5 for 2

Ibanez likes to equip their dual humbucking guitars with a 5-way selector. An example is depicted above.

This is what the selector does to the guitar. You get the standard function in position 1, 3 & 5. In position 2, only one coil from each humbucker is activated & combined, a typical application if you are familiar with the Telecaster. In position 4, the neck humbucker is in parallel mode, this means, you get a slightly different output coming from the pickup, resulting in a different tone. That's right, it's still in humbucking mode, not a single coil & you can't get the single coil twang from this option.

The switching option above refers to the RG565. Some of us are reliant on only positions 1, 3 & 5. We don't venture into single coil / tapped output tones with a guitar like an RG because we know this would sound better in other guitars. Also, positions 2 & 4 get in the way & might lead to confusion during quick flicks - are we already in positions 1 / 5 or did we land on 2 / 4 instead?

To be continued...

Pics: Ibanez Japan

Replacement needed

I was up early today because my blocked nose needed some attention. I couldn't sleep thereafter so I decided to re-string my Fender ST-72 but there was something amiss with the 5-way pickup selector switch because it didn't notch into place when in use. True enough, as seen above, corrosion had virtually consumed it. *Ewwww....*

By virtue of this occurrence, do we deem Fender's ST-72 a lousy piece of work because the parts deteriorated over time? Simple answer: NO...

Mechanical parts do give way over time as they are exposed to the elements but how could an internal component be subjected to such decay? When we play our instruments (more so when you are in active performance), sweating is inevitable so the traces of moisture made its way into the residence of these internal components (through slots & gaps + some of us actually spray our polish fluid directly onto our instruments- you are actually forcing moisture through those gaps/ slots). This deterioration is expedited by the fact that some of us don't even bother to wipe down our instruments after play. In addition to this, we bring our instruments to venues with varying temperatures (indoors vs outdoors/ warm vs air-conditioned) so elementary Science tells us that condensation would take place & this is something beyond our control. It is therefore a healthy practice to service our instruments when the time comes especially so when we come across tell-tale signs of deterioration.

3 in 5

The VLX91 5-way pickup selector you see above is taken off my Ibanez SV5470. It's a little different because effectively, when one flicks the lever from any of the humbucker-only selections, it will revert to the middle detent, in any other selector models, this would be our single-coil only (middle pickup) selection (HSH combo). One has to carefully select positions 2 & 4 with much controlled movements as the mechanics drive it to auto-position to the middle selection by operation.