this axe. I will be purchasing the gray one, no worries there. I already gave them $50 to hold it for me, so I only owe $84 more and she's all mine. The gray one is missing a knob, but I found two chrome Mesa knobs in my junk drawer that are just waiting to go on that guitar.
This thing is like a showmaster with a Gibby neck. Not a thin Ibby neck, more like a Lester or Carvin neck, which I prefer anyway. It's a pretty nice guitar and feels sooooo thin. I could play this for 4 hours without a problem.
I'm surprised that I haven't changed the bridge pickup yet.
-
Go Dante, maybe you like the bridge PU that in there already ? LOL Good you got the other one on hold :whoohoo!:
-
I am struggling trying to figure out how to translate the diagram - I have a different setup on the push/pull switch and a different 5-way switch....grrr
UPDATE: Spent too much time trying to decipher and translate the two wiring diagrams and said Phucket – went to the local music store for a push/pull volume pot and a 5-way switch. Wired it up according to the diagram and it sounds like butt. Sounds like the whole guitar is out of phase - very tinny. I'm done for today, tomorrow I may look at it again, maybe the next day. Right now, it's taken too much of my life away already.
The good news is that I have the action right where I want it now (1.5mm @ 12th fret)
-
Hey Dante, can do your head in. Email the diagrams if you like and I'll help you sort it (or draw how you've got it). I may get lost a bit inside an ADA but PU wiring I'm pretty good at :thumb-up:
So whats 1.5mm in 64"ths (the standard for action measurements LoL), (ok its 1/16" = 4/64"), so nice and low, normally 5/64" Treb 7/64 Bass for acoustic and 3/64 T, 5/64"b electric is rule of thumb starting position (from my guitar building days..). I probably run much the same as you, though I don't measure it anymore. The other big influence here (and the first thing to adjust) is the neck relief.
-
I had to adjust the trussrod for a couple days before I got that neck up to where I wanted it.
I still have not gone back to the wiring on that guitar, I just don't want to look at it right now. I have band camp (aka rehearsal) tomorrow and I need to study some new tunes to be ready. Screw the guitar...I'll fix it later ;)
-
No worries, let me know if I can help :thumb-up:
-
No worries, let me know if I can help :thumb-up:
Same here... Just lemme know...else we can facetime and sort it out :thumb-up:
-
Okay guys,
I got home from work (it's Friday night) and immediately popped a beer and picked up the aforementioned guitar. Flipping it over, I saw that a wire had come loose - the hot wire for the bridge PU, which I know was working before...it just fell off recently & had nothing to do with the tinny crap I heard before. I soldered it back on & tried the guitar - yup, still sounds out of phase.
Which got me thinking....I learned to wire up guitars on a Squire Strat I picked up for $50, I put a HSH config in that one. I had a similar problem where the whole guitar sounded very tinny and thin. The problem was the single coil PU in the middle, it was out of phase. I reversed the wires and it sounded amazing. So, with this experience under my belt, I reversed the wires on the two single coils in this guitar and the results were equally amazing - it sounds pretty frickin good. Magnus was right about that Evolution PU too. I get a bit of boost from pulling the push/pull pot (running parallel). I'm not sure if it's really louder or if it's just cutting through the mix like a spear, but I like it.
I'm going to button up the innards, put the trussrod cover back on, clean him up and play him for a few days. He sounds killer now though...I think I'll call him Killer >:D His red cousin is a girl, her name is Ruby :-*
-
So we can look forward to a tiny red guitar with grey stripes ? LoL. Seems like you could have achieved the same result by reversing the bridge PU. Not that it matters unless your an "absolute phase" aficionado like an audiophile friend of mine. Great you've got it (him) singing now :thumb-up:
My JPLP has the 2 PUs out of phase so middle switch position really is the Jimmy Page sound, I quite like it, particularly with the bridge switched to parallel (has series parallel for B PU on the tone pot).
-
Seems like you could have achieved the same result by reversing the bridge PU.
Y'know, I had thought of that, but I wasn't sure which wires to flip/flop. I know exactly which ones were for the Mid/Neck PUs, so I just went that route. I wanted to get it done all at once, I have 'tested' enough different variations with this thing - lol
-
Hey Dante, I know what you mean, as long as it works :thumb-up: , the ones to reverse on the bridge PU would be the +ve and -ve of the overall output, but hey you got it sussed, either way works..
-
Okay guys,
I got home from work (it's Friday night) and immediately popped a beer and picked up the aforementioned guitar. Flipping it over, I saw that a wire had come loose - the hot wire for the bridge PU, which I know was working before...it just fell off recently & had nothing to do with the tinny crap I heard before. I soldered it back on & tried the guitar - yup, still sounds out of phase.
Which got me thinking....I learned to wire up guitars on a Squire Strat I picked up for $50, I put a HSH config in that one. I had a similar problem where the whole guitar sounded very tinny and thin. The problem was the single coil PU in the middle, it was out of phase. I reversed the wires and it sounded amazing. So, with this experience under my belt, I reversed the wires on the two single coils in this guitar and the results were equally amazing - it sounds pretty frickin good. Magnus was right about that Evolution PU too. I get a bit of boost from pulling the push/pull pot (running parallel). I'm not sure if it's really louder or if it's just cutting through the mix like a spear, but I like it.
I'm going to button up the innards, put the trussrod cover back on, clean him up and play him for a few days. He sounds killer now though...I think I'll call him Killer >:D His red cousin is a girl, her name is Ruby :-*
Awesome....glad to hear it worked out! Running the Evo (or any humbucker) in parallel is actually less *powerful* than running in series, but it produces a slight spike in the higher freqs that cut through better and give the impression of the pup being more powerful....
I like the cat btw....also have 3 :-)
-
One of my favourite tones on the JPLP is using the bridge in parallel, with series neck PU, and PUs are out of phase. Vols down to 2.5 - 3 with my MP2 rhythm patch. A great sound scape IMO.
-
My kitty is named Freddy, he's awesome
I must say, the Evo is better in this guitar than it was in the RG or the Vee. Much better. After playing for a couple days, here's how I feel about the DiMarzio Evolution:
It's a hot PU. Not active, but hot. The dirty sounds are dirtier, yet the clean sounds are actually cleaner (wha?) than the stock Duosound humbucker (made by DiMarzio). The stock PU does great for classic rock stuff, because it's cleaner on the gain, but I could easily use either of these in place of the other at a gig. The cleans are much better than the stock PU. The stock PU has a bit too much bite on the high freqs and I had to compensate for that with my patches.
The Evo has a PAF type of attack on the high gain stuff, kind of a squeal that bites into the note. Very tasty. Like a slice of chocolate cake...SC knows what I'm talking about
-
:hair-out: FRICK!! I am struggling with getting this guitar wired up using a standard Fender 5-way switch and an All Parts push/pull pot. Can anybody lend me a hand?
I have a wiring diagram I came up with, but it doesn't work. The bridge pickup is the only issue I'm having. Please have a look at the diagram I've attached and compare it to the one Systematic Chaos gave me earlier in this thread. Then, tell me what I'm doing wrong...please, I beg you
Update 11/24: I have a new diagram, which works until I pull up the push/pull pot. Other than that, the guitar works great. The #2 position does split the coil of the bridge PU (and loses volume expectedly). Not sure what I'm doing wrong here, but I will continue to press on.