Help - PAF Joe in my S1520

[FlynnRoad Music]

Hi all - I just replaced the QMs in my S1520 with a PAF Joe in the neck and a Fred in the Bridge. The Fred sounds great. I really like it, but the PAF Joe is bothering me. It sounds very weak compared to the Fred. Very out of balance. Also, I was expecting a warm PAF sound, but just a little hotter. My PAF Joe sounds way to thin and tinny. I have to roll my tone knob almost all the way to the low side to get it to sound pleasant to my ears. Is this because the QMs didn't have much high end and I am used to them? I have a Duncan 59 in the neck of my Jackson and that doesn't sound thin at all. That sounds nice and fat and warm.

If anyone has any experience or advice please help. I might return them for something else. But, I would hate to go through that ordeal. I would like to make these work.

- Tom

[ryanb]

If your PAF JOE sounds weak compared to the FRED, something is wrong. Check your wiring again. They should be pretty closely matched in output, and with lots of tone. I've got the Joe/Fred combination in my JS1200.

[FlynnRoad Music]

I think I made my wiring match this.
http://www.ibanez.com/wiring/wire.asp?y=2004&w=S1625
I will go back to the bench and check.

[ryanb]

At first glance, and not knowing the pin configuration of your switch, it looks like the JOE wiring matches your diagram. You can get the wiring info from the DiMarzio site. The "standard" wiring for the Joe would be black and white connected together, green to ground, and red to hot (to the switch). Your wiring is more complicated because of the extra parallel combination.

The JOE has the warm, tubular, full output you are expecting to hear. If you can't find a problem with the wiring, you probably should talk to DiMarzio, since you may have something wrong with your pup.

[FlynnRoad Music]

Ryan, I swapped the red and green wires and that seems to have fixed everything! Thanks for nudging me in the right direction. I knew in the back of my head that was what I was going to have to do, but I had to overcome that lazyness to rip the guitar apart, fire up the iron and go at it again.

I thought DiMarzio made the stock pups for Ibanez. Going with that assumption, I thought for sure the color codes would be the same!

I am terrible at soldering. I think I burned most of the insulation off all the wires

- Hey do you know why the Fred is called Fred? I can't figure that one out.

Thanks again!

[ryanb]

Cool. Glad to hear you got it fixed up.

I'm waiting for a JOE to arrive that is going into a guitar I will be building soon. (And an EVO for the bridge.)

Not sure about the Fred name. Probably came from the guy who built the pickup. Unless it was Joe's idea. I'm sure that info is out there somewhere.

[RGShredder]

I gotta a JOE in the neck and an Evo in the bridge on my RG1570...it's like you got an angel on your left shoulder with a devil on your right.

RG

[the_roadrunner]

I had heard that DiMarzio named the prototypes they made for Joe after the Flintstones, and Joe liked Fred among the others.