Middle PU suggestions please

[jhoward]

Hi, I'm thinking of putting a Pearly Gates Neck and Duncan Custom Bridge in my Ibanez EX series guitar. But what to use for the middle single coil? I like to play classic rock and some blues, love Clapton's sound for example. The Ibanez has only one tone and one volume control so I would like some output compatibility. Any suggestions? Also, if anyone has comments on the humbucker choices I'll be glad to hear that too.
Jerry

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: Middle PU suggestions please

Hi, I'm thinking of putting a Pearly Gates Neck and Duncan Custom Bridge in my Ibanez EX series guitar. But what to use for the middle single coil? I like to play classic rock and some blues, love Clapton's sound for example. The Ibanez has only one tone and one volume control so I would like some output compatibility. Any suggestions? Also, if anyone has comments on the humbucker choices I'll be glad to hear that too.
Jerry

I'm having difficulty figuring out what body wood and neck / fretboard one of these is. Can you give me the guitar model please?

 

[jhoward]

Re: Middle PU suggestions please

It is maple neck with rosewood fretboard, triangle inlays. The body is boxwood and is pretty heavy. Super strat look. I really like the feel of the guitar and the fretboard is one of the most pleasant to play I've ever touched. That is why I'm willing to put $ into it.

I don't know too much about pickups except I know what I like when I hear it. Should all three pickups be close to the same resistance, since there is only one volume knob?

 

[jhoward]

Re: Middle PU suggestions please

Oh, you asked about the model. It just says ExSeries (Korea) on the headstock and the serial # is 9107876. There is no other info on it. It has a plain chrome tremelo, not a Floyd Rose.

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: Middle PU suggestions please

I don't think equal resistances is necessary. If you're looking for something with similar output to the pickups you have, I think you'll want one with a little more output than a vintage single coil.

Pickups like the Cool Rails were designed to match well with humbuckers. A higher output single like the SSL-3 or SSL-5 should match well. A Dimarzio Chopper? An Evans single? The Evans have the tone of a vintage single but higher output. A Lace Sensor if you like a very clean sound with less hum. The Red Lace Sensor is the hot one. The Blue is a little hotter too.

You would want a hotter single coil. There are a lot of choices. It depends on what tone you're looking for.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: Middle PU suggestions please

It is maple neck with rosewood fretboard, triangle inlays. The body is boxwood and is pretty heavy. Super strat look. I really like the feel of the guitar and the fretboard is one of the most pleasant to play I've ever touched. That is why I'm willing to put $ into it.

I don't know too much about pickups except I know what I like when I hear it. Should all three pickups be close to the same resistance, since there is only one volume knob?

I was going to go on about tone woods versus the money you throw into the guitar, but if you're sure you want it....

Boxwood? Agathis? Soft maple? Basswood? I'm not sure what box wood is, so I'll assume that the wood has no tone, sort of like agathis in a sense. I'd say try a Custom in the middle. I have no experience with it, but I think it's supposed to be close to a medium output humbucker, if that's what you're sure you want.

However, if you don't care about output (like the other guy responded) I'd recommend a Five Two middle. I have no experience with it, but I'd think it would have the best of both worlds, in the sense of not shrill on the high end (alnico II magnets) but tight bass on the low end (alnico V magnets).

The only single coil I have experience with is the Alnico II Pro Staggered single coil, and I don't know if it would sound like mush in boxwood or not. If the guitar sounds bright when unplugged, it should work fine with it, but I'm not sure. It worked fine in a soft maple body Ibanez I had, tempering the highs and giving it some mojo that it was drastically lacking. That Ibanez was rosewood fretboard, maple neck, and a tremolo tail, so it should be a lot like your guitar (except this one was H/S/S pickup configuration).

I'd call and ask Seymour Duncan's rep directly on this one, since I have no clue what box wood is. That's what I'd do, if it were my guitar. If it were maple, I'd go with Alnico II magnet pickups of some kind. If it were cheap basswood, Alnico V magnets. If it were agathis, Alnico V magnets or ceramic magnets. From there it's about how much output and what kind of sound you want in the various positions.

 

[jhoward]

Re: Middle PU suggestions please

I did mean basswood instead of boxwood. It sounds pleasant and kind of warm unplugged, not very loud though and not much sustain compared to my Yamaha SG for instance. My maple Greco SE800 is louder and brighter unplugged than the Ibanez.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: Middle PU suggestions please

I did mean basswood instead of boxwood. It sounds pleasant and kind of warm unplugged, not very loud though and not much sustain compared to my Yamaha SG for instance. My maple Greco SE800 is louder and brighter unplugged than the Ibanez.

Hmm. Well if it's sort of balanced, maybe a Five Two, or a Vintage single coil for the middle, or a Custom, depending on how much output you need/want. Like I said, the Fender Showmaster SSS is basswood and uses three Five Two pickups.