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RG470 factory wiring...

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rg 470 wiring 5 way 1992
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8.5K views 13 replies 4 participants last post by  AlaskaBat  
R
#1 · (Edited)
Hey all, I have what I believe to be a 1992 RG470...it previously had aftermarket pickups installed, and I'm trying to return it to stock. (Yes, I have my reasons haha.) Sorry if this has been posted, but I did search...it seems there are a lot of posts regarding the RG inline switch, but none that I could find that talk about stock wiring. Anyway, I'm having some trouble getting it to work. I used this diagram from the Ibanez site:

Image


Problem is that Ibanez doesn't list diagrams that go back to 1992, and I think these guitars changed in 1994 when production moved to Korea. This one is for a 1994, and it doesn't seem to work right at all with my guitar. I also noticed that, being a '92, my guitar doesn't have the same pickups listed in the diagram. Anyone have a diagram for a '92-'93 RG470? I'm pretty sure this guitar is a 470 but not positive. It's made in Japan, jewel blue, has a rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays, edge trem, and V7 / S1 / V8 pickups. But no pickguard and no tilt heel.

As it is, the neck position clearly sounds like the bridge pickup, and the bridge position doesn't work at all. Likewise, the bridge / middle position is just the middle single coil. The middle position works fine, and so does the neck / middle. And before you ask, no, I don't have the switch backwards :) There is very clearly one pole that has never been soldered to, and it's the fourth from the right, just like that diagram. The ground on the second pole from the right looks factory as well.

I've checked and double checked all my connections, and everything looks fine. All pickups are well grounded. Clearly something with the switch is not wired correctly. These inline 5-ways confuse the hell out of me...I'm just about ready to ditch it and install a standard 5-way, or maybe even one of those super switches.

Thanks in advance for any help. I'd really like to get this thing up and running again.
 
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#3 ·
I actually did try that first (as it was recommended for the RG570 and 1570) and I only got the opposite result. The bridge position was the neck pickup and the neck didn't work :( I'm starting to wonder if this switch is bad, I've never been able to get it to work. Either that or this isn't a 470 and it needs a completely different wiring setup.
 
#8 ·
I think you were on the right track. I'd start all over using the red on the v7-v8 as hot. If that doesn't work then try a new switch. As a practice, I use a new switch, pots, and caps every time I do a swap. re-soldering can be too messy.
 
R
#9 ·
Just tried that...no dice. The neck and bridge pickups are still backwards on the switch. The bridge pickup at least sorta works though (in the neck position) :lol: It's just really quiet and doesn't sound right. Also, I swapped the white and red on the middle pickup, didn't seem to make any difference, so I'm guessing it doesn't matter. 570 diagram calls for red as hot anyway:

Image


Well, time for a new switch I think. Probably not a bad idea anyway.
 
R
#10 ·
Hmm...so I started thinking about this a different way. Didn't some RGs have special switching combos from the factory? What if this is a special switch that requires different wiring? If this is a standard RG switch, what I would expect to see is a standard combo: neck, neck/middle, middle, middle/bridge, bridge. But based on everything I've tried, I wonder if this isn't a standard RG switch? Is there any way to tell? Part number or something?

Also, can anyone help me understand how the V7 / V8 pickups work? The red is hot and white is ground? Or are both wires hot...one for each coil, to allow for coil tapping? I'm not at all familiar with Ibanez humbuckers, or these inline switches. But if white is ground, I don't see why it's being soldered to the switch? Shouldn't it go to ground, like a standard Strat-style 5-way? Thanks again for the help :)
 
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#12 ·
After doing a bit of research I'm not sure if this is a YM50. It doesn't have the decal and it doesn't look like most pictures of YM50s I've seen. It's all black plastic with the terminals slightly exposed on top, you can't see the circuit board or anything. I'll try and post pics tonight. Anyone know if RGs came with any other switches in the early 90s?
 
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