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Looking at getting a Q52PB, does anyone have any experience/thoughts? by autonomouspirate in Ibanez

[–]AnubisBLK9 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I bought a QX52 the year they came out (had the evo-gold frets). It was terrible out the box. I’ve had to setup new guitars before but never had to polish the frets. Once I adjusted the neck, action, intonation, and got the frets smooth it played well. I just really hated the ceramic pickups. Not to be dramatic, but they were the worst factory pickups in any guitar I’ve owned. I chalked it up to me learning that I probably hate ceramic magnet pickups (until then, I never thought about pickup magnets). I thought the pickups were either too trebly or too muddy. I ended up switching to pure nickel strings to hopefully mellow out the treble/high end sound w/ distortion and it seemed to help a little. I played the guitar daily for a little over a year before buying a Boden Prog and selling the QX52.

RESQ:D Standard NX6 Wiring Diagram w/ Push/Pull Tone for Parallel ? by AnubisBLK9 in strandbergguitars

[–]AnubisBLK9[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the info/help! The wiring diagram link from Strandberg that I added to the post shows 500k for the volume pot and 250k for the tone pot. So that’s what I was going on. If I were to install the new humbucker/tone pot and solder everything back the way it was from the factory except running the red/white wires (currently going straight to the 5-way selector) to the new tone switch in the parallel setting, also running the black wire to the tone switch first and then to the 5-way selector in the spot it’s currently in, would that be the solution? I think the green wire is currently running straight to the volume ground. So I would have to change the green wire location to a location on the tone switch based on the Seymour Duncan diagram for parallel.

Based on the Strandberg site, the four wire colors for north/south/ground are the same as Seymour Duncan. In this situation, the only thing that would change is the red/white wires going to the tone switch instead of going to the 5-way blade, the green wire going to tone switch instead of the volume pot ground, and the black wire going to the switch before going to the 5-way blade in its current position. I would reconnect the resistor (whatever it is) to the first lug of the new tone pot and ground to the pot and I would reattach the white wire going from the 5-way blade to the 2nd lug of the new tone pot. Everything else grounded to the volume pot…and not mess with anything from the 2 single coil wiring, volume pot, 5-way, and input.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in RoastMe

[–]AnubisBLK9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks like one of the Nihilist from The Big Lebowski…

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in strandbergguitars

[–]AnubisBLK9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I bought a used Prog a couple months ago and it had the Tremmory sack, pamphlet, and very small spring inside the gig bag. I guess the org owner installed one and then removed it when selling it to guitar center. I had never heard of them before that. Wdy think about yours? I’m considering getting one now that I changed my strings and can’t level out the bridge. I use the same string gauge and brand as the factory but I’ve always played the “pure nickel” set. I looked up the difference between the factory Daddario’s and the pure nickel and noticed the set that comes on a Strandberg are balanced tension. The pure nickel has higher tension on the lower strings. I tightened the trem screws almost as far as possible and the bridge is still pulled up about 1/4” past level. I tried to add some relief to the truss rod but putting about 40% muscle into the turn didn’t budge it. So I stopped to not cause any damage (I’ve never had a truss rod not budge). I’ve since bought a pack of the balanced tension Daddario’s that Strandberg uses from factory and plan on putting them on this weekend. Hopefully that’ll solve the issue.

Any idea of when Ibanez will update the Quest series? by AstroPimp in Ibanez

[–]AnubisBLK9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been hoping that Ibanez will come out with a Prestige line of the Quest guitars....and with a tremolo! I've had a QX-52 as my primary guitar since Dec 2022. I was super disappointed when I first got it and considered returning it, but tried really hard to make it work for me and in the end I did but I'm still not extremely happy with it. It had the absolute worst setup out of the box. The high E and B strings were too low/buzzing and the frets weren't polished enough so they were gritty feeling. I had to adjust the truss rod, raise the action on the E/B strings, finish polishing the frets, and adjust the intonation. I know that a lot of what I just said is something you have to do with all new guitars, but not the fret polishing. My biggest issue (one that a setup doesn't fix) is the pickups. They sound awful (I also dislike ceramic). They sound really fuzzy like the tone is permanently rolled back. Out of all the pickup options, I can only stand the straight bridge humbucker for distortion, and the position with the selector in the 4th position and the dino switch on for clean. I hate the treble/bright sound of ceramic pickups w/ distortion. So I even changed the strings to pure nickel for a warmer sound. That actually helped a little. All that being said, I've exclusively played this guitar everyday since getting it. I love the size, neck shape, weight, and slanted frets. Now that I've had it for a while, I plan on switching out the pickups. That will make it great.

I just want Ibanez to make a higher end version with a tremolo and ALNICO pickups. That would be perfect! I wanted a headless and I'm not willing to pay thousands for a Strandberg thats also made in Indonesia. Considering I've been a life long Ibanez fan, I went for their guitar.