Good high-gain pickups for Ibanez mahogany body RG?

[nikosteph]

Re: Good high-gain pickups for Ibanez mahogany body RG?

So I found this video online, which compares an Ibanez Custom J (which, as I understand, is a mahogany guitar with a maple cap, like the one I got; although obviously much higher in quality and roughtly $3500 more ) with either a Tone Zone (the red guitar) or a JB (the blue one). Fast forward to about 1:15 for the good stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm5B5kkWbY8

Both sound phenomenal, but I have to say that I'm leaning towards the JB based on this. Something about that singing tone, and slightly "squelchy" but sweet sound really gets me! The Tone Zone by comparison sounds more raw, crisp, and darker (and probably better for lower-string riffing).There's also this clip (posted by UberMetalDood here on the forums comparing the two pickups), where the first one is the JB and the second on the TZ, and the same distinction seems to hold:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=1044468&songID=10668612&showPlayer=true

For those who have experience with these pups, are these fair depictions of the pickups? Thanks as always for the feedback! It's very helpful...(though of course I will wait until I get the guitar before making any decisions...).

 

[Demanic]

Re: Good high-gain pickups for Ibanez mahogany body RG?

Yes, that is a fair assessment. If you want more, get the Alternative 8.

 

[nikosteph]

Re: Good high-gain pickups for Ibanez mahogany body RG?

Okay cool, thanks for the input! I think this is "enough" for me for the time being, I'm not playing anything hardcore enough to require more .

 

[dominus]

Re: Good high-gain pickups for Ibanez mahogany body RG?

Those are fair assessments, but as always, your guitar may have some variance in tone. Basswood is usually pretty neutral but I had one guitar that was tonally dead. (I had four identical guitars, and the other three took Dimarzio pickups just fine, one of them was a Tone Zone. The fourth one I ended up sticking an active pickup in until I sold it. ) Usually mahogany is a little darker/warmer but there are brighter pieces out there. I had four Schecter Blackjacks and the JB sounded the same in all of them. (Which didn't work for me. It had this weird upper-mid spike that I think is tailored for Marshall-voiced amps, which I don't use. )

 

[LazNovak]

Re: Good high-gain pickups for Ibanez mahogany body RG?

The JB is good. The Alt8 is the JB on steroids.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

It's that and more. It's much tighter and smoother. It almost seems like it's what the JB haters wish the JB was.

 

[nikosteph]

Re: Good high-gain pickups for Ibanez mahogany body RG?

Thanks dominus, that's a really interesting description. It really is fun, almost detective-like work to dissect these topics and try to figure out the sonic ballpark of a pickup before actually getting it. That being said, I know that nothing can substitute for trying something out on one's own guitar, on one's own rig, with one's own favorite settings! Plus, I've actually never owned a guitar with a JB in it (though I've played several in guitar stores), so I kinda feel that I gotta have at least one to have any sort of street cred on this forum . That being said, the Dimebucker sure does sound sweet as well, and the Alt8 is intriguing...I'm a big fan of the A8 in the Custom, so it's good to see this magnet getting more love (at least "officially", with a production line pickup!).

 

[nikosteph]

Re: Good high-gain pickups for Ibanez mahogany body RG?

Now that I have some ideas for the bridge, what about the neck? Given that I have a Jazz in another guitar, I'm cool to try something a little different. Treyhaislip recommended a Screamin' Demon, and from what I heard online my curiosity is definitely piqued. Does anyone else have experience with that as a neck pup, especially in conjunction with a JB? How does it compare to the Jazz in general?

 

[Progbusters]

Re: Good high-gain pickups for Ibanez mahogany body RG?

Now that I have some ideas for the bridge, what about the neck? Given that I have a Jazz in another guitar, I'm cool to try something a little different. Treyhaislip recommended a Screamin' Demon, and from what I heard online my curiosity is definitely piqued. Does anyone else have experience with that as a neck pup, especially in conjunction with a JB? How does it compare to the Jazz in general?

i use a Demon 2 on the neck of my Epiphone. You can hear it in song #2 of my album i posted it about in Tips and Clips today. Compared to the sound sample on the sd.com site, my Demon 2 (alnico 2) has more mids and bass and is clearer even with high gain.

 

[nikosteph]

Re: Good high-gain pickups for Ibanez mahogany body RG?

Thanks, that's really helpful! That's a really smooth sound, very thick and clear at the same time. How would this tone differ from the stock alnico 5 pickup?

 

[Juanhanglo]

Re: Good high-gain pickups for Ibanez mahogany body RG?

I have a dimarzio Norton in my rg520qs again. It has been in since '99 when I installed it except for a 6month span recently, when I decided to try something different. It replaced a tone zone and a Steve's special.
It has been a perfect fit for me.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Good high-gain pickups for Ibanez mahogany body RG?

I have a JB in the bridge position of my mahogany/maple RGA. I adore the JB in there for high-gain. No shredding for me, though. I'm mostly a rhythm guy, but the JB has a reputation for being a great lead pickup. Granted the RGA has a pretty thick maple top, so it's snappier than the average all-mahogany guitar.

 

[nikosteph]

Re: Good high-gain pickups for Ibanez mahogany body RG?

Oh cool, that's good to know, thanks!