Pickups to replace V7 & V8 on a Rg550

[Blodsys]

Hey guys,
this is something that's been giving me a headache for awhile.

I have an RG550 MIJ
Basswood body
rosewood fingerboard
V7(neck) S1(middle) V8(bridge)

I want a clear, not muddy sound with good chunky palm muted sound andi was thinking if thinking of putting a PAF Pro on the neck and Steve's Special on the bridge...

But i also considered tone zone, air norton, and those recommended dimarzio pickups and i'm stuck.

Could you help me with this one guys?

 

[relinquish69]

I've active pickups in my 550 but thats besides the point .

I think both PAF Pro and Steve's Special sound good in mahogany body guitars. for basswood, the air norton and tone zone combo works pretty well.

 

[subversion]

the PAF Pro has this inherent quack/ wah sound in the neck, you might wanna give this some considerations.

i've had great results with these DiMarzio pickups in the neck position (in an Ibanez, basswood body guitar):

*Breed
*Super Distortion

 

[Whitestrat]

I've active pickups in my 550 but thats besides the point .

I think both PAF Pro and Steve's Special sound good in mahogany body guitars. for basswood, the air norton and tone zone combo works pretty well.

That's cos you ain't tried the Steve's Special in my JP6...:twisted:

Heh...

Anyways, I'm thinking for a cool basswood tone, I'd seriously consider Air Classic and Steve's Special. Personally, I hate the Tonezone with a passion.

 

[Whitestrat]

the PAF Pro has this inherent quack/ wah sound in the neck, you might wanna give this some considerations.

I find that it doesn't go "aw" enough. I prefer the FRED and PAF Joe's quack/wah sound. The FRED has the same characteristics in the bridge position...

totally loving this set now!:mrgreen:

 

[gliew]

Actually, i quite like the V7 and V8 pickups in my Rg1550, although i think i am the minority

However, i do agree that you will not get a real heavy sound from the bridge V8's.
If you wanna go like real heavy, why not try D-sonic or D-activators in the bridge? I myself have been contemplating getting a D-sonic, although I must admit I a bit shalllow, also like the looks of it with the bar magnet
Alternatively, I have an AirZone in 2 other guitars, no shortness of bass and thump there, although it may not be as good as the D-sonics or D-activators for the palm muted stuff.

As for neck, any reason why you want to change? Honestly, i think this the V7 is quite nice sounding, although my personal preference for neck pickups is Air Norton. For such a high resistance pickup it sounds great clean, and with distortion its just smooth smooth smooth...

 

[gliew]

I find that it doesn't go "aw" enough. I prefer the FRED and PAF Joe's quack/wah sound. The FRED has the same characteristics in the bridge position...

totally loving this set now!:mrgreen:

Whitestrat, your comment totally reminds me of the Paul Gilbert clip on youtube where he talk about his (then) current preference for the Tonezone because it has that "aw" sound..
YouTube - Paul Gilbert DiMarzio demonstration

Anyway, thanks, now i won't feel so alone now if i use 'aw' to describe my pickups..