changing pickups on a cheap 7string Ibanez

tomas_almeida

tomas_almeida

nope
Jun 17, 2008
162
0
16
Portugal
The guitar I use is a cheap 7 string basswood Ibanez RG that I bought second hand for 230€.
It was a great deal, I have been using it for almost two years and it plays well, stays in tune and doesn't sound too terrible.

But now I want to replace the pickups, these sound somewhat muddy.
I'm looking for a sound that retains the maximum amount of natural high frequencies of the string's vibrations. In other words, I want that ZING you hear when you play your guitar unplugged with brand new strings, and it seems that is mostly lost when recorded, because my pickups have a very hard time getting those frequencies captured, they end up acting like a LPF.
Besides that, if I allow myself some wishful thinking, I'd like the pickups to also retain some low end and having pronounced high mids (around 2kHz).

I want passive ones because I'm tired of changing batteries, and I've been looking mostly at Dimarzio models because they are a direct fit. I've seen a video where a guy compared 4 models of Dimarzio 7 string bridge pickups, and I ended up liking the EVO the best, it seemed to be the closest to what I was looking for.

My concern is choosing a neck model to complement the EVO. I thought about going with another EVO for the neck, but I'm afraid the neck pickup will be much louder, when it should be the opposite. I also thought about just going for the Crunchlab+Liquifire combo, because they seemed to have been made to complement each other and they get good reviews.

Any opinions?

EDIT: I just found a guy "near" me that is selling a 7 string Bareknuckle Painkiller for 90€. I have no idea if sounds decent or if it justifies that price.
 
the painkiller is very good, mostly oriented for extreme metal. The crunchlab is great for generic metal, but I'd try also the other new pickup designed by john petrucci: the dimarzio illuminator. seems similar to the crunchlab, but probably more "zingy" ;D
 
I had a Crunch Lab in my Ibanez and I think that pickup is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay overrated. It had bloated low-mids, barely any high-mid presence at all, and dark-sounding highs. Definitely not what you describe you're looking for.
 
Rex Rocker said:
I had a Crunch Lab in my Ibanez and I think that pickup is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay overrated. It had bloated low-mids, barely any high-mid presence at all, and dark-sounding highs. Definitely not what you describe you're looking for.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the insight. I'll stay away from it.

atoragon said:
the painkiller is very good, mostly oriented for extreme metal. The crunchlab is great for generic metal, but I'd try also the other new pickup designed by john petrucci: the dimarzio illuminator. seems similar to the crunchlab, but probably more "zingy" ;D
Click to expand...

Having in account what I read from Rex I think I won't go near the crunchlab or the iluminator.

I'm leaning towards the painkiller, but I have no idea what pickup I could get for the neck. Obviously, getting another Bareknuckle is out of question.
 
the illuminator is brighter than the crunchlab, tho. probably if you need more highs and attack you can also take a look in the seymour duncan house, that are usually brighter, for example the jb and the custom custom are very bright. The painkiller has been used on the "labyrinth" album of the band fleshgod apocalypse.
 
Yes, I agree that Duncans tend to be brighter and more high-middy than DiMarzios. From the ones I've tried, that is. Many people say they don't get along with basswood, but I think the Duncan Distortion does just fine in my friend's RG570. It is very bright, but that's kinda the point of the Duncan Distortion, IMO.
 
Now I think I'm torn between the Painkiller and the Duncan Distortion.

Based on the following links I've found that the SH6 does produce the tone that I describe.

http://youtu.be/dFjMGHuNpOg
http://youtu.be/mFO9phrDBig

The painkiller is, however, almost the same price as a new SH6, so I'm really leaning to it, the only problem being that I have no idea what I could put in the neck position that wouldn't cost immensely.

EDIT: after having checked out http://tonefinder.com/?section=user&value=killertone&offset=10&display=5 I think I really want the painkiller. I just have no idea what pickup I should get fr the neck.
 
no, for the neck it's useless a too high output p.u., you need a different tone that can be used without becoming too bassy: the best neck pickup I've ever tried is the seymour duncan 59.
 
Man, it really seems like me and atoragon have like completely different taste regarding pickups. :lol

I don't dislike the Duncan '59, but I'm not a fan of it either, and to say a Duncan 59 is less bassy than the D-Activator Neck which is like one of the brightest and tightest neck pickups around is definitely not something I agree with. Not a fan of PAF-style neck pickups in a context where I've got a high-output, modern-sounding bridge humbucker, but that's just my taste, gotta admit.
 
the fact is that 99% of metal players probably will never use the neck pickup, but if they need it it's got to be as different as possible from the bridge one. To have a neck pickup that will sound close to a bridge one it's useless. Lately I've started even to put single coils on the neck position, to have a truly different tone :) if i need a metal humbucker I will use the duncan distortion on the bridge.
 
I have a '99 RG 270 that I put a set of black winters in and I gotta say they sound just fine in bass wood. I know they also just released some new 7 string pups too.
 
atoragon said:
To have a neck pickup that will sound close to a bridge one it's useless.
Click to expand...
Each to his own, but I couldn't disagree more. I HATE flipping the pickup selector switch in the middle of a lead part, and then bam! The lead tone I dialed in now sounds either like wet, undergained fart, or like megafizzy saturated thinness. Again, just my opinion.

atoragon said:
Lately I've started even to put single coils on the neck position, to have a truly different tone.
Click to expand...
I like single coils in the neck too sometimes. :)
 
atoragon said:
i wouldn't say that a 59 or a jazz are undergained farts, or megafizzy saturated thinness. many metal players (for example megadeth) have one on the neck
Click to expand...
Nope, agreed, they're not on their own, but if they neck pickup is too different-sounding from the bridge one, that's what happens when switching positions >to me<.
 
Rex Rocker said:
Man, it really seems like me and atoragon have like completely different taste regarding pickups. :lol

I don't dislike the Duncan '59, but I'm not a fan of it either, and to say a Duncan 59 is less bassy than the D-Activator Neck which is like one of the brightest and tightest neck pickups around is definitely not something I agree with. Not a fan of PAF-style neck pickups in a context where I've got a high-output, modern-sounding bridge humbucker, but that's just my taste, gotta admit.
Click to expand...

Rex, I think we have very similar tastes.

Of all the pickups I've used over the years, (of which I've tried loads) If I had to choose one set and one set only today, it would be an extremely easy choice.

EMG 57/66 hands down. The best pickups I've ever owned hands down.
 
Well, I tend to use the neck pickup for cleans. I use both pickups parallel (actually just the "inside" coil of each pickup in parallel) for the bright as fuck cleans, the pseudo telecaster tone, and I use the neck pickup alone for jazz playing.

But I don't know shit about neck pickups, so I don't know which model would help me in this regard, and I definitely want a mass produced one, because it's easier to get.
 
thanks for your trolling, matt steele.

btw, yes I was talking about mustaine, and yes, I have tried the d-activators and sold after one month because they were harsh and thin.
 
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