Nazgul/Sentient or D-activator in Ibanez RG7421

[Gmihail96]

Next week I'll get my first 7 string, an Ibanez RG7421-WNF, and although the stock pickups seem great, it's almost certain that i will change them. The problem is that i cannot decide between a Seymour Duncan Nazgul/Sentient set or Dimarzio D-activator.

I love the harsh, brutal, clear sound of the Nazgul, but it sounds a bit thinner than D-activator, and i'm thinking if D-activator would actually bring a more powerful sound to the guitar.

I mostly play melodic death metal, metalcore, deathcore, djent and black metal, and i will use this guitar live and in studio.

Any recommandations from you guys would be amazing. Which pickups would be a better fit for the guitar? It is a MAHOGANY body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard. Thank you so much for taking your time and reading!

 

[daenius]

Re: Nazgul/Sentient or D-activator in Ibanez RG7421

I would actually suggest waiting for the guitar to get here first. You might even end up liking the stock pickups enough to not bother messing with it.

The other point is that you would get a better idea of how the guitar inherently sounds before choosing a pickup to either boost or attenuate some of its tonal characteristics. For example, I have 2 old JEMs that are identical in specs (basswood body, maple neck, rosewood board, Edge bridge), and both came with PAF Pros (super old JEMs that were made before the Evo existed). I set them up the exact same way, but one just sounded thicker and fatter than the other one, it simply had more mids for reasons completely unknown to me. I ended up keeping the PAF Pro in the fatter sounding one and I'm going to order a set of Breeds to fatten up the thinner sounding one.

The same could happen to you! Get the guitar first, see how it sounds, and then you'll really be able to figure out whether the D-Activator or the Nazgul would work better for you in that guitar.

 

[Gmihail96]

Re: Nazgul/Sentient or D-activator in Ibanez RG7421

I would actually suggest waiting for the guitar to get here first. You might even end up liking the stock pickups enough to not bother messing with it.

The other point is that you would get a better idea of how the guitar inherently sounds before choosing a pickup to either boost or attenuate some of its tonal characteristics. For example, I have 2 old JEMs that are identical in specs (basswood body, maple neck, rosewood board, Edge bridge), and both came with PAF Pros (super old JEMs that were made before the Evo existed). I set them up the exact same way, but one just sounded thicker and fatter than the other one, it simply had more mids for reasons completely unknown to me. I ended up keeping the PAF Pro in the fatter sounding one and I'm going to order a set of Breeds to fatten up the thinner sounding one.

The same could happen to you! Get the guitar first, see how it sounds, and then you'll really be able to figure out whether the D-Activator or the Nazgul would work better for you in that guitar.

Thank you for replying, it's a very good idea! I always get too excited when it comes to gear so i start planning everything early