Essential 31 (3)

Here we go - the cavity route for the Ibanez AZES31 is the HSH version. Hope this gives some joy to the people out there who have plans to mod theirs. Of course, the after market Strat / RG pickguards will NOT fit. Please be informed. 

The pots might be the initial consideration for you folks if you ever consider swapping out stuff to make things sound 'better'. Not that these are bad - I like them - they are the 500K version & this is the reason why the tone is bright in this one. It might be too much for some of us. The Dynamix switch (between the pots) is actually a circuitboard & not something a 3-way toggle can handle if you wish to replace this one as well. There's a whole bunch of wires actually hiding underneath the pickguard as seen here. I have plans for pickup replacement but I will save that for another episode.

Hope everyone is safe & please continue to be safe. The Covid numbers are running crazy & it's only gonna get crazier so safety first, yes?

Hidden filth

This is the bridge pickup cavity of my Ibanez S1XXV. The white gunk there- dust. The fact that it didn't get mixed into the finish means that it was there after the paint was applied. Highly likely, it's the bits from holes drilled into the cavity. The inspection label, all initialed, implied that the situation was acknowledge before the cavity was covered (by the pickup). To give the benefit of the doubt to the people whose initials are clearly seen here, they might be inspecting the instrument for something else & dust busting isn't part of the job scope.

It's a shame that Ibanez (Indonesia) didn't put in that little extra bit of consideration in ensuring the cavity was cleared. I simply had to brush the dust off, nothing to it, really. I can imagine the factory, being equipped with tools, machines & implements to attend to this simple feat but it wasn't done.  Job attitude contributes to the goodwill of the company, remember that, my friends. 

Ibanez RG331M: Pickups cavity

The Ibanez RG331M is a dual humbucking guitar as documented in the manufacturer's catalogue but beneath its cover, the guitar was routed for an HSH pickup combination.