Ibanez Prestige HH hardtail - best pickups for clean tones? (dual PAF Pros?)

appar111

New member
Just picked up a nice Ibanez RG652FX dual humbucker hardtail and I'm loving how well it plays! It currently has a Tone Zone in the bridge and an Air Norton in the neck. I'm looking for something that can give me some really good clean tones. The stock 5 way switch currently gives me:

1. bridge (series)
2. bridge & neck split (inner coils from each)
3. neck & bridge (full humbucker mode)
4. neck (parallel)
5. neck (series)

Once I disconnected the treble bleed capacitor and the tone pot, the guitar really woke up. The treble bleed made it too thin when volume is rolled down, and the tone pot just dampened everything, even when all the way up.

What would be a good set of Dimarzios to use with the same wiring above to get better clean tones? I'm thinking dual PAF Pros. I already have a standard spaced PAF Pro that I can use. I know PAF Pros play nice with singles in an HSH setup, so I'm thinking they should be good in an HH combo especially for positions 2 & 3 above?

I was thinking about possibly Humbucker from Hell in the neck with the PAF Pro in the bridge, but the HFH might be too thin when split or run in parallel.

It's gotta be Dimarzios, as the Prestige humbucker routs have triangular shaped routs for the humbucker legs. Not that I mind-- I like Dimarzios quite a bit, I just don't want to have to mod the legs on a Duncan to fit it in.
 
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Re: Ibanez Prestige HH hardtail - best pickups for clean tones? (dual PAF Pros?)

You only mentioned that you wanted clean tones.. what kind? Warm jazzy cleans? bright Fender-y cleans?

For my taste I would probably shift the Air Norton to the bridge and have a PAF 36th Anniversary in the neck. You might want to experiment with the PAF Pro on the neck or bridge, I find them rather hard to predict, and generally not a big fan.
 
Re: Ibanez Prestige HH hardtail - best pickups for clean tones? (dual PAF Pros?)

I can't imagine a HFH split or in parallel. Not something you'll get much use out of.
 
Re: Ibanez Prestige HH hardtail - best pickups for clean tones? (dual PAF Pros?)

If I remember correctly, the HFH has one strong coil and one wuss coil. So if you split to the stronger coil, you'd still have some decent signal. But correct, parallel might not be advantageous because the coils load one another.

The PAF Pro is great in the neck of a 24 fret Ibanez, basswood especially, good for what I'd call "modern" cleans, because nothing will turn it into a vintage Les Paul. If it were me I'd bump up the bridge a little to the Norton, but that's a personal preference. Another personal preference I have is the Norton over the Air Norton, because I don't like what the air gap does to the pick attack. The PAF Pro is a little thin in the bridge for my tastes. Re: 36th Anniversary PAF I just put one in an older Ibanez but it's a 22 fret. My impression is "meh". But it's a basswood/floyd guitar with a maple board. So not the most flattering showcase for that pickup, but still I can tell what it sounds like.

An artist friend of mine has two of those prestige RG's, one solid, one with the Koa top. We put Fluence in there, but you're right we had to clip the legs. It's easier with plastic legs like the Fluence but you can still do it with Duncans and the like.
 
Ibanez Prestige HH hardtail - best pickups for clean tones? (dual PAF Pros?)

If I remember correctly, the HFH has one strong coil and one wuss coil. So if you split to the stronger coil, you'd still have some decent signal. But correct, parallel might not be advantageous because the coils load one another.


HFH is about 5.77 in series.

One coil is about 2.56 and the other is about 3.21

About 1.44 in parallel



3.21 is within reasonable striking distance of one coil of a PAF-type neck humbucker.

My SNS neck is 1.8147 in parallel. My Alpha-Omega neck is 1.93 in parallel.


PAF Pro is 8.132 series, each coil is pretty eve at about 4.07 and 4.052, and is 2.03 in parallel.
 
Re: Ibanez Prestige HH hardtail - best pickups for clean tones? (dual PAF Pros?)

I can't imagine a HFH split or in parallel. Not something you'll get much use out of.

yeah if that got thrown into the mix, I'd almost have to go with a more simple 3-way switch and just a neck/neck+bridge/bridge pickup selection.
 
Re: Ibanez Prestige HH hardtail - best pickups for clean tones? (dual PAF Pros?)

You only mentioned that you wanted clean tones.. what kind? Warm jazzy cleans? bright Fender-y cleans?

For my taste I would probably shift the Air Norton to the bridge and have a PAF 36th Anniversary in the neck. You might want to experiment with the PAF Pro on the neck or bridge, I find them rather hard to predict, and generally not a big fan.

Probably closer to jazzy cleans than super bright fender cleans. Nothing that's super harsh, but something that's definitely "clean" sounding. I may just have to slap the PAF Pro in the bridge position and see what I'm working with. The RG is basswood, which is supposed to be a good match with the relatively balanced tone of the PAF Pro.
 
Re: Ibanez Prestige HH hardtail - best pickups for clean tones? (dual PAF Pros?)

What wood is the Prestige? (if I read correctly the RG is Basswood...)

I am not a big fan of DiMarzios especially in the bridge BUT one of my favorite neck pickups is a DiMarzio Liquifire (John Petrucci neck pickup.) If you want jazzy cleans then that is definitely a pickup worth checking out. I have it paired with a SD Screamin Demon in a Basswood Strat and its a killer combo for cleans and gains.
 
Re: Ibanez Prestige HH hardtail - best pickups for clean tones? (dual PAF Pros?)

I have an HfH in the neck of a basswood guitar with (IIRC) a Fred in the bridge. Sounds great.

I've got a PAFPro and a Mo Joe, and they sound good, but not remarkable.
 
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