New pots for my RG2EX1

[ch0]

Hi everyone,

I mostly just lurk around here, soaking up all the Ibanez goodness, but the time has come for me to again ask a question.

What are some good pots to throw into the aforementioned guitar? I've currently got a Super Distortion (bridge) and an Air Norton (neck) wired through the stock pots with a treble bleed. As is the volume knob is basically useless. It's either on or off basically. This wasn't much of a problem for me until I got a 550 and discovered just how useful a volume knob (with the proper taper) can be.

So, I'd like some suggestions on what to throw into my guitar. I'd ideally like to get something that would go in without any modifications to the guitar. That being said, I have a set of Dimarzio pots that I was originally going to wire in, but didn't due to the need to enlarge the holes in my guitar; that and the fact that the action on those pots felt awful.

Any help is appreciated!

[nsabino]

Originally Posted by ch0

Hi everyone,

I mostly just lurk around here, soaking up all the Ibanez goodness, but the time has come for me to again ask a question.

What are some good pots to throw into the aforementioned guitar? I've currently got a Super Distortion (bridge) and an Air Norton (neck) wired through the stock pots with a treble bleed. As is the volume knob is basically useless. It's either on or off basically. This wasn't much of a problem for me until I got a 550 and discovered just how useful a volume knob (with the proper taper) can be.

So, I'd like some suggestions on what to throw into my guitar. I'd ideally like to get something that would go in without any modifications to the guitar. That being said, I have a set of Dimarzio pots that I was originally going to wire in, but didn't due to the need to enlarge the holes in my guitar; that and the fact that the action on those pots felt awful.

Any help is appreciated!

Hi, I would definetely recommend CTS 500k pots and since you're changing the aformentioned change your caps for orange drop caps and welcome in the tone...


P.S. These guys carry 'em and will ship anywhere:
www.guitarelectronics.com

Regards,
Nelson

[ch0]

Originally Posted by nsabino

Hi, I would definetely recommend CTS 500k pots and since you're changing the aformentioned change your caps for orange drop caps and welcome in the tone...


P.S. These guys carry 'em and will ship anywhere:
www.guitarelectronics.com

Regards,
Nelson

Thanks for the advice! I've got a shopping cart full with guitarelectronics.com right now but figured I'd post back with another question before I pull the trigger.

I'm actually going to be running sans tone knob once I get these new parts in. I'm assuming I could just use the wiring diagram for a PGM301 to remedy this problem so no worries there.

What's got me pondering is this next bit. I plan to replace the Ibanez 5-way switch with Fender 3-way. Then, in the hole left by the now relocated volume knob, I'd like to install a switch to control the coil tapping functions of the guitar. I assume I'd need an on/on switch, but then I'm not sure so?

tl;dr? 3-way instead of a 5-way switch, one volume and no tone (ala PGM), coil-tapping switch where the volume knob would normally be.

[moonlight]

I have some CTS pots and Dimarzio pots and they are identical shaft size. I don't know about the RG2EX1 but I had to enlarge the holes to use these pots in RG520 and 570'S. they also have fine knurled shafts that don't fit the stock Ibanez knobs on the RG520. The CTS mini pots fit both the holes and the knobs but I prefer the full size pots.

For what it's worth ,I ditched the tone pot for a while but found the tone too bright and harsh without it. I thought about putting in some set resistance and capacitance but decided it was too much of a hassle and if I was to do something like that, why not have the option of tone adjustment and put the pot back in. I could EQ the bright and harsh out but that route seemed to lose something in the tone and didn't work for me. Just my.02

[ch0]

Well, I wasn't aware that the tone knob was even doing anything while it was in the fully on position. I guess I'll have to figure out what I need to wire in for that 'fully on, all the time' effect.

I'd leave the tone knob but that would mean I'd have to drill a hole for the coil tap switch. At this point I'd rather not permanently alter the guitar.

Edit: Also, just to add, I never use the tone knob. Maybe that's a shortcoming in my playing or just a taste issue, but either way I'm going to ditch it on this guitar for at least a while.

[moonlight]

Ya,I play with the tone pot full on most of the time and didn't think taking it out would change anything. What i found is that even full on it does add some resistance and capacitance. Maybe it's just having the orange drop in the circuit,I donno. I think some pots have a "click" at the end of the travel that takes it out of the circuit but I've never messed around with that. It wouldn't hurt to try taking the tone out,it might be just fine for you and it's easy to put back. Another option is a stacked concentric pot. You can have both tone and volume in one hole with stacked knobs. The knobs just stick up a slight bit higher.