Please recommend me a neck pickup...

[Rex Rocker]

Hey!

I'm thinking of putting a new neck pickup in my Ibanez SZ320. Right now, it has a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge (which I love) and a stock Ibanez pickup in the neck. The neck pickup isn't all that bad, but it's not exactly what I want. I think it's a bit underpowered compared to the high-output Super Distortion, along with some other issues I have with the tone.

What I'm looking for as far as tone is something that's balanced. I don't want a bright tone, I don't want a fat tone, I don't want a midscooped, or midbumped tone. I just want something balanced. I want as neutral as I can get because I like my cleans bright and my leads warm, so I want a pickup that stands in the middle ground and do both.

I want something with a decent output. Just enough so that it doesn't get overwhemingly overpowered by the Super Distortion, but not so much so that it doesn't do cleans all that good.

So far, I'm thinking DiMarzio PAF Pro and its hotter variants (Mo Joe, FRED). What do you all think?

Thanks! Here's a pic of my guitar:

 

[006]

PAF Pro

That is a pretty sexy axe btw.

~006

 

[MT01]

PAF Pro



~006

^^^ What he said ^^^

 

[ProjectHamsterdam]

To me the PAF Pro doesn't work all that well with mahogany bodies and I didn't like its constant 'wah' sound. I changed it for a Seymour Duncan 59 and now I'm happy as a lark. Just my 2 cents.

 

[006]

Good call actually...I'm not a big fan of any DiMarzio pickups to be completely honest. I would have recommended a Duncan 59, Jazz or even a Custom, but I got the impression he wanted to go with DiMarzio so...

~006

 

[ProjectHamsterdam]

10x, I'm just sharing my experience coz I remember I was pretty disappointed with the PAF Pro in MY guitar. It slays in basswood, not so with mahogany.

If it has to be a DiMarzio at all cost, I remember I was looking at the Air Zone when I was doing my research. From what I gather it has an amazing clean sound and a round tasty PAF sound for overdriven leads. I really want to try one.

 

[Metaltastic]

I really dug the Air Norton when I had it in the neck of my old Ibanez, and DSS3 on here was selling one for a good price not to long ago (he might still be)

 

[Rex Rocker]

Thanks for the replies, dudes!

Thanks, 006! I

Yes, I think I'd prefer to go DiMarzio because the local dealer usually carries more of those than Duncans. I could get Duncans, but it could take a while since they'd have to be a special order, probably. I'm personally not a fan of the '59 in the neck... I feel it's a bit too bright and a bit too JB-ish (to my ears), which I really don't like. I haven't tried the Custom or Jazz, tho.

Yeah, what worries me about the PAF Pro is that 'wah wah' sound too. I'm not sure I'd dig that. I remember loving the cleans the time I did try one, tho. I'm not sure its got enough output for what I'm thinking, but then again, I've never tried a PAF Pro/Super Distortion combo.

I'm thinking either Air Norton, Air Zone, or (regular) Norton too, but I'm not sure. Those seem to lean a bit towards 'too warm' and the Air Norton is even lower output than the PAF Pro.

 

[Rex Rocker]

any other suggestions?

 

[Rockchops]

A friend has the exact same guitar with a PAF Pro in the neck, it's super sweet, and there's no need to worry about the output compensation between both pickups, the PAF pro has enough output to handle the super distortion.

 

[Morgan138]

I used to have an SG with a Super Distortion in the bridge and a Fred in the neck. It was a pretty nice combination - the Fred had enough of a midrange spike that it didn't turn to mud if I switched over without changing my EQ from its normal bridge pickup settings.

I mostly used it for slow and heavy stuff, using the neck for straight chords and the bridge when I needed palm muting or single notes to sound tighter and cut a bit more. Come to think of it, that's the last time I got a lot of use out of a neck pickup. So yeah, good combination in a mahogany guitar.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Thanks Rockchops... yeah, the PAF Pro is still the top runner with me, but I wanna gather as much information as I can before buying anything...

Morgan, How about the cleans on the Fred?

 

[Metaltastic]

One thing worth mentioning is that you REALLY don't need to worry about output of any neck pickup, cuz there's already so much signal there cuz of the strings vibrating more freely

 

[Rex Rocker]

Yeah, I'm reading that... The PAF Pro is probably hotter than the neck pickup I'm using anyway...

Oh well, I'm almost dead set on the PAF Pro, then... I'm gonna have a look for it at the stores this weekend.