Replacement for Ibanez S1

[pluto]

Hi experts,

I have got an Ibanez RG with V7 humbucker (neck), S1 single coil (middle) and V8 humbucker (bridge). The humbuckers are louder than the single coil so I would like to replace the S1 with a higher output single coil. Since I don't know how high or low the output of the S1 actually is, I am looking for advice and recommendations. And there is the question whether the S1 is reverse wound or not so I woud have to go for a reverse wound pickup or not. Or just in case, can I invert the hot and ground wire to get the same like soldering a reverse wound pickup normally? As you can see, I am new to manipulating the electronic parts of a guitar.

Cheers!
pluto

[Funkfingers]

Welcome to the forum.

The Ibanez S1 centre pickup is designed to be an output match for the humbuckers when they are in Split Coil mode. i. e. Just one coil of the humbucker is operational.

The magnetic polarity and coil winding direction are not an issue because the four conductor humbucker can easily be wired up to make selector switch positions 2 and 4 hum-cancelling.

Just to complicate matters, you may find that your centre pickup is actually a stacked coil, hum-cancelling design albeit with only two output conductors.

[Guston7]

The S1 is already a pretty hot single-coil, with a DC resistance in the neighborhood of 9.5K Ohms. It just doesn't seem like it because you have 2 hi-output humbuckers: a 10k ceramic mag neck, and a 16.5k alnico 5 bridge. It is not rw/rp, relative to standard Duncan/DiMarzio singles. As Funk said, it's really a pickup designed to work well with one coil of the V8/V7 in your 2/4 switch positions. You could replace it w/something hotter to more closely match the output of your 1/5 positions. However, IMO, that defeats the purpose of having a different kind of pickup in the guitar. When singles get wound hot enough to keep up with humbuckers, they typically also get more mid/bass heavy, which makes for an overall less versatile guitar. When I ditch the S1, I usually go for something more Stratty, which means less output. Duncan SSL or Dimarzio True Velvets are good choices. But, it's all personal preference.

[pluto]

Thanks for your kind replies. I got the guitar used two weeks ago and it's probably just a matter of getting used to the different output levels. I actually like the sounds as they are. The pickups really are not as bad as is sometimes stated in some user forums. Maybe it's also the ash body (rare in Ibanez RG guitars) that contributes to the nice and crispy sound. I must say that I didn't have the possibility to play the guitar over my big rig very often but yesterday during rehearsal I found that paying with the volume and tone knobs gives me even more tonal versatility compared to my S/H and S/S/H guitars. I will rethink my plan of replacing the S1 and I guess I will come to the conclusion that it's not necessary.