JS100 conversion

[evolvedmb]

Just bought a JS100 from the web new, and wanted to know how many people have done the conversion with the pickups. I have already ordered the Mo' Joe and Joe pubs, but want to see what the trem is like before I swap it out for something different. I purchased the JS100 because of white and the price, so I know that I will convert it over to JS1200 standards at some point. How much of a difference do these pups make on the guitar, and does it play/sound similar to the upper two models.

This guy's sounds great, but he has the stock pubs still in the guitar.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=t9mcHrijcFc&search=satriani

[Andy43]

Originally Posted by evolvedmb

Just bought a JS100 from the web new, and wanted to know how many people have done the conversion with the pickups. I have already ordered the Mo' Joe and Joe pubs, but want to see what the trem is like before I swap it out for something different. I purchased the JS100 because of white and the price, so I know that I will convert it over to JS1200 standards at some point. How much of a difference do these pubs make on the guitar, and does it play/sound similar to the upper two models.

This guy's sounds great, but he has the stock pubs still in the guitar.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=t9mcHrijcFc&search=satriani

My advice is to reroute the trem cavity to fit and Edge or Lo-pro. Also, changing the pickups makes all the difference. I changed them to an Air Norton in the neck and Tone Zone in the bridge and now it makes a great shredder. The neck, however, on the js1000 is 3x better, allowing much lower action. Still, I think you'll be happy with the conversion.

Regards, Andy

[evolvedmb]

Thanks for the response. I already have an Edge trem that has been modified to fit another guitar, so I will pobably do the same mod in the future. I do not want to have someone mess up the wood/finish of the guitar. Do you by chance know how much a JS1000 neck costs new? I will search on another site, but just out of curiousity.

[ryanb]

Ibanez won't sell you a new JS neck -- only as a replacement for the same when you return a damaged neck. Even then, it will cost almost as much as a new JS and will take months to get. You would really be better off (and cheaper in the long run) to buy a used JS1000 and have it painted white.

But anyway, changing the pups will make a huge difference.

[Zeppel]

I've been modifying my JS100 (this is a 97 model, so some things may not apply nowadays, with the new trem and all) slowly for some years now (i like the red) but since i have a UV i've slowed it down (a lot)

Anyway, here's my take on it (remember, this is an extreme top of the line mod, not just making the guitar better):

the quality of the metal on the frets is very bad, and the frets will wear rapidly, so if you want to turn it into a good guitar, first of all, frets off! Get some warmoth wire in there

Don't forget to add a filter pull/push switch in addition to the coil tap

The electronics are bad, and the capacitors, wiring and the such must be replaced fot THE BEST POSSIBLE (you want it to be a JS1200 right?)

The guitar is badly protected against EM interference, so you should shield the electronics cavity with aluminum foil or special paint

Pups off of course..

I, for one, don't think the quality of the truss rod is the best possible, i've had cross thread problems with mine, just trying to get the arm straight

Generally speaking, the craftmanship is far worse than top of the line ibanez guitars...

Bottom line, you should probably have bought the real thing and save a lot of work and money... from my experience, it's just not worth it... a JS100 will never be a JS1000, unless you got a very good, excepcional particular guitar...

Zeppel

[evolvedmb]

^^^^^^^ Thanks for responding! I am going to start slowly with the upgrading. Pickups first, then the trem for the second mod. I didn't realize that the frets were that bad off, and have never messed with any of my guitar truss rods in my 23 years of playing. I guess I have had good luck or something, but would probably pay guitar center to set the guitar up if something seriously went out of wack. What frustrates the hell out of me is some people on this site act like a $700 new guitar is a piece of crap! I haven't played the thing yet, so I can't say for sure. Unless Ibanez quality has gone down the crapper, I am hoping that this guitar plays decent from the get-go. I did just purchase and return an RG370, and would have to say that it was a POS. The box said the guitar was $500+, but I wouldn't pay $100 for that thing!!! Outsourcing might be killing Ibanez, but I have bought some older RG's for less than $600 and they have turned out to be exceptional guitars. I will write my review of the guitar after it ships tomorrow, so only time will tell.

[HDS]

You should never judge a guitar or anything by its MSRP. That is always overly fluffed up to make the marked priced look good an to give retailers room to make a profit. I have a friend who deals in swords and weapons and the mark up is 45% so take that to your $700 makes your guitar really $385 which is also the 2nd market price for one.

[evolvedmb]

Is the Edge pro II trem a pop-in type bar, or a screw-in? I have already solved the problem with the trem conversion, as I had an older RG trem with the original edge ground down at the edges to fit an RG350. Additionally, the fine tuners need to be slightly cut down, and re-tapped to make this mod work. I had my uncle do the work for me, as he is the jack of all trades. I just gave him the instructions on the dimensions. Now I just need to wet sand and repaint to make it look like it's original equipment. No need to carve up the new guitar body to make it fit properly. I just have to repeat the same grinds/tapping to make this work again for the JS100/conversion. My RG stays in perfect tune, and plays like it came that way from the factory. I can raise the pitch 2 1/2 notes when I raise the bar. I also put Evo pups in the guitar, and it plays like a dream. Who says that Korean guitars suck.... Ha Ha. Anyway, I took some digital pictures of the finished product but they are too blury to really show exactly the process. I will have to take them during the day to see if that fixes the image problem.

[evolvedmb]

Just received my JS100 and it's a lot better than some people have described online. Wow, what a sexy guitar!!! This thing weighs next to nothing, and seems like it can be played for hours without tiring. The action and setup were almost perfect, and the stock pups sound really good. I ordered the Mo' Joe and PAF Joe to be installed, but overal I have a pretty good impression of the guitar at this point. My only complaint at this point is the neck joint of the guitar, as it seems alittle more difficult to reach the upper frets. I am used to playing Wizard II necks, but will eventually adapt to the new feel. I also enjoy the Fender-like neck, and can bend the crap out of the strings (seems easier than an RG). Future mod is going to be an Edge trem (custom grind & paint) plus the new pickups.

[evolvedmb]

Edge trem came in the mail this weekend. I have already sanded and painted it within the first hour of owning, and it turned out pretty good. I am still waiting on the pups, and the finished product is around 3 weeks away. Keep you guys updated on the process.

[evolvedmb]

Pickups finally came in, but will have to wait for about 2 weeks to have everything installed. I will take pictures later today of all the parts.
Finally have pics from another website. I have installed the modded trem from the middle guitar in the last pic, and it fits well. The white RG350 will have the trem in the first two pics put in when it is modded the same way. I had to sand the inside back cavity to prevent spring resonation. One of the springs was rubbing on the small lip of wood, and I painted it with automotive paint with clearcoat. I am letting it dry overnight, and will re-install the trem after work tomorrow.
http://lersoc.com/index.php?name=pnp...&p=89213#89213

[evolvedmb]

I am going to try to install the pickups myself, but want to know if I can reverse-engineer the stock ones? Should I just follow the same wiring with the new pups? Seems to make sense to me, but just wanted your guys imput.
Thanks for responding!