Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: MattE May 4 2008, 10:52 PM

Hello everybody!

It's been a while since I last posted in the forums. Good to see you all again!

Alright, my current question is this: I've owned an http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ibanez-ARX320-Electric-Guitar?sku=512349&src=3SOSWXXA (click the link to see a picture) for about 3 years now. It's been an amazing guitar, and I think it's time I upgraded the thing. I have never really worked with the electronics on the axe, nor with any other guitar for that matter, so my question is

1) Which humbucker would you suggest for both bridge and neck positions?
- I mostly play rock, metal, neoclassical metal (this is the big one), and shred

2) What step-by-step source have you found that you would say is very detailed and helpful when switching out electronics?


Thanks a lot!

-MattE

Posted by: Hisham Al-Sanea May 4 2008, 11:01 PM

you can upgrade a Demarzio or EMG or Dunacan you can chose for bridge and neck
i suggest for neck Demarzio and to the bridge activate EMG

Posted by: MattE May 4 2008, 11:04 PM

Wow, thanks for the fast reply Hisham!

I'm curious as to the reasoning for mix-and-matching the pickups, and why you put the dimarzio at the neck and the emg at the bridge? I always thought the bridge was the soloing pickup and the neck was the rhythm pickup. Or am I getting the two mixed up?

Posted by: ZakkWylde May 4 2008, 11:11 PM

I would suggest a PAF Pro by DiMarzio or a Seymour Duncan for the Neck because they are being used by Neoclassical/Shred players for their lead stuff. For the bridge you'll need something for your heavy rythm stuff like a Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck or Super Distortion. If you want active PU's the take the EMG 81/85 set.

Posted by: Hisham Al-Sanea May 5 2008, 12:10 AM

QUOTE (MattE @ May 5 2008, 01:04 AM)

Wow, thanks for the fast reply Hisham!

I'm curious as to the reasoning for mix-and-matching the pickups, and why you put the dimarzio at the neck and the emg at the bridge? I always thought the bridge was the soloing pickup and the neck was the rhythm pickup. Or am I getting the two mixed up?

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 5 2008, 10:45 AM

SD's are generally more towards vintage feel. If you wanna agressive sound better look with Dimarzio. Don't get me wrong, SD's have great agressive pups too, but Dimarzio is better there imo. So Air Norton or Paf Joe for Neck and ToneZone for brdige imho. This will make your guitar very heavy endeed. Other option for bridge is SD JB, another great trebly pup for heavy metal leads.

Posted by: Joe Kataldo May 5 2008, 11:03 AM

Bare Knuckle Nailbomb Calibrated set, they comes with all the info to swap them

Posted by: FrankW May 10 2008, 06:08 AM

Matt, you need to factor in your amp. If it's a high-gain amp you don't need powerful pickups. You will get more tone from lower powered pickups because the note definition will be better.

Posted by: PanicProne May 10 2008, 09:09 AM

Hey. I just changed the pickups on my guitar. I own an Ibanez Ar250 and I'm currently using Seymour duncans. The Jazz in the neck (I absolutely adore it) and the Custom Custom in bridge position. I mostly play punk/hardcore or progressive-ish rock and I'm pretty happy with my pickups. As I've already said I love the jazz and even though the Custom Custom isn't bad I think I'll be changing it in the near future to something more aggressive.

Posted by: MattE May 12 2008, 06:37 PM

Thank you all for the replies!

My amp really isnt one to brag about. It's a Fender G-DEC. The tone, after my playing ability increased drastically, became more and more of a hassle for me, as the GDEC does well with beginning/intermediate playing (if that makes sense). I'm thinking about selling the GDEC and purchasing a different amp, possibly a Line 6, so we'll see for that.

But thank you for all your help! I will take all these suggestions into consideration :]

Posted by: Strungout180 May 12 2008, 07:35 PM

QUOTE (MattE @ May 12 2008, 01:37 PM)

Posted by: Batista May 12 2008, 08:08 PM

I suggest Seymour Duncan SH-8 Invader on both bridge and neck

Posted by: ztevie May 12 2008, 08:36 PM

I really like DiMarzio Paf Pro in the neck for fat but still tight solo tone with clarity. Perfect for shred/neoclassical in my opinion... Also the Bareknuckle MiracleMan(Alnico magnet version) is nice for the neck... Both also clean up real nice when you turn down the gain on your amp, you get clear fat clean tone.
I like to use the bridge pup for rhytm, cause it's often a bit more bright, and here I like more hi-gain pups than in the neck. There are MANY to choose from, but hard to give you a clear answer what is right for you and your taste and guitar. I have DiMarzio X2N in my Ibanez, it's OK, but I'm not really 100% happy with it... Bareknuckle MiracleMan(Ceramic magnet version) is nice. What I try to look for is clarfity even though it has higher gain... I just hate muddiness!

Bareknuckle is a bit pricey though, so if you're on a tight budget, you might overlook these.

I had a 1989 Peavey Vandenberg guitar before, it had a bridge pup that was really nice... I regret selling this gyuitar to this very day!! THis pup was medium gain Alnico 2 magnet, so it wasn't a hi-gain monster, but still just perfect for palm-muting heavy riffing because of it's insane tightness. Just shows power and gain isn't a must to get a heavy tone... Sometimes the opposite is true, many higain pups give unwanted muddiness, which is hard to EQ away with an amp...

Posted by: bmh1109 May 12 2008, 09:37 PM

If your not afraid of a little wiring and some custom fitting, which might not even be an issue in your guitar since it has pickup mounting rings, check out the Seymour Duncan Blackouts actives if you want killer metal sounds with the versatility to play other styles. I just put some in my RG and they are unbelievable.

Posted by: Toni Suominen May 15 2008, 09:07 PM

Definitely check out some Bareknuckle-pickups if you have the money for them.

Posted by: at lights end May 15 2008, 09:09 PM

definitely bareknuckle. email tim and tell him what you're looking for, he'll tell you the good ones for what you want. they're usually very good there.