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My Jackson JS32-8 8 String Signature model is complete and rocking. My guitar tech has named it "The Beast" as it truly is a beast.
I bought the JS32-8 last March and have been working on it ever since. Here's the story:
http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/152...t-Red-8-String!
I also installed a set of Schaller strap locks.
Once I had the sting sizing issues sorted out, the biggest decision I made was on the pickups. I wanted an HSH setup so I choose the DiMarzio Ionizer HSH pickup set:
http://www.dimarzio.com/node/8103
This set of 8 string pickups were designed for Tosin Abasi so it was a safe bet. I ordered the pickups from Mike's Music in Harrisburg PA.
http://mikes-music-shop.com/
(I've been a customer of Mike's since the early 2000s and have never had an issue with any of my orders.)
Once the pickups were in, I stripped the guitar down and took the body to Brown's Guitar Mill in Newnan GA along with the center pickup. Brown's routed the center cavity for the DiMarzio single coil.
The humbucker openings are larger than what the DiMarzio Ionizers need so I put the 1 & 8 strings on to ensure that the poles lined up under the strings correctly when I direct mounted the Ionizers.
One thing I do when replacing pickups is to label the wires in the controll cavity to help me not make wiring errors
Now the hard work of wiring up the guitar can be done. The 3-way knife switch was replaced with a YM-50 5-way switch.
To fully tap the potential of the Ionizer pickups I decided to add two toggle switches and two push-pull 500k audio pots. The mini toggle switches fit nicely between the vol & tone pots but the wood is too thick there for the switches to reach the top of the guitar. Using a Fostner bit I carved out the wood so the the switch shafts would reach the top.
This was the most complicated wiring job I have ever done.
Note: The Ionizer middle pickup has three wires not two. The grey wire is the bottom plate ground. Solder the grey wire to ground.
Here's what the controls look like topside:
How the Controls Work:
=================
The 5 way is wired normally with positions 2 & 4 coil-spliting the humbuckers - like a Steve Vai Jem.
The SPDT mini-toggle switch next to the tone knob when turned on activates the neck humbucker. So putting the 5-way in position 1 (bridge on) and turning on this switch has both humbuckers on. This is known as the David Gilmour mod. Now if you put the 5-way in position 2 (bridge & middle on) and turn on this switch, all three pickups are on. I call this switch the "neck-on switch".
The DPDT mini-toggle switch next to the volume knob will coil-split both humbuckers to single coils. Some call this a coil tap but it's not. It splits the humbucker in half by grounding out one coil. So by turning this switch on you have a Stratocaster three single coil pickup type guitar. I call this switch the "coil-split switch".
The mini-toggle switches are positioned so that down is OFF, up is ON just like a wall light switch.
Now for the push-pulls. The volume push-pull puts the neck humbucker out-of-phase. Down is normal; pull up and the neck is out of phase. To hear the effect you have to have two pickups on. It's most effective with the bridge humbucker on (5-way in position 1 & the neck-on switch on).
The tone push-pull switches the bridge humbucker from series wiring (normal) to parallel wiring. Pull up to switch to parallel wiring.
These 5 switches give an incredible range of tones from an HSH setup.
Once the body was wired, the guitar went back to Brown's Guitar Mill in Newnan GA for a bone nut and a pro set-up. Strings are .010, .013, .017, .026, .036, .046, .059, .090 tuned E B G D A E B E high to low.
So that's my 'signature' Jackson JS32-8 HSH guitar - The Beast! This is the 8 string JS32-8 that Jackson should release
!
I bought the JS32-8 last March and have been working on it ever since. Here's the story:
http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/152...t-Red-8-String!
I also installed a set of Schaller strap locks.
Once I had the sting sizing issues sorted out, the biggest decision I made was on the pickups. I wanted an HSH setup so I choose the DiMarzio Ionizer HSH pickup set:
http://www.dimarzio.com/node/8103
This set of 8 string pickups were designed for Tosin Abasi so it was a safe bet. I ordered the pickups from Mike's Music in Harrisburg PA.
http://mikes-music-shop.com/
(I've been a customer of Mike's since the early 2000s and have never had an issue with any of my orders.)
Once the pickups were in, I stripped the guitar down and took the body to Brown's Guitar Mill in Newnan GA along with the center pickup. Brown's routed the center cavity for the DiMarzio single coil.
The humbucker openings are larger than what the DiMarzio Ionizers need so I put the 1 & 8 strings on to ensure that the poles lined up under the strings correctly when I direct mounted the Ionizers.
One thing I do when replacing pickups is to label the wires in the controll cavity to help me not make wiring errors
Now the hard work of wiring up the guitar can be done. The 3-way knife switch was replaced with a YM-50 5-way switch.
To fully tap the potential of the Ionizer pickups I decided to add two toggle switches and two push-pull 500k audio pots. The mini toggle switches fit nicely between the vol & tone pots but the wood is too thick there for the switches to reach the top of the guitar. Using a Fostner bit I carved out the wood so the the switch shafts would reach the top.
This was the most complicated wiring job I have ever done.
Note: The Ionizer middle pickup has three wires not two. The grey wire is the bottom plate ground. Solder the grey wire to ground.
Here's what the controls look like topside:
How the Controls Work:
=================
The 5 way is wired normally with positions 2 & 4 coil-spliting the humbuckers - like a Steve Vai Jem.
The SPDT mini-toggle switch next to the tone knob when turned on activates the neck humbucker. So putting the 5-way in position 1 (bridge on) and turning on this switch has both humbuckers on. This is known as the David Gilmour mod. Now if you put the 5-way in position 2 (bridge & middle on) and turn on this switch, all three pickups are on. I call this switch the "neck-on switch".
The DPDT mini-toggle switch next to the volume knob will coil-split both humbuckers to single coils. Some call this a coil tap but it's not. It splits the humbucker in half by grounding out one coil. So by turning this switch on you have a Stratocaster three single coil pickup type guitar. I call this switch the "coil-split switch".
The mini-toggle switches are positioned so that down is OFF, up is ON just like a wall light switch.
Now for the push-pulls. The volume push-pull puts the neck humbucker out-of-phase. Down is normal; pull up and the neck is out of phase. To hear the effect you have to have two pickups on. It's most effective with the bridge humbucker on (5-way in position 1 & the neck-on switch on).
The tone push-pull switches the bridge humbucker from series wiring (normal) to parallel wiring. Pull up to switch to parallel wiring.
These 5 switches give an incredible range of tones from an HSH setup.
Once the body was wired, the guitar went back to Brown's Guitar Mill in Newnan GA for a bone nut and a pro set-up. Strings are .010, .013, .017, .026, .036, .046, .059, .090 tuned E B G D A E B E high to low.
So that's my 'signature' Jackson JS32-8 HSH guitar - The Beast! This is the 8 string JS32-8 that Jackson should release
!
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