Ibanez 7421 pickup swap - i need advice

[Mckenzie_Cinematic]

Hey there everybody

im pretty new to this site and im new to modding or changing parts in my guitars.
I am looking for info on the new ibanez 7421 (2013 i presume) i need to know if theres anybody out there who could tell me if the bridge pickup is a 2 or 4 wire connection, im looking at swapping it out very soon (most likely for a BKP) and im not confident with pulling it apart myself just yet to check. so if theres anybody who has done a pickup swap for an rg7421 id like to hear about your experience doing this swap to get some ideas before i begin.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post, any help you could give me is appreciated!

Cheers

 

[Daf57]

Most, if not all, humbuckers are going to be at least 4 wire I believe. Take the cavity cover off and you should be able to tell with out having to do anything but eye it.

 

[saxman42]

Why are you concerned about if it's a two or four wire connection if you're replacing it? I'm a bit confused...

 

[saxman42]

Most, if not all, humbuckers are going to be at least 4 wire I believe. Take the cavity cover off and you should be able to tell with out having to do anything but eye it.

It's a mix. Having the four wire leads just gives you the positive and negative leads of each coil. A two wire humbucker already has the positive of the first coil connected to the negative of the second coil to make the two coils in series to act as a humbucker.

It seems like most companies are making four wire leads standard for their humbuckers, but some give you the option to order two wire. Two wire is much simpler if you only plan on using the humbucker as a humbucker (no coil splitting, parallel, out of phase, etc. wiring). It also slightly affects the noise and the impedance of the pickup since the series connection is shorter, but you most likely won't notice that part.

I personally prefer four connector because it gives me more wiring options.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

Definitely go with a 4 conductor wire. Better to be over-prepared than to find yourself wanting to wire some cool splitting options and not having the capability because of the pickup only being 2 conductor.

As far as actually wiring everything up, go to the Ibanez site and find a wiring schematic for your model or any other model that has the switching options you want. Dimarzio also has a ton of schematics on their site you'll need to be sure that you know the color coding for whichever pickup you get and be able to compare it to the stock/dimarzio schematic.

Guitar & Bass 4-Wire Humbucker Color Code Diagrams

This site has all the color codes for most major pickup companies.

 

[Mckenzie_Cinematic]

Wow thanks so much for the responses guys! Theres alot of useful information here, very much appreciated indeed!

Yeah i was asking cos i thought the stock configuration would dictate what wiring a new pickup should have, i know its probably common sense but ive never done this before so i just wanna say thanks for the advice everyone

 

[Mckenzie_Cinematic]

After reading all your posts again guys i have to say you have definately cleared things up for me, keen to get this swap going!

Cheers peeps

 

[saxman42]

I recommend adding two switches to your guitar:

Two push-pull pots for series and split coil wiring on each pickup. (Easiest)

OR

Two DPDT ON-ON-ON switches for series, split, and parallel wiring. (Slightly Harder)

I used the second option on my Gibson SG. I just had to drill two small holes where I wanted the switches and spend five more minutes soldering. I get the typical humbucker sound with series, a nice Strat-esque hot single coil sound with split, and a warm noiseless single coil sound with parallel.