Help wiring the IB-4

Hello all,

This is my first time building and wiring a guitar, and I'm a little turned around with the wiring diagrams. As there is none listed for the IB-4 specifically, I grabbed the IB-5 wiring diagram, as it is the same 2-humbucker, 4 pot setup, a tone and a volume per. Here's the diagram:

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-co...s/pdf/IB-5.pdf

problem is, those aren't the wires coming out of my pickup. Searching the forum brought up a bunch of discussion as to why this is and how to sort it out, which I'll have to walk myself through it a few times before I get it.

However, my forum search also brought up this diagram for a single humbucker, single volume, single tone:

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...1&d=1418177358

And it strikes me that just doing that for each pickup and pot grouping, connect both sequences to the input jack, and ground both volume pots to the bridge. Will this work out how I think it will?

Like so:

https://imgur.com/a/YhuuWJo

Are you using the kit pickups, or SD's?

Kit pickups. They're the same style soap bar humbuckers as displayed in the IB-5 guide, with the wires the same as the second guide. Both pickups the same, I'll have to test them with the multimeter to see iff one is mean for the neck.

Can you post a pic of the pickups? (with wires)
The main difference will be the wire colours. The configuration will be the same (or should be).

I'm not at home, but if it helps, it's just like the second diagram. One big gray wire comes from the pickup, and from that, a red and white soldered and twisted together, a green and bare soldered and twisted together, and a single black wire.

OK, that helps!
Using the PBG diagram, the green/bare pair are your ground/earth to be connected to the back of a pot as shown.
The black wire is your positive (hot) signal wire which connects to respective volume pot solder lugs.

Just be sure the red/white pair are insulated so they make contact with any other ground or hot connections. Heat-shrink tubing is best for this, but electrical tape will do also.

By coincidence (I'm sure) the colour code on the PB pickups is the same as Seymour Duncan humbuckers.

That's excellent, thank you very much! Seems to be along the lines of what I thought with some key differences in grounding, sequencing them together, plus what contact the capacitator is connected to.

Had I wired it the way I was thinking, what would've happened? Short something out? Or it simply wouldn't deliver signal through the output jack?

Quote:

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Had I wired it the way I was thinking, what would've happened? Short something out? Or it simply wouldn't deliver signal through the output jack?

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At quick glance, both pickups would be always on and both volumes would act like a master volume (I think).
It definitely would not have worked correctly.

I think I've got the wiring sorted out correctly now, and thank you so much for your help with that.

I do have another question about the diagrams i posted, if you might know the answer. In one of the diagrams, the capacitator connects a terminal lug of the resistive material to the back of the pot, while the other diagram connects the capacitor to the sweeper lug and the back of the pot.

Now, I know very little about all of this, and my current assumption is that the capacitor is there to ground out excess energy from any sort of power surge to keep from frying the electronics. If so, what is the difference in how they are placed in these two diagrams? And if my assumption is incorrect, what is actually going on here, circuit-wise?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bast902

Now, I know very little about all of this, and my current assumption is that the capacitor is there to ground out excess energy from any sort of power surge to keep from frying the electronics. If so, what is the difference in how they are placed in these two diagrams? And if my assumption is incorrect, what is actually going on here, circuit-wise?

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Shouldn't make a difference, but the capacitor is there to shunt the higher frequency to ground. The pot is wired to represent a variable resistor or resistance which forms a RC network therefore making the HF cut somewhat sweepable. With that said the electronics that comes with the IB -4, IB-5 is junk in my opinion. The pup output is weak and the tone control does almost nothing. I am in the process of replacing all that and will update if I create something better than what is offered.

People have fitted the inexpensive Belcat active 2-band EQ in the IB 4 and 5 models before, which has helped considerably. It was quite popular two or three years back. You get a bend control, master volume and active (boost and cut) treble and bass EQ. It looks to be available under many different brand names now.

Fitting this basic preamp also increases the output to a useable level as the pickups do have a reputation for being quite weak. It's strange that they are, as almost all of the other kit pickups are on the hot (or at least the warm) side.

I ordered a set of Chinese (like most things) soapbars that is said to have hot output. Trying keep it passive as well.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EQ251EI...roduct_details

Night and day difference. Hot output and sounds great especially with these flat wound strings. The EMG 40HZ diagram can be used with these pickups.