New pups for Ibanez JS-100.(Suggestions)

[The JEM Ghost]

Hey all ;-)


Couple of days ago I had the change of buying a used '98 Ibanez JS-100 (Basswood body, rosewood 22-fret neck, hum/hum configuration with 3-way switch, push-pull tone that splits both humbuckers, double locking trem) in excellent condition for a real bargain price, so I could not resist and bought the thing out of nostalgy, and to have a 22-fret Ibanez in my collection.

There is no doubt that I will upgrade this guitar, I'll replace the pots, switch and jack to new and decent ones, add a "high pass filter"/"Treble Bleed Mod" on the volume pot, just not sure if I'd make it switchable just as on the Japanese JS-models (see my other thread for that: https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=201744 ), and off course replacing the stock Ibanez AH-1 and AH-2 humbuckers.

I mainly play instrumental styles, but want this guitar to be a rather versatile one, able to handle both cleans as overdriven to distorted tones, and they both need to split well too. High output is not a must this time.

My essential thoughts were going out to a PAF Pro for the neck spot, and an EVO2 for the bridge. Satriani's most known combo in this guitar is the PAF Pro/FRED(b).

What would you guys suggest??

Thanks in advance for any replies!

PS: I know the Pearly Gates is goodsounding in a JS, but those are rather hard to get and also more expensive over here.

 

[LatsMcGee]

Re: New pups for Ibanez JS-100.(Suggestions)

I would go with a pair of Breeds.

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: New pups for Ibanez JS-100.(Suggestions)

The FRED works well in that guitar but if it's not doing it for you maybe you should try the Norton which gets you closer to a Breed, AT-1 kind of sound. That paired with a Paf Pro would be excellent.

 

[The JEM Ghost]

Re: New pups for Ibanez JS-100.(Suggestions)

The FRED works well in that guitar but if it's not doing it for you maybe you should try the Norton which gets you closer to a Breed, AT-1 kind of sound. That paired with a Paf Pro would be excellent.

Thanks for the replies so far!

The reason I am fearing to go with a FRED/MoJoe a little is that those would not have enough bass response for chording, maybe being a little to open sounding for non-instrumental and chording. Another small worry was that the FRED only has about the same output then the PAF Pro I probably would select for the neck spot, I know Joe does it that way too, and in the early years both Joe and Steve Vai used same output pups in their neck and bridge spots, but I still like the general rule to have the bridge pup a little louder in output then the neck pup. It's too long ago since I played a JS with a PAF Pro/FRED combo, so I don't realy know how much my fears toward the FRED are realistic.

The Norton was my 2nd choice out of the DMZ-line, right after the EVO2.
Only reason my choice initially went to the EVO2 before the Norton was that I thought the EVO2 would have enhanced harmonics compared to the Norton, being richer on the overtones, but again, I don't know if this is an actual case or not. But without doubt the Norton is a pup to concider for the bridge! A Breed or AT-1 for the bridge is a little too full on the mids for my taste, a bit too "nasal" sounding, for my taste that is off course, so those two are a no-go, at least for my personal likings that is, and in this guitar.

Thanks for the input so far people, and keep it comming! ;-)

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: New pups for Ibanez JS-100.(Suggestions)

Thanks for the replies so far!

The reason I am fearing to go with a FRED/MoJoe a little is that those would not have enough bass response for chording, maybe being a little to open sounding for non-instrumental and chording. Another small worry was that the FRED only has about the same output then the PAF Pro I probably would select for the neck spot, I know Joe does it that way too, and in the early years both Joe and Steve Vai used same output pups in their neck and bridge spots, but I still like the general rule to have the bridge pup a little louder in output then the neck pup. It's too long ago since I played a JS with a PAF Pro/FRED combo, so I don't realy know how much my fears toward the FRED are realistic.

The Norton was my 2nd choice out of the DMZ-line, right after the EVO2.
Only reason my choice initially went to the EVO2 before the Norton was that I thought the EVO2 would have enhanced harmonics compared to the Norton, being richer on the overtones, but again, I don't know if this is an actual case or not. But without doubt the Norton is a pup to concider for the bridge! A Breed or AT-1 for the bridge is a little too full on the mids for my taste, a bit too "nasal" sounding, for my taste that is off course, so those two are a no-go, at least for my personal likings that is, and in this guitar.

Thanks for the input so far people, and keep it comming! ;-)

Well the Evo 2 is very mid oriented too. I think it still suffers from the same problem I had with the Evolution which is that it sounds diluted. It has a nice balance and great harmonics but is missing something or lacks enough of the warmth of a Super Distortion or D Sonic.

In my opinion you should forget about the Evo 2 and go with a D Sonic installed with the pole pieces toward the bridge. The D Sonic is warmer and more natural sounding but less output. It's still got plenty of output for any application but not overpowering. For cleans, the Evo sounds sterile. The D Sonic has really nice sounding cleans.

If you find there are too many mids in the D Sonic just flip it around with the bar towards the bridge. Then you will get more output, less mids, and a little brighter.

It also pairs well with the Paf Pro. If you play blues, classic rock and 80's rock, a D Sonic/Paf Pro combo will also be sweet because the D Sonic is great lightly overdriven or mid-gain tones too. It does a whole lot more than high-gain. I don't know why they market it that way but it's definitely deceiving.

 

[The JEM Ghost]

Re: New pups for Ibanez JS-100.(Suggestions)

In my opinion you should forget about the Evo 2 and go with a D Sonic installed with the pole pieces toward the bridge. The D Sonic is warmer and more natural sounding but less output. It's still got plenty of output for any application but not overpowering. For cleans, the Evo sounds sterile. The D Sonic has really nice sounding cleans.

Got to admit I didn't even look into the D-Sonic because of the way it's marketed. It's one of the few DMZ's that I never even tried out.
Looking at the EQ they give at the website, the D Sonic would be a very fine choice, seems to have the tonal balance on paper that I am after. The way you describe is appealing to me too, you talk about natural sounding, good cleans, not overpowering, all terms I like.

But just on a sidenote, you say the D Sonic has less output compared to the EVO2, but is it not the other way around?
Seems not too much difference in their output, but the D-Sonic is rated at 390mV while the EVO2 clocks in at 375mV according to the website. Not a huge difference, but from this info the D-Sonic is supposed to be louder compared to the EVO2. Is this true?

And does the D-Sonic split good? Are it's split sounds any good I mean?

Thanks again for the input, seems I'm getting closer and closer! ;-)

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: New pups for Ibanez JS-100.(Suggestions)

I would go with a pair of Breeds.

I'd be tempted to try those myself. I'd love to hear the Breed neck in a 22-fret superstrat.

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: New pups for Ibanez JS-100.(Suggestions)

Got to admit I didn't even look into the D-Sonic because of the way it's marketed. It's one of the few DMZ's that I never even tried out.
Looking at the EQ they give at the website, the D Sonic would be a very fine choice, seems to have the tonal balance on paper that I am after. The way you describe is appealing to me too, you talk about natural sounding, good cleans, not overpowering, all terms I like.

But just on a sidenote, you say the D Sonic has less output compared to the EVO2, but is it not the other way around?
Seems not too much difference in their output, but the D-Sonic is rated at 390mV while the EVO2 clocks in at 375mV according to the website. Not a huge difference, but from this info the D-Sonic is supposed to be louder compared to the EVO2. Is this true?

And does the D-Sonic split good? Are it's split sounds any good I mean?

Thanks again for the input, seems I'm getting closer and closer! ;-)

I must have been thinking about the Evolution which is like 400mv. Either way it's on the lower end of high output or on the high end of medium output. There is nothing I can tell you about splitting it because I never installed it with a coil tap or anything.

What I can tell you is that I like it more with the pole pieces on the bridge side. One more thing I noticed is I have had very good success lowering the D Sonic quite a bit. It reduces it to more of a medium output and doesn't drive my amp as much but still retains most of the punch and response it has when it's close to the strings.

I see the D Sonic kind of like a modern Super Distortion. It's warm and organic, defined and balanced. It probably matches most of the cliche descriptions you read about pickups.

Indeed the cleans are very nice on the D Sonic and it's very good with mig-gain tones. My personal experience with ceramic pickups is they are usually too hot and don't sound as good for lower gain applications. This is one thing I liked about the D Sonic and Super Distortion is they both get great sounding mild and moderate overdrive tones. You can get a nice bluesy grit going on your amp.

You should definitely not overlook the D Sonic based on the description or even the reviews. If you read the reviews you will see a lot of those kids posting them have little experience with tone. They play Line 6 amps and scoop their mids.

I know a guy who installed a D Sonic in every guitar he owns and he's a pretty versatile player.

Of course we're talking about Dimarzio here. I don't know if you looked into the Duncan stuff yet. I hear the Duncan Custom is pretty good. I haven't tried one because I like a mid oriented pickup like the JB. I think if you're going with a D Sonic and Paf Pro you can't go wrong.

 

[The JEM Ghost]

Re: New pups for Ibanez JS-100.(Suggestions)

Thanks again for the input!

From the DMZ-line, so far these models are still in the run:

Neck: PAF Pro or PAF Joe
Bridge: D-Sonic or Norton

Off course I also took a look at the Duncan-line, the Custom may be a little too much for what I am after, both powerwise and "ooomphhh"wise, so I left that one out of my selection. These have passed my mind though:

Neck: Alnico II Pro or Pearly Gates (the last one being rather expensive and hard to get over here)
Bridge: Parallel Axis Trembucker (PATB-1B) or Full Shred (bridge version)


Any thoughts or input on it more then welcome!! Thanks in advance for any replies!