Can I swap the electronics between instruments?

[jazzyvee]

I have an alembic Orion guitar and a Fender Strat with Alembic pickups, filter and q-switch in.
 
I wonder if it's possible or easy to swap the electronics round so I have the filter electronics in the Orion guitar and the bass and treble in the strat?
 
Would that be easy to do?  
 
I wouldn't need to cut any additional holes in the Orion which is a blessing. But I'm thinking that way round, the alembic would have the best tonal options due to the filter, rather than the strat....  
 
I have no probs with the sound of either guitar, it's just  the filter circuit allows  more tonal variation which I may prefer in the Orion.
 
Is that possible Mica? if so do you have any notes i could use to do this conversion?
 
Jazzyvee

[mica]

Just unplug and replug - simple as that. The hole for the Q switch might need to be enlarged to hold the pot. I don't recall if it's already the larger size or not.

[jazzyvee]

Now I hope this is like plug and play on a mac and not plug and play windows style :-)
 
Thanks Mica that sounds like a task for my next free weekend.
 
I think I'll photograph everything inside both instruments before I start so  I know where everything is supposed to be if I get lost or want to return back to standard.  
 
 
Jazzyvee

[jazzyvee]

Hi Mica, the deed has now be been done. The hole for the Q-switch on the strat was large enough to hold the pot as you guys had put washers over the switch so it would fit the existing strat pot hole size when you had it for servicing.  
 
The transfusion went fine. The only cosmetic thing I have to deal with is the pot hole on the orion is much larger than the q-switch shaft so I've had to use a larger washer on the outside of the guitar to make it fit. Any suggestions you have for making it look standard would be great, as it now looks like a modified Alembic rather than a standard fitting.
 
 
As for the sonic differences.  I had a quick strum with it yesterday through my PJB briefcase amp. The orion sounds just as bright, clear and acoustic like.  
 
To my ears, I think the q-switch and filter have opened up the warmer end of the spectrum and I can get more variations of the warm jazzy tone.
 
At the brighter side of the sound, with the filter toward the fully open position and 3 position q-switch active the sound is so sharp it could cut someones head off. It is so sparkly.
 
At the moment I'm happy with the changeover and it definitely is an improvement on the orion bass and treble. The sound is more at home in the Orion.
 
It also the filter circuit does not sound as edgy as it did on the strat. I've only tried it clean so far but I'm hoping that the filter will give me more of a chance of getting a decent overdriven sound for soloing.
 
As for the strat with the Orion electronics.  
 
That still impressive if somewhat subdued compared to its previous filter circuit. The flexibility of the three pickups makes up for the loss of the filter and the simplicity of the bass and treble controls seem to work well. A less edgy than before but ultimately still a great sound.
 
I have a gig in a couple of weeks and rehearsal probably this weeks so I should be able to get a feel as to how they perform in context with a band.
 
Jazzyvee

[jazzyvee]

Hi Mica, i just had a thought. I didn't swap over the volume pot controls between the guitars as I was guessing that they are the same circuits. Is that correct or should I swap them over too?
 
Jazzyvee.

[foth]

Jazzyvee
I changed the controls on my Orion to volume, pan, and filter-q.  The pan and filter-q allow me to get the Gibson L-5 sound that was not available (too bright) before.  I really like having the pan instead of the 3 way pup selector.  
Everything in full treble with the q switch on is a bit much, isn't it?  :-)
Paul

[hydrargyrum]

When I re-purchased my Orion Baritone the person who had it for a while had made the change from standard Orion electronics to the Volume, Pan, Filter combo.  I was a little worried at first because I loved the way it sounded originally, but man was I ever won over the first time I got to play around with it.  I also found that the guitar was much more responsive to my fuzz and distortion pedals.  Here's to hoping you get the overdrive sound you like.

[jazzyvee]

I was trying it out yesterday in my fender twin but all of a sudden the amp's pre amp section stopped working so I had to use my Phil Phil Jones amp again so that kind of gives it a bit more of an acoustic guitar sound which I have to say I do like.  
 
But yes it is a bit much on full bore except in the mid pickup position its kind of nice and sparkly.
 
Now I've found a fellow orion guitarist, maybe you can advise me on what do you use for overdrive/distortion pedal. I've not really been able to try anything that is satisfactory here in the UK as the choice in most shops is very limited.  
 
I have a proco Rat which is good on my regular strat but with the alembic it is not quite there and the pod xtlive pedal board thingy is too harsh and un-natural, nasty to be honest.
 
It's a bit of a risk to just get something off ebay or an on-line store without being able to try it out first.  
 
It is fine in my fender twin but I can't always take that on the road with me which is why I'm looking for a pedal option.
Have you posted a photo of your orion anywhere here?
 
I like the idea of a blend pickup selection was that a big mod?
 
 
JAzzyvee

[hydrargyrum]

Well, I really like the sound of Zvex pedals.  They didn't really agree with Orion until after the electronics were modded to their current condition.  I currently have a couple of his fuzz factories and an octane III, and they all sound pretty good with the Orion, despite the fact that fuzzes don't tend to really like active electronics.  I have a crappy old DOD grunge pedal that I break out if I am going for a more Tom Waits Going out West kind of dirt.  Zvex came out with an active electronics friendly distortion pedal, the Box of Rock that I haven't had a chance to try yet, but sounds pretty good in the demos.  Blackstone appliances also makes an overdrive pedal which is supposed to active friendly, but I haven't had a chance to try it either.

[lbpesq]

I love my Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Classic.  Two channels: crunch ryhthm & lead, though the crunch ryhthm channel can easily be tweaked for lead, allowing two separate lead tones.  Gain and volume for each channel - as dirty as you want.  True tube tone.  The only negatives are the size - it's fairly large - and it uses a wall wart.
 
Bill, tgo

[foth]

I play straight into an amp, always clean, so I have no pedal advice.  I'm in four bass projects, so playing guitar is just a little treat for me, like eating a candy bar.
I live a couple of hours drive from Alembic, so I took the guitar up there and they swapped everything for me (bow down) using the same holes.  There is a sweet spot on the pan pot about half way between the middle click stop and the front pickup that I like.  I use the same sweet spot on my Rogue 5 bass.  It's a setting that's unavailable with the 3-way toggle.
My Orion is the burl redwood one that I got from Jonathan Levine, if you remember that one.
BTW, I just got an almost Fender twin, a Mesa Express 5:50.  It's either 5 or 50 watts through 6L6's.  I got two EV 12L classics to swap out with the original speakers, but they're still in boxes.  I'm looking forward to hearing the EV's in the 5 watt mode.

[hydrargyrum]

I guess I could have mentioned that I also use a zvex nano amp for tube distortion (0.5 watts distorted).  Its a great way to get usable tube distortion without blasting down the walls.