Pickups suggestions for a mahogany Ibanez

[Fremen]

Hi guys, new user here :)

I'm considering swapping pickups in my main guitar, a mahogany Ibanez RG with a H/H combination and 5 positions selector.

Currently I have a DiMarzio Norton in bridge and a LiquiFire in neck. The DiMarzio are OK but really lacks personality, especially the Norton which is the more "neutral" DiMarzio pickup.

Here's a video of my sounds with the DiMarzio, on an Axe-Fx :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vz8LB9Tg78


The sounds that I like are :

Position 5 (bridge) : fat and modern at the same time : enough highs to cut, but no shrill highs. The DiMarzio "The Breed" is quite like that but may be too dark on a mahogany guitar. Although I like metal and prog metal the most, I also play cleaner things, including blues-rock so versatility is important. So too high output pickups and ceramic are not on my list. Actives neither.
Position 4 : Fender quack but fatter
Position 3 : classic neck/bridge position of a Les Paul
position 2 : As 4
Position 1 (neck) : enough output for legato playing, but not too aggressive so I can have beautiful cleans too.

So, my question, what would you suggest in my case ? Someone in the Fractal Audio forums ( http://forum.fractalaudio.com/lounge/90271-any-bare-knuckle-specialist.html#post1087998 ) suggested Holy Diver bridge and Emerald neck, what do you think ? Wouldn't a complete Holy Diver set (bridge + neck) be more coherent ? The guy also says that I need a neck humbucker "with the magnet flipped for correct operation" with the Ibanez 5 switch selector, is that correct ?

Thanks !

[Kiichi]

Hi and welcome mate!

Reading through your post I too had the HD EM combo in my mind. The bridge is an amazing hotrodded humbucker. Really versatile and progressive. Give it a little extra boost for more modern metal applications and you should be pretty happy. The highs are just like you wish and the rest is nicely organic and growly. In a mahagony axe you can get a defined warm growl full of goodness.
The EM neck is an amazing breed. The more vintage AIV magnet gives it a really organic sound with a rounder, mellower feel than a AV would, but then adds the more modern wire to still make it cut and up front. Bloody great cleans and one of the absolute top shred pickups too. It really does pretty much everything.

The HD neck as you mention is also a great choice, but the HD neck actually is brighter and IIRC more vintage sounding than the EM neck. Should also absolutly satisfy you. I think the general agreement is towards the EM neck actually being more cut from the same tonal wood as the HD bridge, as they both have that certain organic fullness with the mellowed out top end while still cutting. The HD neck takes a step back in term of fullness and mellowness, while of course still staying the same league.

All BKP sets are designed to work well together, but they usually are seperate pickups, not just modified versions. That way you usually cant go wrong with a set, but mixing and matching is also really popular if you know what you are doing.

[darkbluemurder]

Bridge: your description screams for Holydiver.

Neck: I have not yet played the Emerald neck which is highly recommended as partner to the HD bridge. Since I personally like bright and tight neck pickups I would choose the Holydiver neck - it's the one I liked best so far of the BKPs, and I tried the Riff Raff, Cold Sweat, Black Dog, VHII, Abraxas and Rebel Yell, many of them back to back in the same guitar.

For the switching you will need a 24 pole switch (aka Super Switch). Your Ibanez may already have one. If it does not and provides the combinations you are looking for, you can use it.

As for the magnetic polarity of the coils: PRS started this on a commercial level when they first offered the Custom. The goal was to get humcancelling combinations of coils when the two inside coils or the two outside coils are selected. With a "normal" set of pickups, the slug coil is usually "North" and the screw coil is usually "South". So with the "normal" orientation of the pickups you would get S-N-N-S. You will see that you have two north coils with the inside coils and two south coils with the outside coils - no humcancelling possible. If you want these coil combinations, you need one pickup with a reversed magnetic polarity to get S-N-S-N (or N-S-N-S, does not matter which way around).

Now ... when you want other coil combinations (a popular one is the neck side coil of both humbuckers) then the normal polarity stagger would give you a humcancelling effect.

So it's not a simple yes - no answer. You first need to decide what coil combinations you want, since only then you know which magnetic polarity you need.   

Cheers Stephan

[Fremen]

Thanks ! I'm not sure I understand the technical part but the friend that does all the wiring for me will, and that's what matters ;) I guess it's possible to specify the reverse polarity thing on one of the pickups when ordering ?

[Kiichi]

Thanks ! I'm not sure I understand the technical part but the friend that does all the wiring for me will, and that's what matters ;) I guess it's possible to specify the reverse polarity thing on one of the pickups when ordering ?

Yep, that is the kinda thing that goes in the comment box. Say you want a flipped magnet in the neck and you´re done.

[darrenw5094]

Is that Fremen from the Fractal forum? 

Fat bridge is the Holy Diver alright, even fattter is the Painkiller. And the neck would make a HD set as the  dudes above said already.

[Fremen]

Is that Fremen from the Fractal forum? 

Yes it's me    funny, browsing some threads here, I came across one of my videos…

It's confirmed that I'll need a reverse magnet neck pickup. I'll go for the Emerald Neck/Holy Diver bridge combo. Thanks for your help guys, can't wait to test those pickups !

[Chargrilled]

I went for the Painkiller / Holydiver combo in my mahogany Ibanez Apex 2. The HD is superb in the neck, PK I booted as I felt it was a bit middy. 

[darrenw5094]

PK I booted as I felt it was a bit middy.

Lol.......the PK has the mids alright. 

[Duck2587]

If the PK or HD don't work, take a look at the Black Dog. May be vintage hot, but it hangs with the big dogs. I think its hotter than the HD. Reminds me of a less bright version of the Aftermath.

[darkbluemurder]

If the PK or HD don't work, take a look at the Black Dog. May be vintage hot, but it hangs with the big dogs. I think its hotter than the HD. Reminds me of a less bright version of the Aftermath.

The BD bridge is lower output than the HD bridge. It does not necessarily appear to be because it's much brighter. What you notice in playing, especially through an overdriven amp set up that the HD compresses more.

Cheers Stephan

[Fremen]

Thanks guys, I ordered a Holydiver/Emerald combo. Tim also recommended me a Juggernaut calibrated set as second choice, that maybe be for my second guitar one day !

[Dave Sloven]

If you know the Weirding Way then you should be able to get all kinds of sounds out of that guitar without spending any money

[Fremen]

Pickups received ! Yeah it took a lot of time but I'm a a very remote location... I'm getting them installed today and will post a demo soon

[Kiichi]

Pickups received ! Yeah it took a lot of time but I'm a a very remote location... I'm getting them installed today and will post a demo soon

Looking forward to your thoughts! =)