need pickup choice help (singing leads, beautiful cleans)

[johnny ForTiorI]

hello there, fine folks. i want to pimp up my 6-string Ibanez and put in new pickups. it´ll be tuned to E standard and is supposed to accompany my new 7-string Ibanez, which is tuned to drop A. so this 6-string will be mostly used for leads and cleans. i´m looking for singing, liquid lead tones and clear, sparkly and rich cleans, both with the occasional edge to it. right now i have the Dimarzio Illuminator set on my watchlist. does anybody have any other recommendations?

 

[Delitzsch]

I have a guitar with the D Sonic and had another with the Illuminator. I much prefer the D Sonic for lead work. I also have in the same guitar with the D Sonic an Air Norton in the neck. I had a LiquiFire in the neck with the Illuminator guitar. I preferred the Air Norton for cleans.

 

[nezvers]

I'd look into Lace pickups. Fluff told on that his best gear couldn't hold near Chinese guitar with Lace in it.
I think he mentioned pickup model here

 

[johnny ForTiorI]

thanks for the feedback. right now i´m leaning towards the Air Norton / Tone Zone combo. judging from a couple of demos on youtube i quite like their sound.

 

[Delitzsch]

right now i´m leaning towards the Air Norton / Tone Zone combo.

I had a Tone Zone in the bridge position of that guitar I mentioned that I had the Illuminator in. I went from the Tone Zone to the Illuminator. I would definitely advise against the Tone Zone. I hated it more than the Illuminator. I got rid of both pickups. The Tone Zone was a muddy mess and I had it in a very bright guitar. It was a maple thru-neck with swamp ash wings. I'd hate to hear what it sounds like in a mahogany bodied guitar. Don't do it. My advise for the bridge position is the D Sonic.

 

[Megin]

Yeah agree. Stay away from Tone Zone. My Caparision came with Tone Zone.Too dark and muddy.

 

[johnny ForTiorI]

hm, alright. guess i´ll stay away from the Tone Zone then. what do you think about the Steve´s Special?

edit: or rather, please keep in mind this won´t really be a rhythm guitar. so the Tone Zone would also be for cleans and leads. and i imagine in the bridge position the mid range and low end boost would help to keep it rich sounding while having the bight of the bridge position. thoughts?

 

[johnny ForTiorI]

it sounds pretty good here, at least imo.


but i´ll also do some research on the D-Sonic. thanks again for the input.

 

[Delitzsch]

what do you think about the Steve´s Special?

I have one of those in my Ibanez RG with basswood body. I really love that pickup in that guitar. It sounds great for leads and cleans. If you want a bridge pickup to be great at both of those, then I'd go for the SS. I like the D Sonic for leads, but the SS beats it for clean tones.

 

[pattonfreak1]

D Sonic in my basswood Ibanez 7 string kills

 

[Father Daniel]

Are you also considering any non-conventional pickup manufacturers?

 

[johnny ForTiorI]

Are you also considering any non-conventional pickup manufacturers?

i´m considering everything that´s in my budget and available in Germany. 200 bucks for a pair of pickups.

 

[Father Daniel]

I've done some pickups research lately, and those fit in your price range, are handwound, unusual and seem like a smart choice.