Pickup Advice For Specific Guitar [Roadstar II]

[Damage Inc.]

Hello

I was wondering if I could get some advice for choosing a set of pickups.
What I want to find is a sort of equivalent to pickups that are already in this guitar that I have.

So this guitar is an Ibanez Roadstar II (Japanese RS530 from around '85) with the original pickups, which I guess are Ibanez-made or at least they're branded so.
Whatever they are, they sound pretty nice, quite lush and sensitive, they have a fairly nice "chime" and a bit of "twang" to them.
But on the other end, they also don't sound that powerful, a little tame, not all that much "body" or "punch" to them,
maybe even a little muffled (although this could also be the rest of my setup to blame). They are however nice and clean and pretty quiet.
I'll also add that this guitar sounds quite typically "80s", it really does sounds from that era well (such as Iron Maiden).

So, though they sound alright, I would like pickups that have a bit more power to them, higher output I guess,
though without them being too hard to keep clean as I do need them to be able to do beautiful clean sounds as well.
I don't need them to be all-out Metal, even though I play it, but I would just like them to be able to give a full-bodied grind,
with some good sustain and the ability to scream and soar, as well as doing punchy riffs.
But neither a Dimebag shred-your-face-off style, nor "djent", cause that tends to get "shreddy" and "trebly", and this is not the guitar or purpose for it.
The bridge-pickup should be pretty tight (but not shrill and whiny), while the neck-pickup could be even warmer and lusher.
I really like the EMG 81or85/60 (bridge/neck) combination just to give an indication, mostly the 60 in the neck-position.

Hopefully people with the knowledge here could generate some suggestions with this description.
Cause I quite like the sound this guitar and its pickups give already, so I don't want to drastically change the tone, just improve upon it.
After a quick look on the website I thought maybe the Pegasus in the bridge-position and the Sentient in the neck-position might work?
Please let me know whether that's a good or bad idea for any reason.

Again, I'm not necessarily looking for a "vintage" sound, but I do prefer it over going typically modern and "Metal".
But then I do play from Metal down to ballads on the same guitar, both hard and gentle, so I need some versatility in this case.
So a clean warmth and clarity/detail, but also a powerful grind and solid punch. (Though this might be a bit much to ask...)


Then I also have an additional question:

This guitar has volume-knobs that are also push-switches to make the pickups act like single-coils.
Now, I don't know whether or not the pickups contribute to this function or if it's purely the knobs. I'm guessing the pots just "tap"?
In any case, I really like having the ability to do this, so would this still work when I'd change the pickups
or do I need to change the wiring and/or pots as well when I'd switch to Seymour Duncan pickups?


Thanks for reading!

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Pickup Advice For Specific Guitar [Roadstar II]

Have you thought about adding an onboard active boost circuit? With the flick of a switch or push/pull of a pot, you could have the punch, body and increase in output you're after without sacrificing the chime, twang and killer clean sounds you get now.

Since you already like the tone of the pickups you have, I'm really hesitant to suggest anything else that might send you off on a wild tone chase, swapping pickups for years and spending money unnecessarily, only to find that the original pickups had that special "something" all along...

 

[Damage Inc.]

Re: Pickup Advice For Specific Guitar [Roadstar II]

I had forgotten to check back here, but thanks for your reply!

Well, like I've kind of explained, it doesn't sound great in its entirety. I mean, yes, I'd mentioned some good qualities about the pickups just in their defense
and just to be honest about what I already do like about them. It's just that they're surprisingly nice for standard pickups.
However, they do have this sort of slightly "cheap" sound/feel to them at times, hence keywords such as "tame", "weak", and "muffled".
So that's why I was wondering if there was a pickup by Seymour Duncan that has a sound similar to the positive description, but with an added richer quality to the tone.
My goal is to find a sort of "hi-fi" version of this... "med-fi" pickup.

Perhaps a booster of some sort might enhance the original pickups a but, I wouldn't know before trying, but it might still not be satisfactory in terms of its base sound.
Also, I'm afraid any added gain will make the pickups too hot, as I also want them to be good at very full clean sounds.
These already kind of "crack" on a very clean signal when I hit full and strong chords, so I'm sure they would distort easily with a boosted signal.

Also, I just saw the news about the 59/Custom Hybrid. Man, that thing sounds nice in the video, it's a little vintage, but not necessarily. It might be something for my Roadstar...

 

[Securb]

Re: Pickup Advice For Specific Guitar [Roadstar II]

I have the same guitar. I put in a Gibson 498T and never looked back. In the Roadstar it is very clear and articulate but with plenty of power and punch. Very nice for all styles of hard rock and metal. I left the neck as is.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Pickup Advice For Specific Guitar [Roadstar II]

I've got a SH6n in the bridge and two SSl5's in neck and middle and that's amazing for so many styles. From funk to metal, I can do it. Even jazz if I roll down the tone.

that being said, you can stick anything you like in that axe and it will work. Some thoughts:

bridge:

Alternative 8.
Jb.
Sh5 Custom
59/Custom Hybrid or Perpetual Burn (!).

Neck (to match, in order):

Screaming Demon
Alnico 2 pro bridge pickup
Alnico 2 pro neck pickup
Seth bridge pickup

I choose a bridge pickup over a neck pickup with these somewhat hot pickups to have enough power to go with the hotter bridge humbuckers. If it's too hot, I can set the pickup up lower. I prefer to have enough power than to have a lack thereof. Also, the neck pickup-varieties sound too clean for my taste.

 

[fab.regnaut]

Re: Pickup Advice For Specific Guitar [Roadstar II]

Hi Damage ,
as you can see in my avatar , I also have the rs530 and installed a Jazz neck and a Screaming Demon bridge , both with alnico 8 , and more tweeks like pole pieces , and a space in the Jazz to make it "air-jazz-8" .
Those are very good if you like punch , full EQ , no mud , fast attack .