bridge pickup for ibanez rg 1550

[pncampbell]

Im looking for recommendations for a bridge pickup for my RG1550 (maple fretboard).

My "ideal" sound is really the early van halen kind of fairly high gain glassy-but-not-harsh milldly scooped tone (Im not as keen on the so called "brown sound" of the later recordings) and I llove the sort of prominent "lilting" pick attack that is prominent on these early records.

I know the standard recommendation for RG's is a nailbomb but Im concerned about the mids being too prominent because I really disslike "distortion" humbuckers as a rule (e.g. the dimarzio super distortion). I like to get my distortion from the amp (well moddeler  in practice but you know what I mean) and have a sound where more complex chords behave reasonably graceflly under quite high gain.

I use lots of harmonics both natural and squesed but I *dont* need a pickup that spoon feeds me since my technique is good enough that I can get pinch harmonics out of neck position single coils :-).

Output power is not an issue for me because ll the kit I use has ample gain even for relatively low powered pickups so I can afford to select solely on basic tone.

The other "obvious" choice is the VHII. But Im wondering if this will be overly bright (even for me) and if maybe one of the other "PAF" type pickups has a milder response.

Paul.

[March]

I would still say look at the VHII, but the Emerald and Black Dog are probably worth consideration too.

I have the VHII in my Am Std Strat and it nails early EVH tones. The bottom end is rich, EVH style single notes seem to leap from the amplifier and the top end detail, even up at the dusty end is impressive. It's bright, but not as bright as many mass produced pickups. It packs plenty of warmth and reacts well to the tone control (you get more mileage out of your controls with BKPs).

I too share you thoughts on pickups. I prefer lower powered pickups that shape the tone, rather that a pickup that drives the amp.