Semi Hollow Pickup Options

[Algiman]

Hi, I have an Ibanez AS73 that I want new pickups for.  I'm looking for a sort of Moving Pictures era Rush tone, but with the gain cranked a bit.  Also, I want relatively high output to match most of my gigging guitars without too much faffing with the amp mid gig. I'm obviously not looking for a tight thrash tone with this guitar, but a rich, thick, warm tone. Other considerations are that I will either coil split or do serial/parallel switching (perhaps even both) so the pickup needs to work for that.

After exchanging emails with Tim it has come down to either the Abraxas, or the Crawler. Anyone got any experience with either of these in a semi? Other thoughts?

As an aside, I normally play solid body 7 string guitars in a prog metal type band, but had an odd yearning for a semi hollow.  Although a cheap experiment, I must say the AS73 is brilliant if anyone was thinking of getting one. Well made, lovely to play.

[littleredguitars2]

a while back i was looking for a rush tone for my es335. i was suggested the riff raffs and some suggested the stormy mondays. i didnt end up going with either though. i tried a Mule bridge pickup and while it sounded good, my 335's darker tonal vibe made me want something a bit different and i found a pretty rare set of BK 10th anniversary pickups that are truly remarkable and could nail any sort of classic rock tone including rush.  i do believe the riff raffs wouldve been killer. i think the crawler is a bit hotter than you'd want. i havent used the abraxus but i know another member on the board has one in his epiphone tom delonge semihollow and he likes it. i'd imagine it would work great for classic tones with a bit more punch behind it. plus its pretty hot so coil splitting should work well.

[seancorker]

a while back i was looking for a rush tone for my es335. i was suggested the riff raffs and some suggested the stormy mondays. i didnt end up going with either though. i tried a Mule bridge pickup and while it sounded good, my 335's darker tonal vibe made me want something a bit different and i found a pretty rare set of BK 10th anniversary pickups that are truly remarkable and could nail any sort of classic rock tone including rush.  i do believe the riff raffs wouldve been killer. i think the crawler is a bit hotter than you'd want. i havent used the abraxus but i know another member on the board has one in his epiphone tom delonge semihollow and he likes it. i'd imagine it would work great for classic tones with a bit more punch behind it. plus its pretty hot so coil splitting should work well.

I've got a set of Riff Raffs in a Tokai 335 and I'm not impressed. They are very spikey and harsh - certainly not mellow in any way. Destined for eBay when I get time

[Algiman]

I'm leaning towards the Abraxas, which Tim said would work, but he also recommended the Crawler.  I've always gone with his advice in the past and been pleased with the results, but as semi hollows are a complete unknown to me I'm looking for other people's experience. 

[AndyR]

I think you'll be good with Abraxas. I haven't tried them, but I hear they are "Mules with more", and I have Mules in a 335.

It covers all sorts of ground, and with a bit more push (Abraxas) I think it would do very nicely indeed for what you want.

Btw, when I was doing my 335, I also had Riff Raffs at hand... I ruled them out as possibly giving me too spikey a 335 than I wanted. I imagine they'd be great in a 335 for rock and roll stuff, but I felt I wanted a bit more body. I was prepared to go again on the pickup swaps if the Mules didn't work out... but they were just perfect for what I wanted.

If you didn't want higher power, I'd actually be wondering about Stormy Mondays for Alex Lifeson (but that could be because it's the next set I'm going for, and I've been doing a lot day-dreaming about what they'll do in my LP!)

[Telerocker]

An Abraxas-bridge and Mule-neck will do the trick and will match fine. The Abraxas will provide a little more push, mids and a bit less topend than the Mule-bridge. The Mule-neck is imo unsurpassed in the vintage(hot)-range.

[Algiman]

I went for the Crawlers in the end - who am I to disagree with Tim's recommendations?  They have really worked out well, though I've not gigged the guitar yet from initial tests they are just what I wanted.  If anything they are a tad too thick sounding, but nothing I can't dial out with the amp, and still very well defined.  I'm very impressed with how well they split, especially both in single coil mode together.  I've found that, like most BKPs in my experience, they are extremely sensitive to pickup height; these seem best relatively close to the strings. This isn't the classic semi hollow sound, but that's not what I was after.  Jazz players should look elsewhere.  Gorgeous lush proggy clean sounds, and great at higher gain levels.  With these installed, split and serial/parallel wiring on push pull pots, and a few hours fret leveling and dressing, the AS73 is a fantastic guitar - now, if only Ibanez did a 7 string version .......