Debating pickups...

[MattF82]

Ok, so I have an Ibanez RG321fmsp, they come stock with V7 and V8 pickups. Ive found that a great many players consider them garbage, or at the very least, too bassy/muddy. I personally think that they are a bit muddy, but not necessarily trash. I have been told to adjust the height of the pickups, and also to switch the magnets from one pickup to the other (I believe an Alnico 5 in the V8 and ceramic in the V7). On the other hand some have said to deposit them in the trash as soon as possible. My question is this: should I simply replace them with something else, or should I attempt to adjust them first? I have never done any work on pickups before and would hate to ruin anything in my first attempt. Is it a very complicated task? Does the coil tap complicate things any further? I greatly appreciate any info and advice, as I am a novice in all of this. Thanks!

[Caevan O’Shite]

EDIT: Hmmmnn... Are the adjustable pole-pieces exposed and easily adjusted on your guitar's pickups? If you can get at 'em...

 

Lower the pickups a little on the bass-sides, and raise the individual pole-pieces (assuming they're adjustable) by a similar amount, tweaking their respective heights by ear for string-to-string and bass-to-treble-side balance. Just be sure that when a given string is fretted at the highest fret, it does not contact or buzz against its pole-piece, particularly at the neck-pickup.

 

You will likely end up with a stagger that resembles that of the pole-pieces in vintage style Strat pickups, with the probable exception of the 3rd/"G"-string's pole, which you will most likely have a bit lower, as the original '50s vintage pickups were designed for use with a wound 3rd/"G", while a modern string-set usually uses a plain 3rd/"G", which tends to be louder and more present.

 

If you experience odd intonation problems and weird overtones, especially on the lowest, wound strings, lower the neck-pickup and/or respective pole-pieces; sometimes magnetic-pull on the bass-strings nearer their middle, around the neck-pickup, forces the strings to vibrate in strange patterns. This doesn't usually happen with humbuckers, fender-style single-coils being much more prone to do so, but it's not impossible.

[Winston Psmith]

Caevan, I found an image of the guitar - no adjustable pole pieces, from the look of it. Seems to be one of Ibanez' lower-priced guitars, so it may be that the stock pickups aren't very good.

 

 

http://images.guitarcenter.com/products/full/InStoreUsed/635104491029643713.jpg

 

[MattF82]

True, it is no high end guitar, but a definite improvement over my old LP special II

I have just heard that if you switch the magnets, it improves the sound and clarity. There is a video, can't find the link, somewhere that explains more in detail. Honestly I just wonder if this is worth trying or am I better off just doling out the cash for new pickups?

[Caevan O’Shite]

I would initially think that, between the two magnets that you cite, AlNiCo V would be better for the neck pickup, and ceramic for the bridge. Is that the stock arrangement? Or is it the reverse?

 

What sorts of tones are you after? What styles are you playing with this guitar, and with what amp and pedals?

[MattF82]

I believe the alnico 5 is in the v8(bridge) and ceramic is in the v7(neck), or so I was told.

[Larryz]

+1 on the amp and pedal question? some amps can make lower end guitars sound pretty darn good and some pedals over-ride the best pups out there. If you love the guitar and action, new pups are not that expensive to have installed...I'm not a DIY'er and the music store I go to will swap them out for about $20 bucks if I buy the pups from them. They sell the pups for the same price as you will find at MF. You can probably have it done for about $200 or less depending on your "debate" with the pup selection. But, I would work with the amp and pedals 1st.

[MattF82]

Right now I just have a fender frontman 25r and an mxr prime distortion pedal. I am planning to upgrade to either a H&K matrix 100 or Fender mustang III, the jury is still out lol, but I've been swayed toward the mustang.

As for the sound I like, I stay kind of in between. I want nice cleans, but still want to have good distortion as well.

[Larryz]

The Mustang III is a good little 100watter for the money. I would hold on changing those pups until you try the ones you have with that amp and/or the H&K along with your distortion pedal...

[Guitarzan]

Fender Mustang is a good amp. i was impressed in it's tone when i tried one. as for pickups i would upgrade the bridge pickup first. neck pickups are more forgiving seeing they are in the position where the strings vibrate more. maybe your pickups would come alive with new pots.

[desertbluesman]

I have an Ibanez RG321. I think the pickups are decent. In fact it is one of my all time favorite instruments. I have adjusted the pickups via the screws that hold them to the pickup rings, I don't think the pole pieces are adjustable (I never use the pole piece adjustments on any guitar anyways)I play that guitar every 4th day as I rotate between all of the electric guitars I own (which is now down to 4) Anyways it sounds as good as any of my instruments. In fact go to my sound click page and listen to Beer Thirty Blues

 

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=143231&songID=12104751

 

I used the RG 321 on that tune see what you think. Listen all the way through, as I put into overdrive for the second half.

 

You might rethink your amp choice, I used the Super Champ X2 with an Eminence Lil Buddy Speaker, with a SM 57 mike pointed at the speaker rim on that tune. Tubes amigo, for tone you need tubes. The Mustang series is solid state/digital, a nice amp but still not there to tube tone quality.

 

[Caevan O’Shite]

As for the sound I like, I stay kind of in between. I want nice cleans, but still want to have good distortion as well.

 

Aaaaahhhh.... Cultivate a "play the amp" and "touch" approach. Work with an amp that can get a fair amount of overdrive and distortion without the necessity of pedals- as well as working well with pedals when you want them- so that you can get cleaner tones by backing off on the guitar's volume-controls and using a lighter picking-attack, and rolling it back up and picking harder and with a little "English" to elicit growl, grind, crunch and lead tones...

 

A good tube-amp will do this, as will some good SS and digital-modeling amps. It will vary a little with the guitar, guitar player, and pedals used.

 

I LOVE tube amps, and also the whole "old school 'play the amp'" approach of using the guitar's volume-controls and my "touch" to vary the tone and cleanness, overdrive and distortion response of a tube-amp. I often use a Fuchs Lucky 7 head, a 7 watt tube-amp, for just these reasons- I crank it up louder than I intend to play most of the time, roll back my guitar's volume-knobs, and adjust them and my picking-hand touch to vary from clean to mean to scream to beam-me-up-Scotty. And I've even been asked to turn down my 7 watt tube-amp so that, say, two other guitarists on a 120 watt 1x15 SS bass-amp and a 100 watt 2x12 SS guitar amp- both Peaveys- could better hear themselves...

 

 

When I use my Carvin Vintage 33 amp, I very rarely use its clean channel, or its channel-switching; instead I usually use its "Soak" dirty/overdrive channel for everything, backing off on the guitar's volume-knobs and my "touch" to get a clean yet fat, warm, full, throaty, silky-smooth clean-tone. I set its "Soak" (pre-gain) to about 3 or 4, and its (Master) Volume to somewhere from 4 to 6, using the guitar's volume-controls to adjust gain and clean-to-overdrive-and-distortion.

 

 

It's really good to try pedals out with your own guitars and amps, and also amps with your own guitars and pedals. For example, I helped pick out a couple of Overdrive and Distortion pedals for a friend; I found some that were INCREDIBLY dirt-cheap 'new/stale-stock', "Blow-Out" deals that suited him, his guitar and his amp PERFECTLY- though they were a terrible match for my own guitar and amps.

 

 

Choose pedals that suit YOUR pickups, as well as the general sound and musical-styles that you're playing. I play a Les Paul with humbuckers, myself, and used to have another with P-90 single-coil pickups; some pedals that sound GREAT with, say, Fender Tele or Strat style guitars and their single-coil pickups do NOT sound that good with my Les Paul, and also vice-verse. Try-before-you-buy, or buy with a return/exchange policy; or, at least research the given pedal/pickup combination. You can ask here!

 

Bestaluck, and keep us posted!

[picker]

Caev, I've found the same things, especially with (but not limited to) overdrives and distortion boxes. What pedals have you found most compatible with humbuckers?

[Caevan O’Shite]

Caev, I've found the same things, especially with (but not limited to) overdrives and distortion boxes. What pedals have you found most compatible with humbuckers?

 

I've found my Foxrox Octron, J. Everman Octave-X, and Dunlop/MXR Blue Box octave-fuzzes to all work very well with my Les Paul, especially with the neck-pickup, and a 2nd-iteration Dunlop Octavio, as well.

 

My Radial Tonebone Plexitube, and a Radial Tonebone Trimode, distortion pedals get along very well with humbuckers. I also like the Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive overdrive and strongly suspect that I'd like their Sparkle Drive Mod even more.

 

My old TC Electronic Stereo Chorus/Flanger (buy used or vintage!!) and vintage EH Small Stone phaser were a couple of modulation type pedals that got on well with humbuckers. The TS Chorus has a buffer/preamp that has up to 15db of very clean boost that helps a humbucker axe make a blackface Fender sound like Malcolm Young's Marshall, too! With or without the modulation effects engaged.

 

Directly comparing Fulltone Clyde Deluxe, Morley Steve Vai Bad Horsie, Vox, and Dunlop Cry Baby wahs, I VERY much liked the Fulltone Clyde Deluxe and Vox wahs the best, especially for humbuckers, followed by the Morley and the Cry Baby.

 

I also got to try an old Charlie Stringer/Snarling Dogs wah (an early Wonder Wah?) that someone I met scored for freekin' $25! It was extremely fat and dark, and also had a HUGE boost; instant solo madness, and great for superfat badass parked-wah tones as well as fatass whalebutt wah-pedal workouts. This wah will NOT do the Three's Company-theme! Built pretty heavy-dutily, too, I might add, and quite stylish with a neon-green base beneath a giant chrome 'n' black-rubber barefoot treadle-pedal and glow-in-the-dark snarling attack-dog with light-up LED eyes... !!

 

Looked like this (but a much more radioactive green when seen in real-life):

 

http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/profile_mojo_data/7/6/0/6/760608/pics/_c507003_image_0.JPG

 

 

[Winston Psmith]

Oh man, Caevan, I have the Snarling Dogs Mold Spore - it's their Wah+Ring Modulator pedal, with the glow-in-the-dark logo, and the eyes that light up on the dog. I bought it for the Ring Mod (fugly), and kept it for the White Room setting on the Wah. My only Wah pedal, period.

[MattF82]

I have noticed that the neck pickup is kind of angled downward or sloping down toward the bridge. Is that normal? Or will it have any effect on the sound?

[Caevan O’Shite]

I have noticed that the neck pickup is kind of angled downward or sloping down toward the bridge. Is that normal? Or will it have any effect on the sound?

 

So that one coil, on the neck-side, is closer to the strings, and the other, toward the bridge, is farther down away from the strings?

 

That's how the neck-pickup on my Gibson Les Paul is, and it was due to an accidentally shallow mounting-ring; I corrected that, so that both coils of the neck-pickup were more evenly parallel with the undersides of the strings, and I found that I much preferred the tone the way it was before, with the pickup tilted! So I put it back the way it was.