HSH set for Ibanez S series

[ben_f]

Hi,

I had been planning for a long time to get a mid-level RG with HH pickups and swap them out for Warpigs / Nailbombs (was leaning in favour of Warpigs, ceramic in bridge).  This guitar would have been used for lower tunings (mostly D standard).  However, after hunting the UK used market, I've ended up buying an S2170 Prestige, with HSH pickups.  I think I will keep it in E standard and lower my XPT700 instead.

It was a bargain price and I fell in love with the swirled ebony finish, but it's not quite what I had planned around, and now I'm unsure what pickups would be best...that's where you guys can help! 

Thin mahogany body (with very thin ebony top), 5 piece maple/bubinga neck, ZR tremolo.  At least for now, I'll be playing it through a JCM900 combo, generally with a Tube Screamer.

[Kiichi]

Hej and welcome.

I have one out of the S series myself and love it to death. Made it my workhorse guitar. However, I probably did not go the way youŽd want, as I focused on blues & classic rock to modern prog rock & metal with vintage flavor. That made me go RY set with IT middle plus wiring extras. Works for me though in my setup. What I want to say, I have not what you need, but I at least know the axe a bit.

Seeing that you thought about the WP in an RG and now have the generally even brighter S (trem and thin) IŽd recon that is a good part to walk still, probably even better than before. That is of course assuming this is gonna be a growlingly brutal metal axe ranging from heavy classics to modern crushing. That it should do in that guitar.

A middle to go for that should probably be the Sinner or the Trilogy, or even the Cobra if the look difference does not concern you. All of those should hold up in terms of volume. If you want to be extra sure there are always baseplates. For full brutals probably Sinner with baseplate and that little thin thing could kill Smaug in one note in any selector position.

[Dave Sloven]

With a C-Pig I would go for a bridge Sinner with baseplate in the middle

[ben_f]

Hej and welcome.

I have one out of the S series myself and love it to death. Made it my workhorse guitar. However, I probably did not go the way youŽd want, as I focused on blues & classic rock to modern prog rock & metal with vintage flavor. That made me go RY set with IT middle plus wiring extras. Works for me though in my setup. What I want to say, I have not what you need, but I at least know the axe a bit.

Seeing that you thought about the WP in an RG and now have the generally even brighter S (trem and thin) IŽd recon that is a good part to walk still, probably even better than before. That is of course assuming this is gonna be a growlingly brutal metal axe ranging from heavy classics to modern crushing. That it should do in that guitar.

A middle to go for that should probably be the Sinner or the Trilogy, or even the Cobra if the look difference does not concern you. All of those should hold up in terms of volume. If you want to be extra sure there are always baseplates. For full brutals probably Sinner with baseplate and that little thin thing could kill Smaug in one note in any selector position.

Sorry, I probably should have started off by saying what sound I'm after.  I'll play mostly metal, with some classic rock, so versatility is important (I presume the middle pickup will help with that), but the emphasis needs to be on the metal tones.  For metal, I like classic metal, European power, thrash, death (old school and modern tech death), prog etc.  Basically anything except djent, deathcore, groove or nu-metal.

I'm used to an HH guitar, so don't really know what I'd do with the middle pickup.  It would seem a waste to ignore it, so your suggestion of something that avoids volume drop-out definitely makes sense.

[ben_f]

Would you guys agree that The Sinner would be the best middle option for a Jason Becker tone?  I can't really play shred/neo-classical currently, but I do love the guitars on stuff like Cacophony and Symphony X, so I at least dream of playing it ;)

[Kiichi]

For versatility I would pick the Alnico Warpig over ceramic then. Still tight enough, especialy in such an axe that does not go too far down, and it will be more growly, organic, and versatile. Obviously can do Sabbath and should be able to hold up to death and prog. Thrash IŽd say too, but depends on how fast you need. For European power however it might be a bit too big in sound. Still, if you like the soundclips this should be a good PU for you here.

The middle pickup definetly helps with versatility imho, if wired right. There is one thing where you wire a resistor in series with the pickup somehwere (can never recall the details and still need to do it myself) which makes the SC effectivly "see" a 250K pot instead of the 500k the humbucker needs (and the only ones present in the guitar).
Then there are fun things to try. I like to have positions 2 and 4 to be split humbucker plus middle. That gives me a more single coil sound, either straty or more teley depending on which coil I wired it to. This brings a slight output drop and added SC like attack, plus some different rasp in the midrange. Great for another flavor and double tracking. The bridge version of this could be cool for the powermetal.

Even though a baseplate sinner is pretty insane there will likely still be some output drop, but that is due to the WP being even more insane. However, it should remain well in the playable range and work well with the basic SC character.

For Becker I am guessing Sinner or Cobra.

The neck WP is a big pickup too. If that does not bother you this should go really well here. Should you however like a brighter neck pickup you might consider the Cold Sweat here.

[ben_f]

I will only use the neck pickup for solos and cleans.  Bearing that in mind, does a Warpig make any sense for the neck?  I'm not sure what would sound best for extreme metal solos.  Perhaps position 2 on the switch, with a Warpig and The Sinner would be ideal?

Thinking about it, I'll be using my Xiphos (with Dimarzio D Activators) for my death metal, as that's the one I'll be down-tuning.  I might be better off gearing my Saber to power, prog and shred metal.

Another option could be to put BKPs in the Xiphos and my D Activators in the Saber, then find a single coil that matches the D Activators nicely.

[ben_f]

For power metal, what do people think of this combination?

Bridge: Holy Diver
Middle: The Sinner
Neck: Cold Sweat

[Dave Sloven]

For these pickups I would tend to go with a lower output single coil than a Sinner, maybe a Slowhand.

[ben_f]

What's your reasoning for the lower output middle please?  (Sorry if that's a dumb question, but I don't have much playing experience outside of HH pickups).

Would those be the best bridge and neck choices, for power metal (Blind Guardian, Gamma Ray, Stratovarius, Rhapsody, Edguy, Persuader etc)?

[Dave Sloven]

I just think that the Sinner will be too hot between those lower output pickups and will be hard to balance even when wound right down.  Usual suggested singles to go with Holy Divers or Cold Sweats are Irish Tours, Slow Hands, or Trilogy Suites.

[Slartibartfarst42]

The Holydiver is a fine choice for the bridge but I'd pair it with an Emerald in the neck. The Cold Sweat is great for shredding but the Emerald is more versatile and has a far sweeter tone. For the middle I'd go with a Trilogy Suite without a doubt.

[Kiichi]

WonŽt comment much on the middle since I like mine to be a bit lower output, so IŽd say slowhand but I am aming for different things to begin with.

I am once again with Slarty on the neck choice though. For those bands we agree that the HD is a great bridge PU and for the neck I am partial towards either Emerald or HD. The Emerald stays more within the tonal quality of the HD bridge suprisingly as it delivers a similar top end smoothness. It can sing the blues and shred among the very best with added character. The combo with the HD is proven to work (I am so exited to crank mine fully the next 2 months, no apartment for that time!) as they share a vibe.
The HD neck is amazing also, but brighter and a tad more PAF-ish, whereas the Emerald strikes the perfect balances between vintage and modern (vintage magnet, modern wire = wow). I personally will get that one with an Emerald bridge at one point weirdly enough....