Ibanez V7 V8 magnet swap

[RG570EX]

I just picked up this vintage beauty. One of those dream guitars from the old days of youth. I haven't played an Ibanez in about a decade. I remember everyone saying the V pickups were shit and always planned to change them immediately. I want to keep this one looking stock but I've done a bit of research about the V pickups and these have an odd choice of specs.

The V8 in the bridge is a medium output with alnico 5 magnet while the neck is more vintage output but with a ceramic magnet. Just seems like an odd pairing to me. I've read that people swap the magnets and get great results. The ceramic supposably makes the bridge hotter and tighter while the alnico makes the neck less muddy.

Anyone tried this?

 

[odibrom]

It's not only the type of the magnets that matters but also its size, the bigger the magnet the stronger/more consistent its magnetic field... I think...

It's an easy and reversible mod and you can also get other magnets to play with, just make sure of their polarity orientation to match the original ones, or you'll mess the guitar's circuit sounds when mixing pickups (positions 2 and 4...?).

 

[Grindspine]

I have not done it on the V87/v77, but I have mag swapped a Duncan JB to an Alnico 8, which tamed some of the nasal mids. I also swapped a Sentient to Alnico II for a less scooped sound. Mag swaps make a difference in my experience.

 

[aesthyrian]

I have no personal experience but this is a good read if you haven't already http://www.lonephantom.com/2011/09/polishing-a-turd-or-how-to-improve-ibanez-v7v8-pickups/

 

[Emperoff]

I have no personal experience but this is a good read if you haven't already http://www.lonephantom.com/2011/09/polishing-a-turd-or-how-to-improve-ibanez-v7v8-pickups/

That gif showing the correct way to retain polarity would have saved me tons of headaches at some point. Bookmarked!

 

[odibrom]

That gif showing the correct way to retain polarity would have saved me tons of headaches at some point. Bookmarked!

That's only valid in the condition that the pickups are installed with their inner coils in the same magnetic polarity. I install my hums with alternate polarity, so inner coils are South (Neck pickup) and North (Bridge pickup)...

 

[Emperoff]

I install my hums with alternate polarity, so inner coils are South (Neck pickup) and North (Bridge pickup)...

Does that mean that the gif is still valid for most of us peasants?

 

[odibrom]

Does that mean that the gif is still valid for most of us peasants?

... on that condition, yes, if it's "the most of us", I have no idea...

 

[saabmugen]

I Mod humbucker pickups. Whilst the the magnet does make a difference, the tone shaping has to be a package, the magnet, the base plates, the screws, the keeper bar etc. So, it's about the tone you are shooting for will dictate.

An, A2 will give you slightly scoooed mids while retaining good low and high end response.

A5 is fairly even with slight bump in the mids.

A4 is sort if in between an A2 and an A5.

A6 is similar to A5 but with less of the Mid range bump.

A3 is great for the Neck pickup if you do not mind a less low end response. But it more than makes up with the sweet high-end response.

I have not modded the V7/V8 but have modded the low end Ibanez infinity. Check the link below

 

[Zhysick]

Ceramic in the bridge will bump mids and highs making it more modern sounding, crispier and probably tighter (is not nigjt and day, heh?)

Alnico in the neck might get you a clearer (more scooped) sound bit with enhanced bass and rounder highs.

If that is what you cant, go for it. I prefer ceramic in the neck, clearer, brighter, more attack. But also depends on the winding so...

It's free, it's easy, it's reversible. Go for it.

 

[RG570EX]

Ceramic in the bridge will bump mids and highs making it more modern sounding, crispier and probably tighter (is not nigjt and day, heh?)

Alnico in the neck might get you a clearer (more scooped) sound bit with enhanced bass and rounder highs.

If that is what you cant, go for it. I prefer ceramic in the neck, clearer, brighter, more attack. But also depends on the winding so...

It's free, it's easy, it's reversible. Go for it.

That actually is what I want. It just makes me nervous because I have never actually taken a pickup apart with the intention of putting it back together. I have taken pickups from cheapo guitars and dismantled the pickup just to see what was inside and how long the wire was if I unwound it from the coil. Never tried to put one back together though.

 

[gabito]

I did it to mine, just followed the instructions in the link @aesthyrian shared above.

I didn't hate the sound before, but something was missing so I wanted the see what was different if I swapped the magnets. I don't know if now it's better, but it sure is different. It's a simple mod, just be careful not to break anything

 

[adrianb]

To those who resorted to replacing the magnets in their pickups, could you have probably fixed the "issues" with the stock pickup through EQ tweaks or maybe a pedal? Genuinely curious here.

If it's good enough for Ihsahn...

 

[gabito]

To those who resorted to replacing the magnets in their pickups, could you have probably fixed the "issues" with the stock pickup through EQ tweaks or maybe a pedal? Genuinely curious here.

If it's good enough for Ihsahn...

Yeah, as I said: I did it mainly because I was curious, and because it was really easy to do.

I don't plan on swapping them back to the original configuration, but I was OK with the original sound and usually find that I can get guitars sounding good just tweaking the eq if the amp / simulator and pickups are decent enough.

 

[odibrom]

To those who resorted to replacing the magnets in their pickups, could you have probably fixed the "issues" with the stock pickup through EQ tweaks or maybe a pedal? Genuinely curious here.

If it's good enough for Ihsahn...

At the end of the signal chain (which is our ears), it may not be very different. When using and EQ before the preamp, one's is tailoring the pickup's feed to the amp, so one can correct frequencies and even boost the preamp's input, when using an EQ after the preamp, one is tailoring the preamp's sound. EQs are swiss army knives for guitar players and can be used either for adjustments as to completely alter the tone of things.

However, whenever one places something in the chain, the whole system changes accordingly, THERE ARE NO TRANSPARENT chain links (in the real world, that is, within the digital one, it will depend a lot on each software). Some love the added color, others may not.

So, a new or another EQ in the chain may also be a possible broken link in the future (all hardware will break sometime) and as such it does make sense for some people to invest in cork sniffing on pickups built with fairy dust and unicorn horn powder so they won't need unnecessary nor excessive processing (even if analogue). Let's remember that there are those who love a straight forward simple rig like guitar+amp+cab...

On the other hand, a pickup IS the first electrical piece of gear in a possible huge and complex rig, it WILL affect everything beyond so it makes sense to fuss about these... right? Will it be noticeable after the mix is done? Probably not, but since a pickup is the first link between the electric part of a guitar and the player, it will interfere on how the player perceives the performed music and that can make all the difference in the mix.

 

[saabmugen]

To those who resorted to replacing the magnets in their pickups, could you have probably fixed the "issues" with the stock pickup through EQ tweaks or maybe a pedal? Genuinely curious here.

If it's good enough for Ihsahn...

Nope. A pickup is the first piece of gear that converts the acoustics into an electrical analog signal. It is always easy to start at the source of signal conversion instead of spending a whole lot of time tweaking your rig. What if you have multiple guitars, you can't tweak your rig for every single guitar.

There is a saying in the mixing world, 'Shit in, Shit out'. You always want to present the best signal to your rig. Also, when you have a vibrant, dynamic and harmonically rich pickup signal, you dig in more, it shows up in your playing and in your mixes.....

 

[mattier303]

I Mod humbucker pickups. Whilst the the magnet does make a difference, the tone shaping has to be a package, the magnet, the base plates, the screws, the keeper bar etc. So, it's about the tone you are shooting for will dictate.

An, A2 will give you slightly scoooed mids while retaining good low and high end response.

A5 is fairly even with slight bump in the mids.

A4 is sort if in between an A2 and an A5.

A6 is similar to A5 but with less of the Mid range bump.

A3 is great for the Neck pickup if you do not mind a less low end response. But it more than makes up with the sweet high-end response.

I have not modded the V7/V8 but have modded the low end Ibanez infinity. Check the link below

Awesome videos man!
Sustain for days !
very cool!

 

[saabmugen]

Awesome videos man!
Sustain for days !
very cool!

Thanks Man. Glad you liked them 🙂

 

[RG570EX]

And on a GIO too. Just proves you don't need to have expensive gear to sound good.

 

[maliciousteve]

I've just done this swap on my RG and I'm pleased with the results. The neck humbucker is a drastic improvement. Much more definition but some how fatter and 'chewier' I guess. The bridge pickup sounds more chuggy too. Just be careful not to nip any wires or you'll have a headache repairing the pickup like I just did