Ibanez RG550 Question

[BetaCAM]

The story is simple:

I have a 1992 RG550 Ibanez with dimarzio humbuckers.
I have Air Norton in the neck position and Steve's special in the bridge position, both F spaced.

I'm dissatisfied with the Steve's special.
I need a better rhythm bridge pickup that can give me the balls,
not a piercing high end, but still preset, and much better low end, that is low mids and bass, I need bigger sound, it sounds too bright now.

I have a maple fingerboard so I imagine that the Steve's special isn't a great match with this guitar, it sort of surprised me how bright it sounds there.
I like to play lead works but I'd like to have better rhythm tone without sacrificing too much Lead tone ability.

One more thing to consider is this:

I have a 4 pole 5 way toggle switch. I wired the humbuckers to it.
The middle single coil is wired seperately with a dedicated 3 way mini switch which has on on on functioning.

I hope that a SD HB can be wired the same way as a Dimarzio humbucker with all these Parallel wiring. That is 2 outter coils in parallel and two inner coils in parallel.

Any thoughts?

Thank you!

 

[sufferinrewind]

Re: Ibanez RG550 Question

Try an Air Zone. Should be a great match with the Air Norton in the neck. It has a lot of low end, the highs are present but not icepicky at all, and it has a lot of mids like the Air Norton.

If you don't like it, you can send it back within 30 days and try something else.

 

[Mr 9finger]

Re: Ibanez RG550 Question

From my experience w/ Ibanez and Duncans they just don't get along really well. Further more it's going to take some work to get a Duncan and Dimarzio to play nice w/ each other.

Like above, I recommend you stick w/ another dimarzio if you're not going to change your entire setup.

If you're looking for all the above and want good clarity, tight low end and great harmonics, look into an EVO or EVO2.

If you're wanting a little more beef than what an air zone has to offer, I'd recomend either a tone zone or breed in the bridge spot.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Ibanez RG550 Question

DON'T FORGET! Try your Steve's Special flipped around. They are extremely bright if the wrong coil (weak coil) is toward the neck. The SS is comprised of one coil roughly twice as hot as the other. So before you ditch it, flip it around. There's still a good chance you won't like it, but remember, that's a pickup where flipping it makes a big difference.

From Duncan, the PATB's are a great match for Basswood Ibanez guitars. The Distortion absolutely kills in superstrats. If you don't mind the visual mismatch with the other pups, you'd love it in that 550.

 

[BetaCAM]

Re: Ibanez RG550 Question

Well,

I haven't thought of flipping it over to be honest,
but it would make a hell of a mess with my 5 way switch.
It will reverse all my coil split modes, maybe it will be better, but i don't want to end up flipping them both because I liked the previous clean settings.

Since what really bothers me is the lack of its rhythm capability due to its scooped mids, and the fact that I don't get enough bass response,
it isn't tight enough, it's too clean, great for soloing though...

I tend a lot to feel that it sounds like a neck pickup, that's just happens to be located in the bridge, in a sense that sometimes I don't even notice it's the bridge pickup i'm playing with. it's too similar to the neck pickup as far as how I feel about it, that's what bothers me...

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Ibanez RG550 Question

If you leave all the wiring the same, the same coil will be active in your coil split. It'll just be on the other side. You'd still cancel hum, but yeah having the two hums available inside and outside is essential. Are the ins/outs cancelling hum right now? Anyway like I said there's still a good chance you wouldn't like it. But it's a free 5-minute mod to hear if you like the humbucking mode. If for some reason you did, then you could deal with the coil cuts later by flipping one of the magnets around and reversing phase. Then you'd be back to your original split coil configurations.

 

[guitarslinger213]

Re: Ibanez RG550 Question

if it's neon pink, and it has been since day one, I'll give you $400 for it right now.

seriously.

edit: oh wait, '92 didn't have roadflare red. is it desert yellow though?

 

[BetaCAM]

Re: Ibanez RG550 Question

Nope... just BK finish...

 

[BluesGuyJ]

Re: Ibanez RG550 Question

I think you'd really love the ToneZone or FRED.

 

[Diego]

Re: Ibanez RG550 Question

From my experience w/ Ibanez and Duncans they just don't get along really well.

My JB and my Ibanez get along very nicely. :smokin: