Installing D Sonic on a JPq

[peedo_deedo]

hello everyone. i'm thinking about having a D Sonic installed on one of my JP. I am liking the sound of my redburst with the D Sonic and i just want to have the same with my sapphire black. I am about to buy one and i'll gonna have a tech from guitar center (san francisco branch) install it for me.

Is there anything i should be concerned about this move? Any recommendations?

Thanks a lot

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

If you are buying an "off the shelf" pickup, there are a few things you need to know.

The wiring is different with the blade towards the middle.


Here's the info on the D-sonic/JP setup from Steve Blucher at DiMarzio...

No wiring changes are necessary if the D Sonic will be installed with the solid bar towards the bridge. The wires from the pickup will be soldered to the PC board terminals exactly as labeled. We’re sorry for the complications, but there are a number of changes required if the D Sonic is going to be installed with the bar towards the neck, and the same changes will need to be made to the wiring of both pickups in order to maintain hum cancellation in the middle position. The changes are:



The red wire from the pickup is soldered to the white solder pad on the PC board.

The black pickup wire is soldered to green on the PC.

The green pickup wire is soldered to black on the PC.

The white pickup wire is soldered to red on the PC.



In addition, the installation direction of the neck pickup will have to be reversed if you want both pickups’ inner coils to remain on in the middle position. We don’t feel this is absolutely necessary, because the sonic difference isn’t very large. The difference is more obvious with the bridge pickup, but less so with the neck pickup because it’s closer to the middle of the strings, where the tone change isn’t as dramatic.



Before doing any of the above, you might want to consider the following: Most of John Petrucci’s guitars with the D Sonic blade towards the neck are in standard tuning or tuned to Eb. Most of his lower-tuned guitars have the blade towards the bridge. This is a matter of personal taste, and was arrived at by trying his guitars both ways with his amp setup. Your setup (and your taste) may not be the same as John’s, and you might want to try the D Sonic with the blade towards the bridge first. It would save you some extra work if you like it that way. One way isn’t better than the other - it really comes down to what works best for you.

Am I glad I saved this email~!

 

[CudBucket]

If you are buying an "off the shelf" pickup, there are a few things you need to know.

The wiring is different with the blade towards the middle.


Here's the info on the D-sonic/JP setup from Steve Blucher at DiMarzio...



Am I glad I saved this email~!

Good stuff here Pete. Gonna keep it handy. I wonder if anyone has tried a D-Sonic in the neck position yet?

 

[peedo_deedo]

thanks a lot Pete.

 

[Lou]

The other pain in the ass about reversing the neck pickup (if you put the blade of the D sonic towards the neck) is the lead for the neck pup may no longer reach the switch. One of mine reached the other didn't.