Ibanez Jem pickup replacement

BigBazz

BigBazz

New member
ive had an ibanez jem for a few weeks now and ive told myself that i like the dimarzio evolutions that are in it, but after this while ive decided that i dont, the treble sounds too harsh the bass sounds too trebly and theres no bite to the pickups, ive been using 2 strats for a few years, one has a jeff beck jr and the other has a full shred. i really love the sound of the full shred its almost the perfect sound im looking for with nice round beefy bottom and a screaming top end that bites without being harsh (the evos are harsh), the problem is that ive been told that changing the pickups in my jem is a stupid idea and i will regret it. It has an alder body, ebony fretboard and a floyd rose type tremolo, i want to replace the bridge pickup for something that has a more rounded bottom and top end but can bite like my strat. the strat is very heavy so i think its an ash body, rosewood fingerboard and also a floyd trem. i play lots of styles from blues, rock and lots of heavy metal and i want a pickup that can give me the tone but still surprise me (i dont want another full shred but its generally the direction im looking at). oh and keep the suggestions with seymour duncan, i dont want no emgs or preferably no other dimarzios in my guitars :P.

anyway thanks in advance
i hope you can help
 
Re: Ibanez Jem pickup replacement

I dunno man. I swap pickups and electronics a lot but I have to say if I had a Ibanez Satriani or JEM I wouldn't do a thing to them. But in the end it's your guitar
 
Re: Ibanez Jem pickup replacement

i think the concern the people that are telling you that youll regret it have is that the guitar wont be original, keep the old evo incase you sell it.

nice bottom with screaming top end without being harsh sounds like a dimebucker to me.
 
Re: Ibanez Jem pickup replacement

yes i suppose the value of my guitar is quite high, im told that a mint 94 jem all original is worth quite some, but i really do rather playing my far cheaper strat due to the sound of the full shred which sounds so much better than the bloody horible dimarzio evolutions. i dont intend on ever selling the guitar (but things can change) and i dont plan on sellling the pickups. the dimebucker is a good consideration il look into, any other ideas?
 
Re: Ibanez Jem pickup replacement

I suggest a Duncan Distortion or a JB. JB is very nice and smooth too.
 
Re: Ibanez Jem pickup replacement

ive been listening to sound clips from the duncan website, i seem to like the pearly gates and Duncan Distortion mostly, there arent any clips of the dimebucker so i cannot tell whether i would like it. so far my eyes(or ears rather) seem set on the Duncan Distortion because i found that though i liked the pearly gates it seemed to have a scooped sound, which isnt what im after and i dont think it would suit my playing style or my equipment.

Edit: i just realised i needed the trembucker version, i wasnt as impressed with the soundclip of the Distortion trembucker, it didnt sound as good as the Duncan Distortion, Any ideas here people?
 
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Re: Ibanez Jem pickup replacement

jeremy said:
i think the concern the people that are telling you that youll regret it have is that the guitar wont be original, keep the old evo incase you sell it.

nice bottom with screaming top end without being harsh sounds like a dimebucker to me.
Click to expand...
Completely agreed Jeremy!!
Indeed, if you change pups, you want to keep the original set, and hell yeah, a SH-13 Dimebucker will do the job perfectly!! I got one in the bridge of an Ibanez RG620QM an it s simply unbeatable there!
 
Re: Ibanez Jem pickup replacement

BigBazz said:
ive been listening to sound clips from the duncan website, i seem to like the pearly gates and Duncan Distortion mostly,
Edit: i just realised i needed the trembucker version, i wasnt as impressed with the soundclip of the Distortion trembucker, it didnt sound as good as the Duncan Distortion, Any ideas here people?
Click to expand...

ah yes the distortion is GODLIKE!
and BTW there are TWO completely different distortion models by duncan and your are confusing them,
the PATB-2 is not the same as the TB-6 distortion trembucker
thre PAtb-2 one that is on that clip looks like this,
pa-tb1.jpg


and is not the same as the TB-6 that looks like this,
tb-59.jpg


what you do is ask for the TB-6 duncan distortion model
and you will get the same pup you heard on the clip that you liked only in trem spacing :dance:
 
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Re: Ibanez Jem pickup replacement

thanks a lot for the info, now thats sorted il decide between the DD and the Dimebucker, thanks again :)
 
Re: Ibanez Jem pickup replacement

I have an Ibanez RG570, which is basically like the older Jems or the VDBK, with a basswood body and rosewood fretboard. I just put in a JB, SSL-1 reverse wound, and Jazz. I couldn't be happier. Sounds much better than the Evolutions and HS-3 I had in there before.

What would I do? Get all Duncans, go to Jeannie's Pickguards.com, and get a replacement pickguard for the Ibanez Jem. Just put all new wiring and pickups on the new pickguard, then you can easily swap the stock pickups/pickguard for the new ones.
 
Re: Ibanez Jem pickup replacement

i think im gonna go with the Duncan distortion, i love the JB and i have the lil version in my Squier strat and the full size JB going in my guitar that i made myself (hand crafted when i was 16 for a school prodject :P), for my Jem Which has an alder body and an ebony fretboard i want another high output pickup that isnt a JB or the frankly horrible evo so it seems the DD is the perfect choice, it was my favourite out of the clips.
 
Re: Ibanez Jem pickup replacement

BigBazz said:
i think im gonna go with the Duncan distortion, i love the JB and i have the lil version in my Squier strat and the full size JB going in my guitar that i made myself (hand crafted when i was 16 for a school prodject :P), for my Jem Which has an alder body and an ebony fretboard i want another high output pickup that isnt a JB or the frankly horrible evo so it seems the DD is the perfect choice, it was my favourite out of the clips.
Click to expand...

Just for the record the DD is like a mega JB anyways.
the two shape some similarities(both are would witrh the same gauge wire,same # of turns) the ONLY difference is the manget :dance:
the DD uses a large ceramic magnet in place of the JB's alnico 5.
this magnet gives the pup it's snarl,growl and added output.
i also feel the DD crunches better
 
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