Questions for the electric wizards in the house:

[thearabianmage]

I have a classmate at uni who has one of those really nice signature Music Man models (the John Petrucci) and he wants me to do a little modding to this most bodacious axe.

The mods are straight-forward enough, but I had one question concerning the switches he wants:

The over-all mod is 6 switches: 2 per pup - one for series/parallel and another for north/humbucker/south. Firstly, I was wondering if the latter is possible and if there are any diagrams.

The other 2 switches he wants is a series switch and a phase switch.

Now - here is where is gets a little bit sticky, the Petrucci model has [a rather nice] piezo system and all four wires from both pups goes straight into a circuit board. Would I just be able to wire a lead from each of them to their desired destination on the switches?

The second question: would the switches work with the piezo system?

I know there aren't too many electronics gurus here to help out with this, but if anyone has any helpful info/advice/whatever, it would be much appreciated!

Thanks

Joe

[Spudman]

Personally I wouldn't do any mod of the sort to a $2,600 guitar. Especially that one.

[thearabianmage]

Personally I wouldn't do any mod of the sort to a $2,600 guitar. Especially that one.

That's a very good point. I'm particularly nervous about drilling holes in it, but he seems set. We'll see, though. We were just talking about it today and I told him that I'd find out if it were possible. Maybe by the start of the next term, he'd have changed his mind.

In any case, he always seems to have really really expensive equipment and can afford 2-3 day excursions to New York with his girlfriend. . . I wonder if £1200 means that much to him?

[Katastrophe]

I'm with Spuds on this one, 'mage. If he makes trips to the States often, and money is no object, I'd recommend a custom build with all the switches and doodads.

Carvin is a good place to start.

If there is a circut board there for the piezo system I wouldn't want to go messing with it.

[Bloozcat]

Another nod to Spud's advice. Some things are better left alone.

[duhvoodooman]

Personally, I wouldn't touch it either. Between the value of the guitar and that piezo system, the only way I'd even consider it would be if I had detailed info & diagrams from some reputable source who had actually done the mod. Experimentation is something devoutly to be avoided with an expensive instrument like this.

[Spudman]

The JP6 holds it's value really well. If he does the mods to it he'll never be able to get rid of it. People buy it for what it is. Maybe he could sell the JP6 and get a guitar made the way he wants. Otherwise, he'll have a guitar he might get 1/3 of what he paid for it should he try to sell it after the mods.

[rkwrenn]

"If it ain't broke, don't go fixin' on it".

But, here is something very interesting and may save a lot of headaches.

http://www.pupswitch.com/

Cheers and HTH,

Bob

[Spudman]

Cool rk. I hadn't heard of those switches before. That seems like a good solution to a lot of things. Thanks.

[marnold]

That switch looks pretty interesting. My only concern is that the lugs look awfully small for my meager soldering skills. That and the fact that it is $85.

[rkwrenn]

Cool rk. I hadn't heard of those switches before. That seems like a good solution to a lot of things. Thanks.

Yeah, solves the reversibility issue nicely too. But honestly, even with all the options, I really wonder how many really usable sounds will come out of it. Well anyway, to each his own though.


Cheers,

Bob

[thearabianmage]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'll have a chat to the dude tomorrow and see what's up.

And thanks rkwrenn for the link, I'll pass it on and see if he's interested.

Cheers,

Joe

[Suhnton]

Personally, I wouldn't touch it either. Between the value of the guitar and that piezo system, the only way I'd even consider it would be if I had detailed info & diagrams from some reputable source who had actually done the mod. Experimentation is something devoutly to be avoided with an expensive instrument like this.

Yeah, the last thing you want is it looking like Frank Zappa's guitars ;)

[thearabianmage]

Hey y'all, I've spoken to Adam today and told him all y'alls recommendations and reasons and he fully agrees. He said that he was thinking about it himself and that he was probably gonna get a MIM strat as strats are just about the most customizable guitars on the planet.

So I thank you for not letting me potentially ruin a very expensive guitar :aok:

[Spudman]

Hey y'all, I've spoken to Adam today and told him all y'alls recommendations and reasons and he fully agrees. He said that he was thinking about it himself and that he was probably gonna get a MIM strat as strats are just about the most customizable guitars on the planet.

So I thank you for not letting me potentially ruin a very expensive guitar :aok:

Phew!