Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

[iFondleGuitars]

Hello all, after years of putting up with those miserable V series pickups in my RG1570 I've decided to go aftermarket. I've heard about the coil swap on the V7/V8 and quite frankly I'm just not interested in keeping these. So with that out of the way, here are some of my requirements/genres that I play etc.

I like the Chuggah Chuggah very much
Drop C tuning
Bands/artists - Children Of Bodom, Killswitch Engage, Keith Merrow, AILD, Jeff Loomis, Steve Vai, Satch and John Petrucci
I want fat, earth shattering palm mutes as well as decent clarity in drop tunings. I play a lot of solo-ey stuff so screaming highs would be nice to have alongside the Br00Tz, but if thats impossible then that's okay, I'd rather have the Chuggahs.
What else, my guitar is a Basswood bodied H-S-H ibanez with a Maple neck and Rosewood Fingerboard. I'll only be replacing the bridge pickup for now as I only very rarely use the neck pup.

I've been reading a lot on basswood and it's tendency to make great pickups sound like total a$$( JB) so I've researched a bit and narrowed down my choices to a select few.

Full shred
Duncan Distortion
Dimarzio Super 3

Now, if you skip to 2:07 you can hear a Full Shred and a Duncan Distortion on a basswood bodied 7 string ibanez ( my guitar is a 6 string, but this was the most relevant video I could find) playing the types of music that I usually play. Which one do you think sounds best?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZYDYiOIuC8

Any other recommendations would be more than welcome. Please don't suggest BKP cause I'm not made of money

 

[daveyisgreat]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

I think the Pegasus or Nazgul might be a good option. I have a similar Ibanez and was considering these for a different musical style, but after reading about them it seems they may do close to what you want.

 

[iFondleGuitars]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

I think the Pegasus or Nazgul might be a good option. I have a similar Ibanez and was considering these for a different musical style, but after reading about them it seems they may do close to what you want.

Thanks davey, do you know if they work well with basswood?

 

[MkIII Renegade]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

Full Shred Set
Evo Set
Super 3/PAF Pro

I haven't tried any of these new fangled contraptions such as the Pegasus, etc, but the combos above will drive your point home.

 

[daveyisgreat]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

Thanks davey, do you know if they work well with basswood?

I don't really know enough about them. My guitar seems to accentuate the mid to low-mid frequency range, and when I saw that these pickups were for "bright to semi warm woods" I wasn't sure, but I figured the articulation of the Pegasus (that's the one I was leaning towards) and the snappiness of the bolt on maple neck would work well together. I figured it would lead to a thick and punchy yet articulate sound.

The Nazgul looks like it has a ceramic magnet, which I would assume would give great articulation especially on heavy chunky low string playing.

But I ended up going with different pickups anyway! So I don't have first hand experience. Still want to try the Pegasus and Sentient pickups though.

 

[Sensates]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

Probably a Nazgul. I liked my Pegasus on a Ibanez basswood guitar, but will not recommend it for your kind of music.

Also take a look at Dimarzios Titan if you like tight chugs and nice clarity.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

Sounds like Black Winters would fit the bill quite nicely.

 

[Sensates]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

^Yeap, that could work well too. I tried it in my Prestige and thought it was too bright at standard E, but that could be what the OP need for downtuning.

 

[iFondleGuitars]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

Thanks for the answers everyone. I've been looking at pickup demos on youtube and going by raw, unprocessed guitar tracks I've finally narrowed it down to the Nazgul and Full shred. The Black Winters sounds good but it's a little too bright for my tastes, especially to compared to the duncan Distortion. I also switch between drop C and E standard so some versatility would be nice.

So far, I've got in mind the

Nazgul
Full Shred
Distortion

How good is the nazgul for shredding? does it cut through mixes well enough?

 

[dominus]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

You should put the Super 3 back on your list.

 

[iFondleGuitars]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

Thanks lol^ So many choices I'm so confused. I am about to just say f%*k it and just buy something. Anything should be an upgrade from my current V series pickups.

 

[p4vl]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

I've got a Duncan Distortion trembucker in my Ibanez 2550. Cross it off your list and give serious thought to the Super 3. I don't know what Ola and Keith are playing through or what tonewood those guitars are made of, but the DD sounds very thin in an RG.

I had the super 3 in a Les Paul copy and it was muddy as hell but I think it would be great in a RG.

It would be nice if you posted your amp/pedals/speakers.

 

[iFondleGuitars]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

I've got a Duncan Distortion trembucker in my Ibanez 2550. Cross it off your list and give serious thought to the Super 3. I don't know what Ola and Keith are playing through or what tonewood those guitars are made of, but the DD sounds very thin in an RG.

I had the super 3 in a Les Paul copy and it was muddy as hell but I think it would be great in a RG.

It would be nice if you posted your amp/pedals/speakers.

Thanks for the input man! Man basswood guitars are hard to work with ahah.

Btw I have a 6505+ head and a Mesa Boogie 2x12 rec cab. I use my zoom g7.1ut as a USB interface for recording with VSTs mostly cause I don't have a mic yet.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

I used to have a DD set in an RG-120 with an agathis body. The DD in the bridge sounded anything but thin. Now (long story short) have an Alternative 8 in the bridge, also nowhere near thin sounding. In fact, I bet it would sound stellar in basswood.

 

[p4vl]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

Thanks for the input man! Man basswood guitars are hard to work with ahah.

Btw I have a 6505+ head and a Mesa Boogie 2x12 rec cab. I use my zoom g7.1ut as a USB interface for recording with VSTs mostly cause I don't have a mic yet.

Basswood is a pain but Ibanez RG's are nice and light and comfortable.

Unfortunately, I'm looking at selling gear so I can get a BKP Black Hawk Not going back to Dimarzio.

 

[Archer250]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

Basswood is a pain but Ibanez RG's are nice and light and comfortable.

Mine's rather heavy. I'm pretty sure the Alternative 8 would sound killer in basswood.

 

[dominus]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

Mine's rather heavy. I'm pretty sure the Alternative 8 would sound killer in basswood.

Sometimes you end up with a heavy piece. I have four basswood Squier Telecasters here, one of the bodies weighed over a pound more than the other three.

 

[Archer250]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

Sometimes you end up with a heavy piece. I have four basswood Squier Telecasters here, one of the bodies weighed over a pound more than the other three.

Yeah, one of my Ibbies weigh a full kg more than the other one.

 

[vinta9e]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

Basswood is a pain but Ibanez RG's are nice and light and comfortable.

Basswood makes a fine guitar when the builder plays to its strengths.

I've been reading a lot on basswood and it's tendency to make great pickups sound like total a$$( JB)

Matching planks and pickups is not a 2+2=4 affair, I'm afraid. Great pickups need great wood but even more importantly, for the best result, the two should work together in synergy and not against each other.
Modern RGs have the tendency to sound like total ass. To me, they feel stiff and acoustically dead which leads to a thin, unconvincing tone as a result. Some of them come with mahogany bodies, and these are barely any better. Therefore I conclude, what really sucks is not actually basswood, it is vacuum cleaners and the prestige construction.

These two clips of mine were cut with a JB in basswood. You be the judge.
https://soundcloud.com/mentalhammer/ruff-stuff
https://soundcloud.com/mentalhammer/scoop

 

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: Pickups for a Basswood Ibanez

I discovered several months ago that a Dimebucker in the bridge of an Ibanez RG with a Basswood body sounds great. The warm mids of the Basswood and the scooped out tone of the Dimebucker compliment each other nicely. My RG with the Dimebucker in it particularly sounds good through my Splawn, which has gobs of mids like a 5150 does.