[Syklonus]

Hello everyone,

Long time lurker, first time poster. Back in June I got an awesome Ibanez RG565 Genesis, and I thought the stock V8 sounded a little bit muffled. I installed a Norton bridge laying around and it was still muffled sounding, Third try with a D'activator X also laying around, muffled. Even at 10, it still sounds like the tone knob is rolled to a 5.

Every other guitar I have sounds great through my Orange Crush 35RT. I was thinking a FRED or something lower output, to hopefully boost the highs. But I still want a sparkly, sharp chug, and relatively clear distorted open chords.

Any ideas that could help me out?

 

[FireEagle]

I've heard of people installing a 1 meg tone pot to brighten up a guitar... Not sure if that would be a viable option? I have a dull guitar and would like to try it sometime, but haven't gotten around to ordering new pots. (Ironically, it came with a V8, then I tried a Norton, then an Evo2)

 

[JsXLine6]

I would definitely try a pot before another pickup. This sounds like it's been an expensive endeavor. It could be just the pot in general having an issue. It wouldn't hurt to run a meter over the pot and see if the values are where they should be. A pot is only like... $6-$12. They're pretty cheap.

 

[LonePhantom]

It could be a potentiometer, it could just be the slab of basswood that the body is made of. I had an RG20TH RFR that just sounded dead compared to other guitars. It was such a shame, as I love RFR, but I needed the funds at the time, and it just was the guitar in the stable that did not sing. Went through a bunch of pickups, filters on the pickup to reduce low end, etc, and it just was never quite "right".

Try a replacement 1Meg pot if the stock volume doesn't read properly around 500k, and/or you can try the filter method that I experimented with too. Old post from my blog about the capacitor mod below:

Taming the Tone Zone – continued – Lone Phantom

 

[Luthier Vandros]

^This is great advice. Always good to arm yourself with a good multimeter, as well. Your issue could be the tone control, as well. If the tone is truly muffled, you could try lifting the lead to the tone pot and seeing what happens.

 

[Retry_Rabbit]

Also a longtime lurker, but I had to chime in with the others and heartily recommend a 1meg pot change. I've got a Jem jr that I had a D Activator X neck and X2N installed into it with 1meg pots and the D Activator X sounds amazing because of it, great bass and warmth without being muddy. I've got a BC-2 in the middle but I'll be swapping that out for a Super Distortion S, it was a placeholder until I could get the super d/s (which will be a stealthy black).

 

[Crazy_Guitar]

Hello everyone,

Long time lurker, first time poster. Back in June I got an awesome Ibanez RG565 Genesis, and I thought the stock V8 sounded a little bit muffled. I installed a Norton bridge laying around and it was still muffled sounding, Third try with a D'activator X also laying around, muffled. Even at 10, it still sounds like the tone knob is rolled to a 5.

Every other guitar I have sounds great through my Orange Crush 35RT. I was thinking a FRED or something lower output, to hopefully boost the highs. But I still want a sparkly, sharp chug, and relatively clear distorted open chords.

Any ideas that could help me out?

Now that's odd! I have an RGR465M (essentially, the same as yours) with a D-Activator and the darn thing is treble galore!
Something weird is going on there...

 

[3bolt79]

Thanks for the tip @LonePhantom . My daughter has a Jem jr. with Quantum pups and the they Sound very mushy on the Low E and A strings. The 1uf cap really tightened the bass up. I am going to try it. A lot easier than replacing pickups.

 

[Crazy_Guitar]

Thanks for the tip @LonePhantom . My daughter has a Jem jr. with Quantum pups and the they Sound very mushy on the Low E and A strings. The 1uf cap really tightened the bass up. I am going to try it. A lot easier than replacing pickups.

Yes, definitely worth the shot!

Quantum, huh? I remember the JEM Jrs. coming with Evos...

 

[LonePhantom]

Good stuff, hope it comes good with the cap installed.

 

[Crazy_Guitar]

A capacitor costs less than a quarter. If you already have soldering iron and tin, it's almost a free job!