Confusing Ibanez HSS Wiring Questions

jaymenon

On my Ibanez RG HSH
the neck Air Norton has an 'R' Sticker on it (which I imagine means reverse polarity / flipped magnet)

It has a switching system like this
https://i.imgur.com/Bvlx21E.jpg

Position 3 (both HB) doesn't sound 'out-of-phase' or weak in any way.
(Also, it's the green wire of each humbucker that goes to ground).

In positions 2 & 4, it is the screw coil of either humbucker that pairs with the middle single coil.
Those positions are hum-cancelling
Surely that must mean both humbuckers are the same polarity?


The middle single coil
It seems to be the black wire that connects to terminals 2 and 4
And it's the screw coils of the humbuckers that hum-cancel with it
Would that make the middle pickup RW/RP?

Finally - they have employed only two poles of the super-switch.
I would have thought that:
the hot (red) wire from the bridge HB would connect to poles 1, 2 & 3
Interestingly it by-passes pole 2

the hot (Red) wire from the neck HB would connect to poles 3, 4 & 5
It by-passes pole 4
https://i.imgur.com/lmdrGiI.jpg
I don't understand that...

If I want the slug coils to be active in positions 2 & 4
Does that mean I need a normal polarity middle single coil?
Would it sound significantly different? Better?

Funkfingers

jaymenon said:

Surely, that must mean both humbuckers are the same polarity?

Effectively, yes.

The DiMarzio R idea is normally applicable to HH circuits with a five-way selector switch such as Musicman AXIS and some Ibanez models.

The circuit in your photograph opts to use the black/white series link of each humbucker as its split output.

To have the slug coils operational in positions 2 and 4, you need to reconfigure the wiring to what you expected to find in the first instance. i.e. Bridge Red hot to terminals 1, 2 and 3. Neck Red hot to terminals 3, 4 and 5 on the second pole. Black/white coil split connections to terminals 2 and 4 on a third pole, grounded via that pole's common terminal.

The hot and ground conductors of the middle pickup will need swapping.

ICBM

jaymenon said:

If I want the slug coils to be active in positions 2 & 4
Does that mean I need a normal polarity middle single coil?
Would it sound significantly different? Better?

Probably worse, especially the neck/middle. The closer the coils are together, the greater the harmonic cancellation. I know Vai has them split to the inner coils, but when I fitted a pair of Evos I ended up reversing the neck as the cable wasn’t quite long enough otherwise, and the split position was much better and more Strat-like.

jaymenon

Thanks both - very helpful and informative

Funkfingers

ICBM said:

The closer the coils are together, the greater the harmonic cancellation.

The critical factor is the distance between the selected coils. Throughout his solo career, the majority of Vai's electric guitars have been 24-fret. This necessarily squashes the pickups closer together than they would be on a 22-fret guitar. 

It would help to know whether the guitar under discussion is conventional HSH or whether one or other of the humbuckers is a DiMarzio Track type. This would have some bearing on the distance between operational coils when the neck and centre are combined.

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

The critical factor is the distance between the selected coils. Throughout his solo career, the majority of Vai's electric guitars have been 24-fret. This necessarily squashes the pickups closer together than they would be on a 22-fret guitar.

Yes, which makes it even stranger that he selects the inner coils. I actually quite like it for the bridge/middle, it gives a very hollow tone, but it makes the neck/middle very thin and too similar. Using the outer coil is much more ‘Hendrixy’.