Semi-Hollow Guitar Upgrade Project

Beeg

I have a Ibanez AS-73 semi-hollow guitar.

http://www.ibanez.com/HollowBodyGuitars/model-AS73

I love it to pieces but it is not without it's issues:

It does not stay in tune at all, especially the G-string, I have fitted Gotoh tuners but this has not resolved the issue.
I am thinking of installing a new Gotoh Tune-o-matic bridge and tailpiece.

Will this resolve my tuning issues?

Also I am not convinced by the stock pickups and want to replace them with better pups that has chrome tops.
Any suggestions?

Is there any master-guitar-tech in the Cape-Town area that wants to take on this guitar?

Thanks

?

FruitarGeek

I also have an Ibanez semi-hollow. I sent it in for a setup a week ago and got it back on tuesday. The man you will want to speak to is Foster (afrikaans pronounciation) he did a great job on my guitar and Im happy to go back anytime. His number is 021 939 5259

VellaJ

Beeg wrote:
Is there any master-guitar-tech in the Cape-Town area that wants to take on this guitar?

Go on, you know you want to try it yourself ?

The bridge and tailpiece change sound like a good idea. Also, what about the nut? I'm not sure what the Ibanez guitars use as the material for the nut, but often that influences things like tuning.

AlanRatcliffe

+1. Nut should be first stop for any tuning issues. Bridge is the last.

slyd

Vigorously slide waxed dental-floss through your g-string nut-slot, ensuring good contact with bottom and sides of slot. Give a good rub (a coupley minutes), which will shape and lubricate your slot. Do it with all your nut slots, and then see if problems still persist.
*just my thoughts*

giggsy

If you have the ivory one I am in love with it...

Beeg

Thanks for all the advice and replies..

I am going to lube my nut and if that does not work I'm taking it to the Pro's. ?

I don't have the white Ivory one, I have the mat black one that is now out of production:

I want to upgrade the stock pickups with Dimarzio chrome plated ones, thinking of getting PAF® 36th Anniversary pickups, what do you guys suggest for a semi-hollow guitar??

How do you guys rate the guitar tech at Marshall music in CPT?

Thanks for all the help!

AlanRatcliffe

The 36th Anniversary PAFs are great, but I prefer to go lower power for a hollowbody, so I'd recommend the Airbuckers. For a more versatile setup go for the 36th bridge and the Airbucker in the neck.

Gareth at Marshall is your best bet for pickup swaps.

singemonkey

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: The 36th Anniversary PAFs are great, but I prefer to go lower power for a hollowbody,

+1

Also consider the tonerider Alnico II pickups. Great bang for buck from what I've heard. If you're going the whole hog with upgrades, you may get some improvements by swapping out your tailpiece for a lightweight aluminium one too.

Beeg

I'll consider swapping out the tailpiece singemonkey, thanks! Looked at those pickups you suggested, definitely going to order some for my bass guitar.

Thank you Alan, I am going to Marshall Music tomorrow to speak to Gareth.

I have taken your advice and thinking about putting a

Airzone in the bridge and a 36'th PAF in the neck. Do you think this wise?

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/humbuckers/paf-36th-anniversary
http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/humbuckers/air-zone

Just hope Marshall Music has got stock!!!

makepeace

+1 at looking at the nut end first. The nut and tuners are most often the culprits. I managed to sort out the tuning on my squier by putting on a set of very simple but sturdy tuners and cutting a nut out of bone.

By the way, fine shavings of the graphite in a pencil seem to be the way to go in terms of lubrication at the nut.

AlanRatcliffe

Beeg wrote: I have taken your advice and thinking about putting a Airzone in the bridge and a 36'th PAF in the neck. Do you think this wise?

Only if you want to go real heavy and fat. I know the Air Zone well (my Sanox - pictured left - has had one in the bridge for 15 years), but it's relatively hot (about 1.5 as powerful as a PAF), fat PAFlike tone, so at it's best in a brighter sounding solidbody and/or a Floyd equipped monster, not an already warm, resonant hollow like your Ibby. Even if you wanted to go a bit hotter, I'd recommend against the Air Zone.

So I stand by my recommendations.

The lighter tailpiece Singe recommended is also a good idea for a hollow - adds to the resonance and "airiness" of the tone.

Beeg

I never thought that a nut could cause so much chaos! Will look into it, hopefully this solves my tuning issues. Will report my findings.

Sorry Alan, I misunderstood you. I am not interested in going heavy but want to make it a tiny bit hotter too keep the guitar versatile. I am gonna stick with what you recommended, just not sure about which Airbucker™ model to put in the bridge.

I just searched Airbucker on Dimarzio's site and this list came up:

Air Classic™ Neck
... the tone the longer the string sustains. By contrast, the Airbucker™ magnetic field preserves high end sustain; it's easier to ... them by using Alnico 2 or “aged” Alnico 5 magnets. Airbucker™ technology was created to capture all of the best sonic qualities ...

Air Classic™ Bridge
... the tone the longer the string sustains. By contrast, the Airbucker™ magnetic field preserves high end sustain; it's easier to ... them by using Alnico 2 or “aged” Alnico 5 magnets. Airbucker™ technology was created to capture all of the best sonic qualities ...

Air Norton™
... DP193 The Air Norton™ started out simply to be the Airbucker™ version of the Norton®. We thought it would make a ...

Air Zone™
... wide, and the combination of dual-resonance coils with the Airbucker™ magnetic field allows sustained notes to hang on to harmonic ...

Air Norton S™
... The original Airbucker™ pickups have an air gap between the magnet and the pole pieces. ...

Product - Pickup - admin - 2011-05-17 14:41 - 0 comments

Bluesbucker®
... any way and without noise. Patented Virtual Vintage® and Airbucker™ technology let the Bluesbucker® “see” a narrow string window ...

I am taking the guitar in tomorrow, also going to do the tailpiece as recommended.

Looking forward to see how the guitar sounds after this ?

AlanRatcliffe

Sorry, my fault - I said "Airbucker" and there are a number of different Airbuckers. I meant Air Classic Neck at the neck and 36th Anniversary Bridge model at the bridge. With that combo you end up with clarity on the neck with a bit more grunt and power on the bridge.

slyd

Awesome Beeg !
Let us know how it turns out . . . (wif pics) ?

Beeg

Good and bad news.

The bad:

I can only get my hands on one bridge 36 PAF (no chrome cover) and no matching neck (Airzone or 36PAF). Going to try and get 59' Seymour Duncans today, hopefully there is stock somewhere in S.A. Will report on this. ☹

The good:

After my pickup frustrations yesterday I tried the waxed floss trick on the nut. I did not want this to work, especially after taking my guitar to two different guitar tech's in JHB, and dropping a small fortune in a bottomless pit to fix the tuning issues. I wanted this to fail, I really did. It didn't.

I did the wax trick, and my guitar is keeping it's tune beautifully. ?
Thank you so much!!!

So I guess its true that if you cant fix it by adding lube, you are just not adding enough...

fireaxe

Beeg wrote: Good and bad news.

I can only get my hands on one bridge 36 PAF (no chrome cover) and no matching neck (Airzone or 36PAF). Going to try and get 59' Seymour Duncans today, hopefully there is stock somewhere in S.A. Will report on this. ☹

You will save yourself a lot of problems by getting a set of Tonerider rocksong pickups. They're inexpensive but incredible. I have a friend with a similar Ibanez guitar and you won't believe the difference the Toneriders made. They cleaned up the muddiness completely and the guitar is now potent with a nice clear ringing sound.

I won't even go into how good my Artcore sounds with a set of Tonerider Alnico 4's in it! ?

kitaarpeer

Beeg wrote: I am going to lube my nut

HAHAHAHA you just made my night ?

Beeg

Thanks for all the alternative pickup suggestions, might consider them for some of my other guitars.

Luckily I got my hands on an 36'th Ann Paff and Air Classic as suggested by Alan!
My tuning went mad after a while again, lube is only a temporary fix it seems ☹

I did not have the guts or finesse to change the pickups myself and ended up taking it to Foster Guitarworks.
He worked on it for about a week. The pickups made a huge difference, really made the guitar come alive, thank you Alan.
Foster also sorted out my intonation, tuning issues and a bit of body damage on my guitar.

The tuning is rocksolid now, and I have finally seen my tuner's green light, it was a magical experience ?

Foster is a genius. I highly recommend him.
He even phoned me out of the blue yesterday to check if I am happy with my guitar. ?
Needless to say my guitars wont be going to anybody else, ever.

Will post pics soon.

VellaJ

Glad you had such a good experience ?

Can you tell us what the problem with the tuning was, if the lube didn't work?