SparkzPT

So. I've heard that the stock pickups are garbage. (AH1+AH2 humbucker by ibanez)
(EDIT: Don't get me wrong, I'll first test the stock pickups, and if I like them, I will surely keep them. But If I don't, I'll have to change them! That's why I'm creating this thread!)




So. I've dived through the deep world of pickups. It's a strange place And I've decided that I want dimarzios for an ibanez.

But which one? I'm still on my attempt to understand the difference between neck and bridge positions, but oh well.


For what I've read, I'm thinking about:

-PAF Pro on the neck
-Mo Joe on the bridge

All F-Spaced because of the floyd rose.

I play things like:

-Pink Floyd
-AC/DC
-Guns n' roses
-Led Zeppelin

-Joe Satriani
-Gary moore
-Santana


I've heard that the PAF pro has got great attack and power for solos, while the mo joe can be really warmer and can be clear on cleans and really powerfull for distortion.

As the DiMarzio PAF Joe has got "less mids and rounder sound" than the PAF Pro, I've quit on that p-up.

As the DiMarzio Mo Joe is an improved, hotter version of the "Fred" pickups that satriani used for a long time", I don't think I want the fred one as well.


What do you think about my choices? I'm looking for versatility as well if you please.


Thanks for the attention,

Sparkz

Wakko444

Dude.... two words.... Super Distortion

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SparkzPT

Bridge or neck? And why?

andrerist

you can always just pop in some evolutions. same pickups steve vai uses and i can't complain about his tone in the least. i had an x2n in one of my guitars. it was searing hot and i loved it but i don't think it's quite wat ur looking for. take a look at the crunch lab (petrucci signature), it can be oriented in 2 different ways for different tones, the evolutions, and the d-activators

Pac_man0123

Wait, do you have the guitar already? Because if you're just changing them because you "heard they're garbage," you're changing them for the wrong reason.

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No matter how much you glorify Agile, they're only Korean-made guitars.

SparkzPT

I don't have it already, but I need to know which pickups I'm going to buy in case I don't like the pickups!


More suggestions please? Thanks a lot for all the answers, I'll take them in account

steven seagull

If you you're "struggling to understand the difference between neck and bridge positions" then there's absolutely no point contemplating changing pickups.

Likewise there's no point thinking about it until you actually own the guitar and have been playing it for a while. If you don't know what it sounds like how are you supposed to know what you don't like about the sound, and therefore what you want to change about it?

It doesn't matter if you've "heard they're garbage", that's irrelevant. Every day these boards are full of posts by noobs telling people "xxx guitar is great but needs a pickup swap" when they've never even played the guitar in question themselves. They'll usually proceed to tell them which pickups to put in, again despite never having actually used them.

Pickups are an expensive, poor value, low impact modification - they're really the last piece of gear you get because the effect they have is often very subtle compared to changing amps or pedals. That means you need to know exactly what you want before you think about changing them for something else, and you also need to know that a pickup swap is actually what your sound needs.

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trueamerican

^ true. I'd also reevaluate your purchase of a JS-100. It's not a very good guitar. It goes out of tune by touching the tremolo, and it's really only that expensive because of the name attached to it. Until you get to the 1000 and 1200, the quality just isn't there.

VVolverin3

I've owned a JS100 and a JS1000 and yeah the 100 has nothing at all on the 1000 however I still liked it a lot for what it was. Probably cost a little more than it was worth but it played great (I had been playing a bunch of random guitars in store then picked that up and loved it straight away) and the pickups are not AS bad as other Ibanez stock - not fantastic by any means but probably the best stock Ibby pickups I've used (obviously very subjective, but I have used a fair few Ibby pickups).

If you're just playing in your bedroom and you're playing a little practice amp or something like that and you like the guitar then go for the JS100 and just use it as is. If you're actually looking for a more serious axe etc then I would probably suggest looking elsewhere (as much as I love Ibanez and Satriani ).

/my 2 cents

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trueamerican

I'm a HUGE Satriani fan. However, the JS-100 is not worth the 7-800 you're going to be paying for it. Not even close. Realistically, I'd say it's worth about half of its price

andrerist

i really don't kno anything about this guitar. however, if these guys are saying that its not great for an inexpensive guitar, check out http://www.cortguitars.com/. i had the x6 vpr. it was pretty damn sick and cort is REALLY inexpensive and a good quality guitar. and the great thing is that they feel just like an ibanez with the fast neck and lightweight body.

in the way of the difference of pickups, it took me a little while to really undersatnd wat both are used for and personally, i rarely use my neck pickup. however, generally i would use my neck pickup for arpeggios. it gives it a real nice, warm sound. not all that articulate when ur playing on lower notes. it is great for solos on the higher strings and notes. it becomes very bright and articulate and a great sound. i honestly dont fully understand why it is used as a "rhythm" pick up becuase to me, it just sounds muddy with chords. ur bridge pickup is a bit of a do watever u want kinda thing. you'll see a bunch of guys only doing the bridge pickup now because u can do anything with only the bridge. for example, alexi laiho of children of bodom only uses a bridge pickup. the bridge pick will most commonly be a higher output pickup than the neck and used for riffing, soloing, chord work..... etc. basically everything. bridge pickups tend to respond pretty well to attack as well.

so, lets give u an example: i have an emg 81tw/89 combo in my schecter c1 hellraiser. this is very similar to the 81/85 combo that you see most people with, only difference is both are coil splits and the 89 i think is slightly hotter and more articulate. but, the 81, used in the bridge position is a very high output pickup. it is very good for heavy riffing and plays searing lead tones. the 89 in the neck can be used to clean up the signal a little bit if your playing cleans as opposed to using a super high output pickup that will get muddy. the 89 is nice for clean and dirty arpeggios and makes for really nice soloing. or, it can be used to get more of a "fluid" sound with a little less differntiaiion in the notes (in my opinion).

also, both these pickups are active, meaning that they are battery powered. therefore allowing them to be even hotter and to "pick-up" with very great accuracy and still allow them to be very quiet wen it comes to background noise. passive pickups do not operate with batteries. many people do not like active pickups. active and passive pickups just get very different tones. often times, it is difficult to get acitve pickups to clean up very well, but for waht i play, i feel taht the cleans are plenty bright for me.

well, hopefully this will help clear some things up? feel free to message if uve got any questions. im not an expert but i just try not to be that guy that tells u ur stuff is shit, haha

SparkzPT

Thank you for a great and comprehensive answer. I already know the difference between neck and bridge, 've been reading all night long throughout it I understand your point of view, but I'm just making this thread as I really want to know a good alternative to the stock pickups! And yes, these board are full of people saying things that they do not aknowledge, so that's why I made this thread

PS: Sorry, I'm still a noob overlord in the pickups and appopriate sound subject! I'm here to learn with you guys



Yeah, I know that the JS100 may not be the best deal in terms of price, but it is said that it's a really playable instrument and that the edge III floyd rose is really great. A lot of people talk about its versality, and a lot of people recommend switching the pickups with a paf joe and a mo joe. I really like the JS100, what can I do :/

->
Paf joe and Mo joe. Sounds awesome in my opinion.

-> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy9u...feature=related
You are really right about the quality of the ibanez stock pickups that come with the js100 I'll think twice about changing them, but I really need to know a good choice if I'd change them!





Thanks a lot for the great answer!

Yeah, you've cleared up some things, and I'm also really looking forward on that c-1 hellraiser, the black cherry finished one

But I don't think I'm going to buy a cort guitar, I would rather buy that schecter. I really don't know where to pick between the schecter and the js100 (even though the differences are a lot clearer in terms of quality, I really like the js100!)

Thanks for your availability, I really appreciate it



More answers and advices please!

THANKS A LOT for your attention, I am really grateful to you guys!

Dave_Mc

+1

don't decide to swap pickups before you have the guitar- you don't know what it sounds like. The pickups may be fine, and even if they're not, you won't know the guitar's inherent voice until you have it in your hands.

also avoid most companies' cheapest signature models. They're there to get money from newish players who don't know much about guitars yet, and normally there are better quality non-signature models from the same brand for less money.

For example, with ibanez, you can normally get an rg1570 for less than a js100 (or jem 555, come to it). Anyone who'd take either a js100 or jem 555 over an rg1570, once they know what the differences are, probably needs some psych eval.

EDIT: the edge III is NOT a really great trem. It's crap. Floyds are one of those things that, if you're going to do them, you need to do right.

That means: Schaller made-in-Germany Original Floyd Rose (or its lo-pro variant), Schaller double locking trem (or its lo-pro variant), Gotoh GE-1996 T, Ibanez Edge, Double Edge (basically an edge with a piezeo, I think), Lo-Pro Edge or Edge Pro (maybe edge zero, but the jury's still kinda out on that one), maybe Ibanez ZR, or any own-brand trems which are those exact trems but rebranded (e.g. the musicman one is a rebranded Gotoh, as far as i'm aware).

The Korean OFR is "alright"... it's noticeably not as good as those listed ones, but it's a lot better than most cheapo licensed ones, and is allegedly a direct swap for an OFR.

By the way, when i say "Edge", I don't mean "Edge II and III". I mean Edge, period. With no other numbers after it etc.

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trueamerican

I don't know where you heard that from, but it's wrong. The Edge III is one of the worst (popular) tremolo systems in production.

If you want this type of guitar, get an Ibanez Radius. It's the same exact guitar, but better, and without the signature. It's been discontinued, so you'd have to look online for a used one.



The Hellraiser would be a better option, though I don't think it's your best one. Schecter necks tend to be pretty polarizing, though, so I'd recommend trying one first. I don't like how they finish their necks AT ALL. You would need to try it before seeing if you like it.

Between the Schecter and the JS-100, the Schecter clearly wins. It's simply the better guitar. But there are better options out there. Much better options.

EDIT: **** you Dave

Dave_Mc

but yeah i mean the cheaper ibanez sigs are generally a terrible idea.

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SparkzPT

I mentioned that "it is said that". Not my own words generally people say that it won't go out of tune easily!



I've already tryed the schecter in a store and from a friend that owns one. (He sold me his fender squier that 2 years later from then I'm trying to replace by a new guitar... I just don't know which one ) And I've noticed that when properly set up, the hellraiser c-1 (i've tested the floyd rose version) is a very playable instrument, it was really comfortable and enjoyable to play. Even though I don't know if it's sound would make it the best guitar for the things I said I play. But it's a really good choice nonetheless!


EDIT:



But what if I like them? And what if the sound pleases me?

I don't mind being dumb and stupid buying a worse guitar for the price... if that makes me an happy stupid person

Dave_Mc

yeah emgs are probably a bit brootal for what you want to play

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trueamerican

If you like the feel of the Hellraiser, then it's good for you. I'd check out the Washburn X-50 Pro FE. I personally think it's a much better guitar, quality-wise, than the Schecter. It's similar in specs and what it's intended to play.

But I'd recommend a used Ibanez Prestige.

steven seagull

Also the thing with the JS range is it used to be a standard range, the Radius series - the JS models used the same body shape. However a few years back they dscontinued the Radius and now the only guitars you can get in that body shape are the JS models. The JS100 is a fairly recent addition, presumable to cash in on all the Satriani fans who may feel that shelling out over $1000 for a guitar is simply too much - it's a big pyschological barrier. So all you're really paying the big money for is Joe's name and an exclusive body shape.

Dave's right about being able to get a much better spec'd RG for the same kind of money you'd spend on the JS100, although an S is probably a closer match in terms of body shape and size.

To put it into perspective here's a JS100

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/...itar?sku=519400

Same shape as the expensive models but has a boring black finish, boring dots for inlays, lower quality hardware and it's made in Korea, which isn't in itself bad but it means it's from Ibanez's second tier as far as quality goes.

Here's an S570DXQM

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/...itar?sku=584142

It's an S, so doesn't have that kooky offset contoured body like the JS but it's still lightweight, thin body. It's again Korean made so the same quality bracket as the JS, pickups are again similar quality. However the trem is better, it has funky inlays and the finish is downright stunning, and it's $100 cheaper.

If you want a Satch vibe then you're much better off with an S if you can't afford one of the more expensive JS models, you're getting so much more guitar for the money.

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