Reccomend good branded nut/machinehead/jack/pickup selector for Ibanez SA160FM?

[Cam_H]

After buying a set of VHII/'63 Veneer Board pickups, I'm going to upgrade the other parts of the guitar to play as well as possible.

The machineheads and nut are probably the easiest to pick from as I've heard great things about the Schaller M6 Locking and Hipshot Locking; as well as Graph Tech Black Tusq - I hear these is great for trem equipped guitars. I just wondered if there's anymore to consider.

The ones that have stumped me are the jack and pickup selector. I believe the jack is a barrel jack due to the nature of the Ibanez SA series jack location. And the pickup selector is unlike anything I see for a strat. It all seems very tight and compact in there.

I see hundreds of pickup selectors and jacks online, but I really have no idea what brand/websites to avoid, and whether paying extra will be better?

[Toe-Knee]

After buying a set of VHII/'63 Veneer Board pickups, I'm going to upgrade the other parts of the guitar to play as well as possible.

The machineheads and nut are probably the easiest to pick from as I've heard great things about the Schaller M6 Locking and Hipshot Locking; as well as Graph Tech Black Tusq - I hear these is great for trem equipped guitars. I just wondered if there's anymore to consider.

The ones that have stumped me are the jack and pickup selector. I believe the jack is a barrel jack due to the nature of the Ibanez SA series jack location. And the pickup selector is unlike anything I see for a strat. It all seems very tight and compact in there.

I see hundreds of pickup selectors and jacks online, but I really have no idea what brand/websites to avoid, and whether paying extra will be better?

The pickup selectors are tele style ones afaik (ive never owned a tele) but they can be found online as import 3/5 way I also think that you can drop a strat style blade selector in too.

However be aware that the ibanez switches are different to the other ones you can get. You can't do the ibanez 2H wiring with a normal inline pickup selector trust me i've tried!

Regarding the barrel jack. The one in my RGA42 (cheapish model) is a neutrik one so i personally wouldn't bother changing that as i imagine they use the same ones in the other guitars too.

[Andrew W]

I've just completely rewired an early '90s s440 which has the same HSS layout and the following is what I discovered. You need to bear in mind that the S series cavity is on the shallow side so don't use a regular CRL style Strat or Tele switch as it's too deep. This is the same switch as was already in my Ibanez and it's what I used:

http://www.axesrus.co.uk/Import-Style-Pickup-Selector-Switch-p/importswitch.htm

The holes drilled in the body for the pots are narrower on the Ibanez too so I used Alpha pots which fit perfectly. I also used a DPDT switch for the volume control to get coil splits (I put 2 narrow rail type humbuckers plus a replacement bridge humbucker into my guitar for 3 humbucker action). The Alpha DPDT switch also fit into the body cavity without issue.

http://www.axesrus.co.uk/Alpha-Pots-s/1877.htm

In the end I didn't replace the jack as the one in the guitar still looked like it had plenty of life in it.

[Cam_H]

Well I've already got BKP pots as Tim recommended the 280k.

Regarding the cavity depth, there's more room than the Ibanez S Series due to having a thicker body. I'm going measure everything first before ordering anything. I was just wondering if there's any brands that provide good quality parts?

[Andrew W]

Well I've already got BKP pots as Tim recommended the 280k.

Regarding the cavity depth, there's more room than the Ibanez S Series due to having a thicker body. I'm going measure everything first before ordering anything. I was just wondering if there's any brands that provide good quality parts?

The switch I posted the link to above seems well made.

Are you going to have to drill out the body to fit the BKP pots then? I tried some CTS pots I had lying around and they were definitely too thick to fit my guitar without drilling which is why I opted for the Alphas.

[Cam_H]

Well tbh I didn't even think about the holes in the SA being too small. I guess i can always get a round file and make the circumference bigger. Then again, my tech's going to do all the fitting, so I'll have to have a word with him about doing it

[Lucas]

When it comes to machineheads I can recommend Sperzel Locking Tuners. Ive been using them for over a year now and they are superb quality. Cannot go any better than that. Much better than Shaller.

I woudnt be bothered with tuners if you would have strings locked at the nut but in your case go for Sperzel.