Pickup upgrade

[zysth]

Hi. I'm currently using a Ibanez RG270 guitar (bought 2yrs ago, basswood body). I like the overall feel of it but not the pickups. I'm thinking of upgrading the pickup. I like heavy music and solos.
Any recommendation? By the way my pickup configuration is HSH.
Roughly how much do I need to pay for the upgrade?
Thanks a lot.

 

[mamemo]

probably around $300 for 2 humbuckers, 1 single coil and installation

 

[jeremyrozario]

probably around $300 for 2 humbuckers, 1 single coil and installation

i tink slightly more than that, at least $400

 

[RazrAsh]

would depend on what pickups you're getting... if u're intent on getting 2 humbuckers and one single coil, it would cost about 300+ for them.. including installation would be about 75 to 100..

 

[neuro182]

Hi zysth,

Why don't you let us know what kinda sound r u goin for, so that we can help u make some rational choices in ur quest to upgrade ur pickups?

:lol:

 

[jony]

He already said heavy metal and solos yeah..

Dimebucker from Seymour Duncan.. That shud get your leads down nicely.

What amp do u use btw? Getting a higher gain amp will certainly guve u more than great pickups and a shoddy amp..(no offence, just an assumption)

 

[mamemo]

for the bridge, my recommendations are SD 59, distortion, x2n or invader

if you wanna try actives, EMG 81 or 85

 

[Ichiro]

get either EMGs or SD high output pickups, i love the high outputs pickups from SD

 

[jony]

I've heard thast the duncan Livewires metal are crazily high outpout that even some metal players have had to put resistors to lower its output.. It can feedback even when the clean channel is on.

 

[MrE]

I've heard thast the duncan Livewires metal are crazily high outpout that even some metal players have had to put resistors to lower its output.. It can feedback even when the clean channel is on.

i guess they'd really need a noise gate with pickups like that!

just a general question, would duncan or dimarzio make better pickups for metal and high gain stuff? i'm not considering EMGs cos i'd rather have passive pickups (read before that active pickups are not so dynamic in their response tone-wise?)

 

[subversion]

really depends on personal preference- both Dimarzio & Duncan have suitable models for metal/ high gain settings. after many Duncans/ Dimarzios, i feel that there's more midrange bite from the Duncans.

 

[artoflife]

sorry to hijack, but since we're on the topic of changing pickups anyway, i just bought the at200 from sweelee... and i installed a cruiser in the neck position... when i play it however.. the volume of the cruiser seems softer than the rest of the stock pickups (g104)... could it be installed wrongly or could it be that the cruiser is simply lower output than the g104s? i cant find any specs on the g104 to confirm this....

 

[BlackMoo]

You need to adjust the pickup height of the cruiser, make it higher until the volume balances up with the rest of the pickups. There you go, done!

 

[zysth]

wow.. thanks 4 all the advices and suggestions..
i'm using a marshall vs15r.. an old 15w amp which is doing fine 4 me.. and zoom 3030 multi fx..
i don think i'm gonna change all.. probably just the neck n bridge or just the bridge.. thanks again.

 

[subversion]

wow.. thanks 4 all the advices and suggestions..
i'm using a marshall vs15r.. an old 15w amp which is doing fine 4 me.. and zoom 3030 multi fx..
i don think i'm gonna change all.. probably just the neck n bridge or just the bridge.. thanks again.

as some of the members have suggested, it you invest in a new/ bigger amp (one with a 12" driver preferably), it's gonna add more to your tone than swapping pickups.

 

[artoflife]

thanks moo... i'll try it

 

[hydrogencynide]

haha... i embrace EMG... lol.... the choice of whether u want actives or passives really depends on individual... cos they are really totally different sounding pickups... if u really like EMG... i would really recommend 60 in the neck...

 

[Rollercoaster]

Maybe you can go to the Seymour Duncan website to ask the Tone Wizard...

 

[zysth]

ok.. thanks a lot guys 4 all ur inputs..

 

[redjackal]

in my opinion the duncan SH-6 is somewhere simliar to an EMG81.
just that it's a little brighter that the EMG81. other than that, it's close to each other.