Ibanez RG2027x wiring diagram

[69dodgecharger]

Hello,

I recently purchased a used Ibanez RG2027x.
Guitar needs a little love and the first order of business is to fix the piezo system.
Does anyone have a copy of the factory wiring diagram that isn’t hosted on the old jem site or other old forums? Every link I find for this diagram is dead now.

Thanks in advance.

 

[odibrom]

You came to the right place Padowan...

Desregarding the VLX91 part which is more each one's taste on the mags' combos, the rest is pretty much spot on. The KJG mod implies the replacement of the Mag/Piezo Switch with an ON/ON/ON switch. This replacement should be linear, but since there are 2 types of ON/ON/ON switches, you may have to mirror the connections.



Having this said, these guitars came from factory with alternate phase piezos. This means nothing when using piezos alone but has a world of a difference when mixing piezos with mag pickups.

I strongly suggest you to contact LR Baggs customer support and order a set of piezo elements all in the same phase. The phase is noticeable by the piezo element's wire color, so since they're alterenate phase, you' have 3x black + 4x white wire or the opposite, start by ordering LR Baggs 3 of the color wire you have less in your guitar so you can have them all in the same phase.

Not having these in the same phase, when mixing Piezos with mags, you'll hear the out-of-phase in alternating strings, unless you rotate the "Piezo Volume" to the lowest value, when this will sound almost unperceptive, but it's still there.

When mixing piezos with mags, the "Piezo Volume" works as a piezo/mags blender, in the minimum position it sounds like 50%50 and in the max position it sounds almost like piezo only. When having the piezos all in the same phase, the mag/piezo mix is sublime and very plastic with the blend/piezo volume knob. Lot's of cool tones there.

If the piezos are not working, it could be several problems, do check:
- the wiring at the jacks
- the summing board and piezos wires at the back of the trem's block
- the wiring at the mix switch
- general wiring grounds

I very much doubt it's a preamp or piezo element problem.

My understanding of this comes from owning one of these guitars brand new since 2002, a used one from 2016 and recently modded an RG1527 to feature the same piezos + preamp + output jacks harness... I've gutted my guitars more times than I can count, either for local adjustments or total rework on them.

As for pickup suggestions, I'm tired of very high output pickups, so I'd say something like a PAF sounding pickup is more than ok. If I want dirt, I'll use the amp's gain settings...

Last, my suggestion is, if you're into passive pickups and tone options, to investigate the Freeway Switches, namely the 5B5-01 model... with it my guitars now deliver 21 different tones against the original 6...

I obviously have more wiring diagrams, but THIS one here works. Feel free to ask anything else that might trouble you with these guitars.

... and how about some pics of yours?

 

[69dodgecharger]

Thanks for the diagram.

After replacing the pre-amp I found that the issue is with the summing board. I re-soldered the main feed wire and it is much better however it will still some times drop out and I’ll need to stick my fingers in the bridge cavity and give the board a little tap and it comes back to life.

I am have reached out to LR Baggs to see if they can source me a replacement.

Will post some pics later.

Thanks again.

You came to the right place Padowan...

Desregarding the VLX91 part which is more each one's taste on the mags' combos, the rest is pretty much spot on. The KJG mod implies the replacement of the Mag/Piezo Switch with an ON/ON/ON switch. This replacement should be linear, but since there are 2 types of ON/ON/ON switches, you may have to mirror the connections.

View attachment 142579

Having this said, these guitars came from factory with alternate phase piezos. This means nothing when using piezos alone but has a world of a difference when mixing piezos with mag pickups.

I strongly suggest you to contact LR Baggs customer support and order a set of piezo elements all in the same phase. The phase is noticeable by the piezo element's wire color, so since they're alterenate phase, you' have 3x black + 4x white wire or the opposite, start by ordering LR Baggs 3 of the color wire you have less in your guitar so you can have them all in the same phase.

Not having these in the same phase, when mixing Piezos with mags, you'll hear the out-of-phase in alternating strings, unless you rotate the "Piezo Volume" to the lowest value, when this will sound almost unperceptive, but it's still there.

When mixing piezos with mags, the "Piezo Volume" works as a piezo/mags blender, in the minimum position it sounds like 50%50 and in the max position it sounds almost like piezo only. When having the piezos all in the same phase, the mag/piezo mix is sublime and very plastic with the blend/piezo volume knob. Lot's of cool tones there.

If the piezos are not working, it could be several problems, do check:
- the wiring at the jacks
- the summing board and piezos wires at the back of the trem's block
- the wiring at the mix switch
- general wiring grounds

I very much doubt it's a preamp or piezo element problem.

My understanding of this comes from owning one of these guitars brand new since 2002, a used one from 2016 and recently modded an RG1527 to feature the same piezos + preamp + output jacks harness... I've gutted my guitars more times than I can count, either for local adjustments or total rework on them.

As for pickup suggestions, I'm tired of very high output pickups, so I'd say something like a PAF sounding pickup is more than ok. If I want dirt, I'll use the amp's gain settings...

Last, my suggestion is, if you're into passive pickups and tone options, to investigate the Freeway Switches, namely the 5B5-01 model... with it my guitars now deliver 21 different tones against the original 6...

I obviously have more wiring diagrams, but THIS one here works. Feel free to ask anything else that might trouble you with these guitars.

... and how about some pics of yours

 

[odibrom]

LR Baggs will sell you parts, either the preamp, summing board, piezo elements or the braided wire (the one that takes the piezo signal back to the preamp), again, contact them through the customer support email. There's little to no info of these parts on their website. The preamp is still being produced so you're safe.

The tapping part might mean you'll have bad grounds somewhere, My suggestion is to start from scratch, disassemble everything and start wiring from the start, so to make sure you'll eliminate bad solder joints. Whenever possible, get new wires, or test the old ones before re-using them.

... we're still waiting for the pics...

 

[bmtf]

Don't know where OP went but look what's on my workbench:


Lol when I got this guitar the EMGs didn't sound right so I cut the old bridge ground /raised/probably new battery and voila.

Now I'm having a similar problem after going from vlx91 to 3-way pickup selector, and tone to EMG EXG. Additionally, my vol pot doesn't work right, and piezo/mag blend is possible even though I do not have a mini 3-way. I can tell cause I'm getting that characteristic out of phase/ volume jumping strings coming from the piezo.

Hopefully will solve this by fixing the bad connections, and rewiring the jacks. Sort of regret fucking with it now (but it's eventually gonna be fine).

 

[odibrom]

Don't know where OP went but look what's on my workbench:
View attachment 142669
View attachment 142668
Lol when I got this guitar the EMGs didn't sound right so I cut the old bridge ground /raised/probably new battery and voila.

Now I'm having a similar problem after going from vlx91 to 3-way pickup selector, and tone to EMG EXG. Additionally, my vol pot doesn't work right, and piezo/mag blend is possible even though I do not have a mini 3-way. I can tell cause I'm getting that characteristic out of phase/ volume jumping strings coming from the piezo.

Hopefully will solve this by fixing the bad connections, and rewiring the jacks. Sort of regret fucking with it now (but it's eventually gonna be fine).

It saddens me to see these guitars routed for EMGs soap bars, but to each its own, I guess.

If you roll off the piezo volume, the out-phase sound will almost desapear, but I never mixed mine with EMGs...

 

[bmtf]

Love soapbars/ rg7s
Had to scoop this one up
I thought you would have the secret diagram!
Darn, still trying to wire it correctly. I'm getting closer, but can't mess with it today. If I don't have it working by the end of tomorrow, I'll cry

 

[odibrom]

Love soapbars/ rg7s
Had to scoop this one up
I thought you would have the secret diagram!
Darn, still trying to wire it correctly. I'm getting closer, but can't mess with it today. If I don't have it working by the end of tomorrow, I'll cry

You'll get it. Call LR Baggs for help, good folks there... use the customer support email on their site...

 

[69dodgecharger]

Well finally got the guitar sorted out and I'm very happy with it. The customer service at LR Baggs is top notch. They got me a new summing board free of charge, i then decided to replace all the piezo elements and phase them so I could blend mag / piezo tones. Guitar works flawless now, very happy considering I paid $1,100 for it.

 

[bmtf]

worth the wait!

 

[odibrom]

If it were not for the black pickups and the less stellar looking LoPro, I'd be asking how did you steal one of my guitars. That's a fine looking one.

I'm glad it got all sorted out and that the good folks at LR Baggs keep doing their best to help us out.

Next step is to do a stainless steel refret and swap that VXL91 switch for a FREEWAY 5B5-01... 10 sounds in one switch out of 2 humbuckers...21 combinations between mags and piezos...

 

[69dodgecharger]

Ya the bridge finish is shot….. not much I can do about it as I’m sure you know. Maybe someday I’ll find a double edge for sale but unlikely

Thanks for the info on that switch, I’ll be looking into that.

 

[philkilla]

Well finally got the guitar sorted out and I'm very happy with it. The customer service at LR Baggs is top notch. They got me a new summing board free of charge, i then decided to replace all the piezo elements and phase them so I could blend mag / piezo tones. Guitar works flawless now, very happy considering I paid $1,100 for it.

Goddamn that's beautiful.

 

[odibrom]

Ya the bridge finish is shot….. not much I can do about it as I’m sure you know. Maybe someday I’ll find a double edge for sale but unlikely

Thanks for the info on that switch, I’ll be looking into that.

It's only the front part of the saddles that is different, so if in need, canibalize a regular LoPro...? I had to replace the base plate in one of mine because it fell from my shoulder (inside a gigbag) right into the concrete. When I got home, the baseplate was broken near the lower knife edge to the point that I could easily remove the knife edge without the strings' and springs' tension... this was about 15 years ago... I got hold of a new LoPro, did the saddles swapping and everything is just as supposed to be.

I forgot to mention, but how do you like having all piezos in the same phase? Super functional blend knob, right? So many cool tones in the mix just by balancing the piezos' and mags' signals...

 

[soldierkahn]

It's only the front part of the saddles that is different, so if in need, canibalize a regular LoPro...? I had to replace the base plate in one of mine because it fell from my shoulder (inside a gigbag) right into the concrete. When I got home, the baseplate was broken near the lower knife edge to the point that I could easily remove the knife edge without the strings' and springs' tension... this was about 15 years ago... I got hold of a new LoPro, did the saddles swapping and everything is just as supposed to be.

I forgot to mention, but how do you like having all piezos in the same phase? Super functional blend knob, right? So many cool tones in the mix just by balancing the piezos' and mags' signals...

was just gonna mention this

 

[69dodgecharger]

It's only the front part of the saddles that is different, so if in need, canibalize a regular LoPro...? I had to replace the base plate in one of mine because it fell from my shoulder (inside a gigbag) right into the concrete. When I got home, the baseplate was broken near the lower knife edge to the point that I could easily remove the knife edge without the strings' and springs' tension... this was about 15 years ago... I got hold of a new LoPro, did the saddles swapping and everything is just as supposed to be.

I forgot to mention, but how do you like having all piezos in the same phase? Super functional blend knob, right? So many cool tones in the mix just by balancing the piezos' and mags' signals...

Thanks for the info, i suppose ill be on the lookout for a regular 7 string lopro and do a little surgery.

As far as the piezo goes, i love it. The LR Baggs stuff is no joke, I have a couple parker flys and the peizo in the ibanez sounds way better IMO.

 

[odibrom]

Thanks for the info, i suppose ill be on the lookout for a regular 7 string lopro and do a little surgery.

As far as the piezo goes, i love it. The LR Baggs stuff is no joke, I have a couple parker flys and the peizo in the ibanez sounds way better IMO.

Let's go full canibal mode into a new LoPro... lol. I never separated both parts of the saddles, but it shouldn't be hard.

Here's a photo with a side-by-side LoPro saddle match. Apologies for the dust and dirt on the guitar. Obviously, the piezo'ed ones are installed while the regular is not and thus some misalignment, but it's clear that the front part is different and the rear one is not. This also teach us not to use heavier strings with these guitars due to the less travel room of the saddles for a correct intonation... or at least with the forum's new member anti-bot pass code tuning, I mean, low B.



:::::::::::::::::

Parker Flys have the graphtech ghost system, I belive. I have those installed in 3 other guitars as well and also prefer the LR Baggs'... IMO problem with Graphtech's is the teflon finish, which feels darker some how... In my experience the Graphtech help-desk folks are top people as well, really good and helpful fellows. And I really like their motherboard/preamp plug system for the several wires they manage.

 

[TedEH]

Maaaan these are cool. There's a 2127X for sale not far from me, but they're asking for more than $5k Canadian for it, and I can't bring myself to spend that much on a 20+ year old beat up guitar, as cool as they may be.

 

[odibrom]

Maaaan these are cool. There's a 2127X for sale not far from me, but they're asking for more than $5k Canadian for it, and I can't bring myself to spend that much on a 20+ year old beat up guitar, as cool as they may be.

If it's the one on reverb, yeah... speculation is the word of the moment...

 

[bmtf]

Maaaan these are cool. There's a 2127X for sale

If it's the one on reverb, yeah... speculation is the word of the moment...

odibrom Beat me to it. speaking of speculation, that one on reverb replaced another slightly nicer rg2127x from the same seller, like they thought nobody would notice! There's that one on ebay, also speculation priced. I believe it actually sold, then was reposted to ebay but the seller had 0 positive feeback. I get real uneasy around these listings, the seller (s) might be lurking here! in which case sorry for speculating so openly about what the guitar is worth/ what it's doing other than getting sold.