Pickups for Ibanez 7-string?

[drache713]

Hey guys, first post on the forum here, glad to be on board! :) Now forgive me but my first post is going to be a lengthy one, I'm a very detailed person, lol.

I have two 7-strings and I haven't decided which one I want to install new pickups into, but one of them is an Ibanez RG7421 (25.5" scale, basswood body, bolt on maple neck, rosewood fretboard, fixed bridge) and the other is an Ibanez S7420 (25.5" scale, mahogany body, bolt on maple neck, rosewood fretboard, floyd rose tremolo). I use a Digitech GNX3000 pedal for my tones and effects, and I usually run the pedal to the PA to take full advantedge of the pedal's amp and cabinet modeling. The type of amp models I tend to favor include the Engl Powerball, Mesa Rectifier, Peavey 5150, and VHT Pitbull.

The vast majority of the type of music I play is metal along the lines of All That Remains, Arch Enemy, Between the Buried and Me, Children of Bodom, Devildriver, In Flames, Into Eternity, Lamb of God, Machine Head, Nevermore, Pantera, Unearth, and others along those lines. Essentially, heavy music with an emphasis on technicality and skillful playing while remaining heavy. While this is the style of music I am most into, I also venture into other types of music, including Prog like Dream Theater, Classic metal like Iron Maiden, classical and jazz, and Instrumental rock such as Joe Satriani. So in short, the vast majority of the material I play is technical heavy metal, but I also like to venture into other territory genre wise, so I need a set of pickups that are versatile and flexible.

Tone wise, I am looking for tight bass that has some kick to it and warmth. I don't want so much bass that the sound becomes dark or boomy and out of control with sloppy definition, and at the same time I don't want so little bass that palm mutes have no impact and the tone is cold and thin. In the mids I am looking for a good full, snarly, growly sound with body that stands out well in the mix. I don't want so much mids as to be out of control crunch or become muddy and too vowel like/airy, and at the same time I don't want so little mids as to not have any body or definition to the tone with no depth. With the high end I am looking for some bite and aggression that gives a little sizzle. I don't want so much high end that the tone becomes harsh and fizzy/scratchy, and I don't want so little treble that the tone is perpetually smooth and has no attack or distinction/clarity with the tone. The pickup set needs to have good harmonics, respond well to palm mutes and riffs, and be equally capable with cleans and overdriven/distortion tones. It also needs to be equally useful both for rhythms and for leads.

One thing I have noticed with many of the bands I have mentioned is that a lot of them use EMG's. I've played EMG's before and what I don't like with them is the scratchy, plastic, sterile tone and high end to them. It sounds too digitized and harsh to my ears. I need a set of pickups that has tight tone with great articulation, great definition, and great clarity, but I want them to be more organic and natural sounding than EMG's. It might also be an issue of Ceramic vs. Alnico 5 to my ears...it seems that when I listen to guitarists that use ceramic pickups it has this annoying harsh, fizzy, scratchy high end to them, but maybe I'm just speculating. I don't know to what extent or validity the type of magnets used truely effects my ears.

I know that there is not one pickup set that can give everything you could ever imagine for with tone or be so versatile that they can do everything, but I'd like to be able to get as close to that as possible. Looking at the pickups on the site, my first instinct would be to go with a Cold Sweat in the neck and a Nailbomb in the bridge. I first became aware of this combination when I found out Chris Broderick used it. Of course, you guys are more familier with these pickups than I am and are much more likely to be able to steer me in the right direction. Any help or suggestions as to what pickups you would recommend me to get would be very highly appreciated.

Also just out of curiosity, I know the Nailbomb comes with an Alnico 5 magnet normally, and if I have heard right the Cold Sweat neck pickup normally comes with an Alnico 5 magnet as well, correct?

If you guys have made it this far, thank you so much for putting up with my pointless babbling and extreme use of verbiage!

[ericsabbath]

yeah, the cold sweat neck is alnico 5, about 8.35k
the only ceramic neck pickup is the pankiller

if you're planning to use a rectifier, go with a miracle man or painkiller
in rawer amps, like the peaveys, i prefer alnico
i have 2 mahogany les pauls, one with holy diver/cold sweat (which is my favorite), and the other with a miracle man set
i had a single rectifier, and the miracle man sounded better on the distorted channel (i tried all pickups in the same guitar)
with my peavey rockmaster preamp, i prefer the holy diver for almost everything

the miracle man is the tighter pickup i ever played (and i tried 13 pickups just in the same guitar)
i love it's organic low mid grind, but the highs are too ceramic hot for my taste
it's a very unic pickup and no other will give anything to it's tone

i posted a clip with miracle man in mahogany with the rockmaster + recto power amp section and a clip of guy playing an ibanez (basswood) with a miracle man set through a framus cobra

i played an ibanez rg7321 w/ custom mahogany body loaded with a warpig-7 set (alnico version)
very nice and not overpowering, but no near as tight as the miracle man or some other ceramics, like the gibson 500t, so if you're looking to strong tightness, go ceramic
my friend was happy with the tone and clarity, but he wanted the ultra tight ceramic sound, so he bought a painkiller-7 to replace the bridge warpig

[drache713]

So you think I should get a Miracle Man for the bridge most likely? What about the neck?

Nobody else has any words of advice for the BKP n00b? :)

[ericsabbath]

So you think I should get a Miracle Man for the bridge most likely? What about the neck?

Nobody else has any words of advice for the BKP n00b? :)

yeah
for arch enemy, iron maiden and dream theater, i'd say the holy diver or maybe a nailbomb, but for everything else you said, miracle man would be more suitable

for the neck, i wouldn't put a cold sweat, cause the miracle man is a lot more powerful than it
you can order a calibrated set, a neck nailbomb, maybe a neck painkiller if you want something with more attack

[MDV]

I dunno, form what you say in the bridge you'd be happy with:
Miracle man
Warpig
C-Pig
Painkiller

I think you'd get the most from a C-Pig. It fits this

Tone wise, I am looking for tight bass that has some kick to it and warmth. I don't want so much bass that the sound becomes dark or boomy and out of control with sloppy definition, and at the same time I don't want so little bass that palm mutes have no impact and the tone is cold and thin. In the mids I am looking for a good full, snarly, growly sound with body that stands out well in the mix. I don't want so much mids as to be out of control crunch or become muddy and too vowel like/airy, and at the same time I don't want so little mids as to not have any body or definition to the tone with no depth. With the high end I am looking for some bite and aggression that gives a little sizzle. I don't want so much high end that the tone becomes harsh and fizzy/scratchy, and I don't want so little treble that the tone is perpetually smooth and has no attack or distinction/clarity with the tone. The pickup set needs to have good harmonics, respond well to palm mutes and riffs, and be equally capable with cleans and overdriven/distortion tones. It also needs to be equally useful both for rhythms and for leads.

very well, while having the same gain as an 81.

But as I say, any would do.

For the neck I'd go for the default shred/cleans monster. Cold Sweat. Tim had his mojo workin' when he invented that fucker. You wont believe what leads sound like on it.

[kmanick]

I can't help you with the basswood Ibby, but my Carvin is all Mahogany with a maple quilt and a maple fret board and the NailBomb/Cold Sweat combo thru my 5150 and my JSX sounds pretty freaking sweet(now that I have the pickups adjusted up close to the strings).
I play stuff like Nevermore, Arch Enemy,DT Inflames etc, but I also wanted some versatility for shred like Satch,Greg Howe, Yngwie,Vinnie Moore etc.
So that combo would work in your mahagony 7 but if you're going to be playing "metal" most of the time I'd go with a Warpig, it's a ballsier pickup than the Nailbomb, just not as versatile.
the cold seat in the neck f'n rules, I love it.
for the Basswood.......I have no idea sorry.

[izy]

although i have never owned a BKP :(  from the clips i've heard and the things i've read, it sounds like you need a nailbomb. if it was just the metal then i would recommend a ceramic warpig or aMM, but if your doing stuff like jazz and guitar music, then you need that added verstility (plus the leads on it are AWESOME). although an alnico warpig could also be fairly versatile,and get you closer to your preferred metal tones. go to the product page, read the discriptions and come up with a short list of roughly what you want (for example: miracle man, ceramic warpig, warpig, nailbomb) and then go to the players section and check out some clips, be sure to check the discriptions tho, as some are recorded differently then others (some of them have been done semi-professionally, some have just whacked their comp microphone in front of an amp) and if you look hard you could find ones done with your appropriate amp type (there are quite a few recto ones lying around) and from that you should be able to distinguish which ones you like.

again, I have never owned a BKP...yet :twisted:  so don't take my opinion seriously (i don't) but i thought i'd offer a helping hand anyway, no matter how insignificant.  :)

but the best thing...as always...is to ask tim !