Modifications on RG321MH

[waltchwarzkopf]

Hi guys,

I recently bought an (almost new) RG321MH (http://ibanez.wikia.com/wiki/RG321MH), it looks great, it plays great and it sounds great. The reasons that I bought this guitar were because a needed a guitar with 24 frets and a fixed bridge (I had an old Rocket Special HSS with 21 frets and 6-point tremolo). Another reason to buy it was in order to have a guitar to play while I was modifying one of the two.

These are the ideas I have in mind in order of priority and ease:

 

1. Remove tone control:

 

Why? I never use it and it’s always on 10, plus I can change the sound with the EQ of the amp if I need it, which I almost never touch. Moreover, I’ve read that removing the tone control gives a better sound and you can hear each note better while using distortion. Read here: (http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/s...g-tone-pot-WOW!) I’ve noticed that when I use a lot of gain the notes kind-of get lost, with my other guitar (where the humbucker is not connected to the tone) the notes sound a bit more clear. Therefore, the tone is going! The question is what to install there?

 

I could either leave the pot disconnected as a dummy and to cover the hole.

Or install a kill-switch, just for fun, because I may not use it much.

No coil splitting, as I don’t like the sound of single coils alone.

Or install a second volume but only for the neck pickup, leaving the other as master.

 

This last one just occurred to me as a friend once showed me that lowering the neck volume on his Les Paul and keeping the bridge volume high allowed him to clean and soften the sound for chords on neck position while having volume and gain on the bridge for soloing.

Since I play mostly lead and am picking all the time, I don’t want separate controls. I need a master volume (close to pickups, so I can operate it with my pinky fast enough) to be able to regulate the volume on any switch position. And then the second volume (away from the pickups) may be useful to clean up the sound if I’m ever playing chords and suddenly need to solo and need volume and gain. Something like my pal showed me. What do you think?

 

 

2. Rewire pickups:

 

Why? This is pretty simple, as most HH passive RGs the 5-way switch act as follows (from neck to bridge)

 

1. Neck humbucker in series

2. Neck humbucker in parallel

3. Both humbuckers in parallel

4. Inner coils in parallel

5. Bridge humbucker in series

 

I don’t really like the sound of two humbucker together, as four coils at the same time gives a lot of sound, which is neither bridge nor neck. Therefore, I wanted to keep positions 1-2-5 as they are, move 4 to 3, and wire the bridge in parallel for position 4. Therefore:

 

1. Neck humbucker in series

2. Neck humbucker in parallel

3. Inner coils in parallel

4. Bridge humbucker in parallel

5. Bridge humbucker in series

 

What do you think? Have you done something like that? I will look up some diagrams, but it shouldn’t be too hard.

 

 

3. Direct mount pickups:

 

I know there are many different opinions as whether it gives more sustain and/or sounds better. I think it looks nicer and if I notice an improvement in the sound, great. If not, it will still look as nice and may not affect negatively. What do you think?

 

 

4.Relocate output jack:

 

Why? I never liked the jack position of the RG, Tele, Les Paul or anything that goes straight down. It gets on the way if you’re playing sitting down, as Vai said “if you step on the cable you pull the plug from your guitar”, and even if you pass the cable through the strap, the plug is bent and will eventually break. I am aware of an invention called the L-shape (or angled) plug, but I don’t like it. Strat’s or S series type are good, but Steve Vai or Satriani’s guitars have them best.

I saw a guy that already did it (probably many have), and it looked great and did not seem too difficult. Read: (http://homerecording.com/bbs/equipme...ot-mod-277421/

http://www.jemsite.com/forums/f21/ca...ck-108512.html)

Basically, all that is needed is to drill perpendicularly to the actual jack, with different drill bit sizes to make room for the guide, cables, jack and plug and have this this slightly stepped-down shape. Thankfully, I have access to a drill press and I can try to fix the guitar in position and slowly drill through the side, right at the center and at 90deg from the jack. (Easier said than done.) What do you think?

 

 

5. Replace bridge:

 

Why? Maybe will feel/play better? Perhaps more sustain?

The version that I have comes with a Fixed Bridge (http://ibanez.wikia.com/wiki/Fixed_Bridge) which is fine, simple and does the job ok. However, I think the Gibraltar Standard (http://ibanez.wikia.com/wiki/Gibraltar_Standard) or the Tight-End R (http://ibanez.wikia.com/wiki/Tight-End_R) look better (IMO) and may sound better. Since the Tight-End R has a lot of mass and a tighter contact with the body, it may also increase sustain a bit. I know these are OEM, but I saw them on eBay new from Indonesia for about $50, which seems ok. I know a lot of Ibanez are made in Indonesia, so these may be spares, hopefully not defects that did not pass the QC.

What do you think? Have you played all three (or two) bridges? Have you noticed a difference in playing/feel/sustain?

 

 

6. Monkey grip:

 

Stupid? YES

Unnecessary? YES

Total rip-off of Steve Vai’s signature? YES

WHY DO IT? Because I like it! I still remember the first time (almost 20 years ago) when I saw a beautiful all-white JEM with the monkey grip and I was completely amazed. I tried a used JEM-JR (black) at a local shop the other day and holding the guitar from the monkey grip felt extremely cool! Why not buy a signature? There is only ONE (01) JEM model with a fixed bridge (discontinued). I found one on eBay for over $1300, which I cannot afford, nor need/want. It will be cheaper to do it (if I ever) and with the money I save I can do many very nice upgrades. I saw a tutorial on how to do it (http://www.projectguitar.com/tutoria...ip-handle-r41/) I will try it on a piece of wood and see how hard it is, how good it looks and feel and maybe then try it on the guitar.

 

 

7. Custom paint

 

Why? No real reason needed here, just to make it look nicer, different, and unique; and after all those holes, she will be grateful to get a new paint job! I was thinking in a multi-coloured pattern. This is very ironic, as all of my guitars and basses have always been black AND I am colour-blind. Nevertheless, whenever I see a guitar with many colours, I feel instantly attracted. I was thinking something like the John Petrucci JPM100 (http://ibanez.wikia.com/wiki/JPM100).

I know that for this I need to completely strip the body and sand the paint off, prime it, paint it and then reassemble carefully not to mess up the new paint job.

 

Well, that is a lot longer than I expected… (That’s what she said!) Sorry, pun intended.

Now seriously, these are my ideas for my guitar, which I think, will look good and may improve the sound. I’d really appreciate your opinion and comment on my ideas to see if they a good or stupid and your experience on similar mods.

 

Thanks a lot for reading and for your advice,

Sorry for the long post!

Cheers,

Walter

 

Note: I’m not planning on installing new pickups yet. I want to try this mods first, and when I really feel that I need new and better pickups, I’ll do it.

P.S. If you live in Zürich and want to get together and jam, send me a PM.

[badpenguin]

Ok, let's get the negatives out of the way first.

6) If you put a monkey grip on the guitar, you will deserve the hack job it will look like, and people will always wonder... "WTF was he thinking?".

7) Refinish: that's on you. if you never refinished a guitar before, I say, don't even think about it. Most Asian built guitar use an epoxy primer that is damn near impossible to remove. Leave it as is, or cover it with creative decals.

5) A new bridge may be an upgrade, or it could change the sound in a way you don't like. Do you need it?

4) Output jack..... get a 90 degree jack end, and wrap the wire around the guitar strap. Problem solved.

3) Direct mount pickups. have them in a guitar, and don't believe it does a damn thing. I think a guitar look unfinished without pickup rings.

2) Why not just put in a 3 way switch? it will keep the 135, without having to move wires around. It IS a bit harder then you may think.

1) A no load pot for your tone control. When on 10, it's bypassed. 9 and below, it's in the circuit.

There we go, I hope I didn't dash all your dreams.

[jtr654]

Why Not buy a guitar you like or that already has the features you want. MODDING is not a good thing. The $$$ you spend on doing the things you have listed it probably more that Jem you really want.

[hellion_213]

I'm all for modding, do it quite often myself. Sometimes the results could have been had with a different guitar, sometimes not, but the point is tinkering and a feeling of accomplishment when it works. BUT, I myself would never try to carve in a Monkey Grip on my own. I definitely don't trust my skills enough for that. And that's not a mod that's easy to come back from. Wiring mods, bridge replacements, pup swaps, all reversible (except a Routed Floyd install or the like, which I have done a time or two) So, I'm going to advise against that. What's the benefit of the Monkey Grip?

I don't own a guitar at the moment with a fixed bridge, so can't really comment on personal experience, but the Tite-R looks good.

Penguin is 100%coorect in that import primer being Tough to remove. I've refinished a few, and it takes a Lot of work to remove. I would do it outside, with a mask. I'm not sure what's in it, but it will mess up your sinuses. The clear coat alone will seem to take forever. But, if you have a pretty steady hand, or are good with a paint gun, the results can be worthwhile.

If you're thinking of removing the tone pot, and looking at a Killswitch, have you looked at the Shadow Killpot? Pretty cool, easy swap.

Wiring mods aren't that hard, so long as you're pretty good with a soldering iron. The import switches are on PCB board, so they won't take a lot of heat before they warp. But I say go for it.

I have never found an actual benefit to direct mounting pickups, and agree with Penguin, the guitar looks unfinished.

[Freeman Keller]

I don't care what you do with your pups and electronics and yes, a monkey grip is stupid and changing a bridge is harmless until it involves routing - go for it.

 

However, remember that once you start routing, either for the grip or a bridge you are committed to refinishing and the one thing that I know very well is just how difficult it is for a home hobbyist to do a good paint job. I do some simple finishes on guitars that I build and after 20 or so I'm starting to get the hang of it. Finishing in solid colors (ie painting) is very difficult to get right (or, to say that differently, very easy to make a mess of it) and multicolor painting is harder still. Prove me wrong, post pictures of your work.

[waltchwarzkopf]

Thanks for your comment, and no, you didn't dash all my dreams. There are more like ideas at this stage.

 

It is true that direct mount may make the guitar look unfinish, still, rings or even a pickguard can be used just for the looks.

 

I'll probably gravitate towards a 3 way switch in the end, but first I want to experiment with the 6 possible combination that I like in order to find the ones I like, neck in series and bridge in series are already a must have for me. Just need to see if I I want the middle position to be a combination of both pickups or just one of them in a diferent configuration.

 

I have also considered a no-load pot, but I'll never use it as a tone, so I might as well remove it and install a slave volume for the neck pickup.

 

Cheers

[waltchwarzkopf]

You're right, I've already seen a "better" RG series (prestige or premium) with direct mount Dimarzio pickups and a 3-way switch with a Tight-End R bridge. So I could save up and buy that one, or buy it right know if I can afford it. The thing is, I want to mod a guitar for the experience, the uniqueness that it'll give it, as a hobby and for the personal satisfaction of a guitar that I custom made for myself. If I mess up, I'm not throwing away thousands of dollars.

 

Just as a side note, I don't really want a JEM. I just said that I think they are really beautifull, but I don't like the HSH configuration nor the Floyd Rose tremolos the have.

[waltchwarzkopf]

I'll probably go for the Tight-End R and for the reversible mods. I'll try direct mounting to see if I see any benefit, the holes can still be covered with the rings or a pickguard.

I've seen a few tutorials on how to make the monkey grip, I know it doesn't make sense, but I like it, so why not? I'll do it on a piece of wood to see how dificult it is and how well I can do it. If I like it, I'll try it on the guitar.

[hellion_213]

There are a Lot of really cool wiring diagrams online, some that split your buckers and use one coil from each to make a pseudo bucker, and turn your tone pot into a blend pot. Pretty cool stuff, I just installed a 15 tone schematic in my HSS EPI Strat.

If you do the Monkey Grip, I would definitely recommend using something akin to a RotoZip, Not a Jigsaw. I know I couldn't do it with a Jigsaw and keep it even all the way through. And I'd make sure the wood I practiced on was the same thickness as the RG.

I did a guitar in chameleon auto paint once. It really wasn't that hard. I shot it outside, hung up so I could get an even coat. Turned out pretty good. Just take your time, and you can achieve a great finish. But again, like said, the stripping of the old is the roughest part. Get past that and it's a gravy.

Good luck! And be sure to post progress pics! \m/