Pickups for new Ibanez...

[musicartrevolution]

Hi everyone!

My name is Daniel, and I hate to ask a question on my first post, but i've been lurking around here for some time as i've used a Duncan set in 2 of my guitars so far and had a question for my new guitar. I recently got an Ibanez SZ4020FM (discontinued model), and the specs are as follows:

# Mahogany body
# Flamed Maple top
# SZ Prestage 5-piece Maple Walnut neck
# Neck-thur design
# 22 medium frets
# Bound Rosewood fret-board
# Gibraltar Custom bridge

It currently has some Seymour Duncan/IBZ pickups (not too sure what they are), and i'm looking to put in a new set. This guitar is heavier compared to other Ibanez guitars i've owned. I absolutely love this guitar aside from the pickups.

I personally play a little of everything, with my main focus being rock/metal along the lines of Tool, Isis, Opeth, etc. So heavy but not insanely chugging away all the time. ;-)

I know Opeth uses Full Shreds and Tool a JB....but i was wondering what the collective hive mind would recommend given my style and the guitar in question (for both bridge and neck)? I'm playing through an Orange Rockerverb 50 head and Mesa 4x12 with Vintage 30's if that helps as well. I'm also open to suggestions other than SD if you feel something else may suit my needs better. Thanks in advance for any recommendations, you guys post great info on here!

-Danny :friday:

 

[B2D]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

Welcome to the forum! And don't worry.. MOST of us here had questions for our first 100 posts or so.

What is it specifically about the tone you want to change? Hotter? More gain? More of a particular frequency?

 

[El CHupacabra]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

Sounds to me like you need DiMarzio. For those kinds of bands a DiMArzio high output model would work well. Try the pickup finder at their site and fill out the requisite forms.

 

[musicartrevolution]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

B2D - Thanks for the welcome! What i'm trying to get is a pickup for bridge that can get heavy/smooth crunch while still maintaining clarity and definition, if that makes sense. And hopefully a tighter bottom end but not too shrill. Wow i sound picky....lol. For neck i'd like something that can do more jazzy clean and nice distorted leads as well, i had been considering a SD Jazz or '59 for this.

El Chupacabra - Thanks for the info, i will check out their site as well.

 

[musicartrevolution]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

Forgot to add one i had been considering for bridge is the JB8 i've been reading about on here, don't know if that would be a good choice. Only problem there is i don't have the tools to do the mag switch...maybe i can pay someone....hmmmm :naughty:

 

[Jessie Sammler]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

{Insert less-snarky comment here.}

 

[musicartrevolution]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

I missed said snarky comment! If it was in reference to my "paying someone" comment, i hope you do know that was what is commonly referred to as a "joke".

 

[Jessie Sammler]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

No, it actually had more to do with eBay -- like most of my snarky comments. You're fine.

 

[Fikealox]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

From your description, I'd be looking at:
Bridge: Full Shred, or Distortion, (though I'm sure there are others))
Neck: Full Shred, '59, or Jazz.

The suggested bridge pickups are very different, but both will give you plenty of articulation and tight bass (though the Distortion may be too shrill, depending on your taste, pot values, and EQ). The neck pickups will give you smooth tones and articulation, though you might find the '59 'boomy', depending on your taste and EQ.

The DiMarzio range has lots of stuff that would probably suit you, as El Chubacabra pointed out, but I actually think there are too many suitable DiMarzios to narrow the choice down usefully without more info, and some sort of benchmark or known quantity to work from, if that makes sense.

 

[B2D]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

Forgot to add one i had been considering for bridge is the JB8 i've been reading about on here, don't know if that would be a good choice. Only problem there is i don't have the tools to do the mag switch...maybe i can pay someone....hmmmm :naughty:

I use two screwdrivers to swap mags. One is a small phillips-head to loosen the screws holding the coil bobbins, and the other is a small-bladed flathead to push the magnet out. I also use a polarity tester to make sure I put the new magnet in on the right orientation. If I really wanna get fancy i use a heat gun to remelt the wax after changing the magnet. It's one of the cheapest and easiest mods you can do to a pickup.

 

[B2D]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

Forgot to add one i had been considering for bridge is the JB8 i've been reading about on here, don't know if that would be a good choice. Only problem there is i don't have the tools to do the mag switch...maybe i can pay someone....hmmmm :naughty:

If you like Tool and want the above mentioned qualities, a JB8 or a Custom for the bridge wouldn't be a bad place to start.

As far as DiMarzio, whenever someone says "heavy/smooth crunch while still maintaining clarity and definition" i immediately think of the Evolution bridge model.

Neck pickups... I'm still dialing in my sound with Duncan neck pickups, but Jazz's and 59's are always popular and good. DiMarzio's PAF Pro and Air Norton are great picks as well.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

Got to run my JB8 and 598 and of course a couple of C8s for good measure thru my JCM 800 today at earbleeding volume..

It was good for me... Had to have a cigarette afterwards and I dont smoke...

Welcome to the forum! Yeah, most of us did start with questions.. thats how we got the answers we can now share.

 

[dr. ad]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

i'm thinking demon and 59n; what are you tuning to?

if mag swaps are an option then definitely look at A8s (in a number of different pickups) and consider an A2P with an A5 and an A8 in a demon - i think that'd work well for what you're doing.
if you're playing in standard tuning the options for the bridge should be wide open in that guitar, but i'm guessing you're tuning down quite a bit.
the demon's very good for down-tuning and clarity under gain, which will matter if you want to play heavy proggy stuff

2 other things - are they dimarzio/IBZ pickups? never heard of duncan/IBZ pickups

there is absolutely no reason whatsoever why dimarzio pickups would be more suited to that guitar; saying so would be making a very wide and misinformed generalisation.
not knocking DMZs at all, but it's not like there's only 3 pickups SD make and they all sound alike

 

[musicartrevolution]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys, definitely gives me a lot of options to think about and ideas i hadn't thought of. I do tune down sometimes, not sure if i will as much on this guitar. I'm usually either in drop D or drop C.

dr. ad - Yeah these actually say "Seymour Duncan/IBZ", only guitar i've seen that in, especially since Ibanez tends to use the Dimarzio/IBZ ones quite frequently.

 

[musicartrevolution]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

B2D - i may indeed investigate the mag swapping, as that does sound more simple than i had imagined it to be.

 

[musicartrevolution]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

Another question as well. Anyone tried the new Petrucci model Dimarzios yet? The Crunch and Liqui....something, i believe?

 

[Jessie Sammler]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

there is absolutely no reason whatsoever why dimarzio pickups would be more suited to that guitar; saying so would be making a very wide and misinformed generalisation.
not knocking DMZs at all, but it's not like there's only 3 pickups SD make and they all sound alike

Surely you realize that DiMarzio pickups are made for shredders like Vai, Satriani, Gilbert, Petrucci, and Malmsteen, while Duncans are for metal dudes. If you put DiMarzios in your guitar, you'll be a shredder, but if you go with SD you'll play head-banging stuff. The choice between Coke and Pepsi will yield similar results. :14:

 

[Brow]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

Bareknuckle Nailbombs should work well for that sort of tone

 

[Rowan]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

I'd check out the Alt 8, its got enough power and low end to do your heavy tones easily but still has enough versatility for other styles. I have one in an Ibanez SZ 520 and I love it.

I've also had a SH6 distortion in the guitar, which was good but had too much treble for my tastes and was less versatile. Hope this helps man.

 

[Thomtek5]

Re: Pickups for new Ibanez...

I had a Full Shred in the bridge and a JBn in an IBZ RT450. I really liked it with a recto type sound. Now that I have a JCM800 I'm thinking P-Rails in a RG570!