Seven String Gearhead guys

[ShredderForhire]

Im having an Ibanez RGD2127z shipped to me tomorrow and im wondering what you guys think about changing the stock pickups out for an evo 7 in the bridge and an air norton in the neck. I have this combo in my frankenseven right now but i cant really judge their sound too well in a cheap'o guitar.
Thoughts?

 

[Mattayus]

Unfortunately, Ibanez went and accidentally made the RGD out of basswood, despite me screaming at them for years to make more mahogany guitars. Talk about rude, right? So basswood body guitars need something hot, with a lot of attack and low mids to combat the more soft/smooth tone that you usually get. EMG's would be my instant go-to but I'm not sure if you wanna go that 'route' (haha what a bad pun!)

Evo's would do the trick, or better still D-Activators

 

[prostetnic]

The Evo sounds monsterous in a basswood-made UV7bk, but then again, it's a UV7. Never heard the Norton :/

 

[ShredderForhire]

see i have a prestige s series that is solid oiled mahogany and it sounds extremely muffled/woofy in the 300/400 hz range even with an evo in the bridge. If the rgd was made out of mahogany i think this issue would be worse. For the type of bright/kind of thick sound im going for i think that basswood would be fine. This thing is gonna be beast im excited about the 26.5 scale because i have gigantic hands and theres some cramping when i get up top haha.

 

[ShredderForhire]

The Evo sounds monsterous in a basswood-made UV7bk, but then again, it's a UV7. Never heard the Norton :/

the norton is medium output but very detailed. i would recommend.

 

[Mattayus]

Oh sure man I'm not one of these "basswood is unusable!" guys, but I do find that you have to be a lot more selective with your gear choices. Mahogany is dark, yes, but with the right blend of pickups is utterly utterly crushing for 7 strings.

You have the 26.5" scale helping you out on the RGD too, so it'll be a lot clearer and more chimey than your average axe! I say go D-Activator.

 

[ShredderForhire]

Is the D-Activator the pickup with the rail magnet?
If so i had a similar stock one called a hot grinder in my s series and that thing blew.
I will look up the D-Activator though!

 

[Mattayus]

No that's the new D-Activator X which is just mental.
The original D-Activator is basically all the voicing/power/focus of active pickups but with the benefit of passive dynamics (i.e. nowhere near as compressed/sterile)

 

[ShredderForhire]

Hell yeah man , Will research. Stoked

 

[cyril_v]

The Evo sounds monsterous in a basswood-made UV7bk, but then again, it's a UV7. Never heard the Norton :/

Is that an after market pick-up? My friend has three stock UV7BK's and they all have Blazes in them.. great sounding guitars!

I would just like to point out that from my experience, the Evo 7 is quite a bit different than the 6-string version of the same pick-up. So, I wouldn't exactly base the decision on the name alone, definitely try one out first if you can or even take advantage of Dimarzio's generous return policy.

If you're sticking with Dimarzio.. +1 for the D-Activators, works well in mahog guitars.

 

[Josh Burgess]

I haven't really heard too many good things about the d-activators...

Why not go with an 81-7/60-7 combo, like the 81/60 combo you used on the IAA album?

 

[JeffTD]

Why not go with an 81-7/60-7 combo, like the 81/60 combo you used on the IAA album?

Those were only used for leads IIRC.

 

[CAlexanderParra]

I hear the stock pick-ups are surprisingly really good.

 

[Bekanor]

I had an evolution in my basswood Universe, it was pretty badass. I'd definitely go that route again in a basswood guitar.


Though I'd probably avoid buying another basswood guitar if I can, just out of preference though, nothing wrong with a good cut of basswood.

 

[ShredderForhire]

The theory of active pickups bugs me a little. To me, it alters the sound so much that it dosent seem like a guitar signal. Listen to an emg di compared to a passive di. Ridiculously insane difference. I like how emg's sound, but i grew up on van halen. I need the screaming high output dip your Sqwaking ass pickup in wax so it's usable sound. Haha

 

[7string]

I recently put some old Blazes in my Korean Conklin. It's cherry wood and pretty light. I'm really happy about how the new pickups sound. their output is way up there like 18K or something, but they still feel good. Got em for 20 bucks USD each. Lots of nice high end bite.

 

[Macke/Crystal Light]

I would definatelly advice you to test with the stock pick ups first. You may like them! If you don´t, it is easy to get some other pick up´s later

 

[Ola Englund]

Im having an Ibanez RGD2127z shipped to me tomorrow and im wondering what you guys think about changing the stock pickups out for an evo 7 in the bridge and an air norton in the neck. I have this combo in my frankenseven right now but i cant really judge their sound too well in a cheap'o guitar.
Thoughts?

Give those stock pups a chance. I love them in my Ibanezes:

 

[pattonfreak1]

Agree with Ola...
Also I have a basswood Ibby 7 and put a D-Sonic in it. Sounds most excellent.

 

[ShredderForhire]

**update. Called my rep at Ibanez today to find out that the guitar is backordered, AGAIN! I'm pissed. Now I have to buy secondhand. If anyone wants to sell one of these pm me asap.