Let the RG8 Mods begin...

[CanserDYI]

Hey guys, I have this guitar basically as intonated as I can get it, pretty damn close, tuned in Drop EBEADGBE, in distortion power chords on the bottom register with one finger sound off, but clean it sounds fine? Any idea whats happening here? I really dont like open chugging the low EBE as much as I thought i would. I do need a new nut on this thing, I suppose there could be some binding there that is giving me some issues.

 

[odibrom]

I just don't do power chords with the 8th and 7th string. They sound bad, simply because of the distortion over too much bass frequencies content from the source (the strings). When riding the 8th string with distortion, "arpeggiate" the chords instead of simultaneous attack on the strings, eventually, the 8th first and then all the others at the same time...

 

[CanserDYI]

Finally after a little bit of reworking the bridge area..... Everything on the pickguard is just reflections, its faux tortoise...think it looks great personally. Gotta thank @guitar_player4_2_0 for giving me the inspiration and the link to the pickguard, props!

 

[Stiman]

Pots are generally underrated... they change how a pickup sounds AND are way cheaper than a new pickup...

Interesting. I thought Ibanez generally used decent pots. Think this is a case of a different rated pot (500k vs 1,000k) or something like that?

 

[Stiman]

Finally after a little bit of reworking the bridge area..... Everything on the pickguard is just reflections, its faux tortoise...think it looks great personally. Gotta thank @guitar_player4_2_0 for giving me the inspiration and the link to the pickguard, props!

View attachment 102723

Looks amazing!

What's going on at the headstock in this photo?

 

[CanserDYI]

Looks amazing!

What's going on at the headstock in this photo?

My daughter put a fake flower in my fretwrap i keep above the nut, I liked it a lot, I kept it.

 

[odibrom]

Interesting. I thought Ibanez generally used decent pots. Think this is a case of a different rated pot (500k vs 1,000k) or something like that?

Something like that. A pot marked as 500k ohms can actually be between 450k or 550k ohms. They are not super precise, so when choosing pots, measure them first. 2 pots at 450k and 470k will sound virtually the same, but we can already feel the difference between 450k and 550k.

I've been installing 1Mega ohm pots in my guitars for the last 5 years and won't go back.

...then there's the pot tapper, it interferes in our perception of how volume "grows"...

...pots are another very small detail where one can loose his/her mind in the search for "the holly grail tone"...

 

[Stiman]

Something like that. A pot marked as 500k ohms can actually be between 450k or 550k ohms. They are not super precise, so when choosing pots, measure them first. 2 pots at 450k and 470k will sound virtually the same, but we can already feel the difference between 450k and 550k.

I've been installing 1Mega ohm pots in my guitars for the last 5 years and won't go back.

...then there's the pot tapper, it interferes in our perception of how volume "grows"...

...pots are another very small detail where one can loose his/her mind in the search for "the holly grail tone"...

Yeah, that's interesting. I have an Ibanez 6 string with Fusion Edge pickups that I don't particularly like. I have pickups on order coming to replace them, but I wonder if just changing the pots would make me like these.

 

[CanserDYI]

Yeah, that's interesting. I have an Ibanez 6 string with Fusion Edge pickups that I don't particularly like. I have pickups on order coming to replace them, but I wonder if just changing the pots would make me like these.

Pretty cheap thing to test before opening your pickup package.

Although you wouldn't be the first person to give up on fusion edge pickups.

 

[Jeffrey Bain]

That looks fuckin miiiiint. Great job man!

 

[odibrom]

Yeah, that's interesting. I have an Ibanez 6 string with Fusion Edge pickups that I don't particularly like. I have pickups on order coming to replace them, but I wonder if just changing the pots would make me like these.

Besides the pot's taper, the rule of thumb is that the higher the pot value, more open the sound will be. This means that if a guitar sounds dark, one should raise the pot's value. If a guitar sounds too bright, one should lower the pot's value...

1 Mega ohm pots for humbuckers are kind of the middle ground between regular 500k ohm pots and no pots at all.

Also consider that having a TONE pot always open (not doing the Tone thing) is different than not having a tone pot at all (giving all the rest is the same), hence why many metal guitars are coming without tone pots.

 

[CanserDYI]

Man I cannot keep this thing in tune for the life of me, it's pretty insane. I have tried lubing the nut, filing it to fit the .085, just won't stay after a few chords. In F# it's better but drop E just wants to go all over the place. Looks like it's time to have a luthier cut me a new TUSQ nut. Really hoping that will help the tuning stability. Anyone else have serious issues with these plastic nuts Ibanez are using on these? I'm usually pretty okay with them, but this one seems to be just awful on the E B E strings on bottom.

Could saddles be a culprit too?

 

[Salvador Ibanez]

CanserDYI what was the value of the pot you uised, still 500K ? I have an RG8, I installed new pickups but kept the stock pots, wondering if I should replace them. I t seems to sound okay the way it is.​

 

[CanserDYI]

CanserDYI what was the value of the pot you uised, still 500K ? I have an RG8, I installed new pickups but kept the stock pots, wondering if I should replace them. I t seems to sound okay the way it is.​

Well I used a Kiesel push pull pot that their tech sent me a long time ago that I never used, it's 500k and also has a small capacitor going from lug 2 to lug 3 on it, not sure what that is doing to it, frankly, but it sounds good imho.

 

[odibrom]

It's probably a treble bleed...