Ibanez Genesis RG550 stock pickups - Suck?

napalmdeath

napalmdeath

Well-known member
I'm looking at picking one of these up.. Should I expect crappy stock pickups? I hate going down that rabbit hole.. There's the expense of a case to consider, and I don't want to have to spend another $200 on pickups, you just get into Prestige money.. But I hate the Tone Zone in those, so there's that..
 
I would say they are more utilitarian than blasting. Not great by any means, but also not terrible. I actually was thinking about grabbing one again specifically for that sound.
 
I think part of the reason those are not super expensive for being Japanese made is because they don't really have brand-name pckups.

I don't know if they're still the same, but I've had the V7 and V8 pickups before, and they're alright. The V8 is kind of a generic-y medium hot pickup. I read some people like them better when you swap their magnets around. Stock the V8 is A5 and the V7 is ceramic. So you put the ceramic magnet in the bridge pickup and the A5 magnet in the neck pickup, and they improve, or so I've read.

I always thought they're kinda like those cheap pickups off Amazon that people buy and then make YouTube videos about where they find they're actually pretty usable. But no one is going to swap out their Duncans/DiMarzios/whatever for a set of those.
 
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I have redone everything with DiMarzio pots and switch, Steve Special and Air Norton.
 
Im big on tone zone /airnorton for that
or breeds
stock pickups do it no justice
 
I have 2 RG550 from the late 80s early 90s with the V7-S1-V8 and I like them. They may not be for everyone but they give a lot of versatility to those guitars.
 
BenoA said:
I have 2 RG550 from the late 80s early 90s with the V7-S1-V8 and I like them. They may not be for everyone but they give a lot of versatility to those guitars.
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Yeah I agree. I was listening to some clips I did when I had my Genesis 550, and it sounded very good with the stock pickups, and could cover a lot of ground.
 
I have an Evolution 2 in the bridge and PAF pro in the neck of my RG550. Sounds pretty good.

I removed the stock pickups about 30 mins after I first recieved the RG.
 

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Went with Dimarzio's Andy TImmons, Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues 2, LiquiFire JP. Guitar was smoking.
 
RedPlated said:
I have an Evolution 2 in the bridge and PAF pro in the neck of my RG550. Sounds pretty good.

I removed the stock pickups about 30 mins after I first recieved the RG.
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I'll send ya my spandex pants, you need them more than I do with that guitar...LOL!
 
napalmdeath said:
I'm looking at picking one of these up.. Should I expect crappy stock pickups? I hate going down that rabbit hole.. There's the expense of a case to consider, and I don't want to have to spend another $200 on pickups, you just get into Prestige money.. But I hate the Tone Zone in those, so there's that..
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I resisted posting in this thread, because I don't have a good recommendation for you. I been drinking though, so I'm talky. :cheers2: I've been through the gamut of RG's, as it was my first guitar. All the way from the RG350 to the J-Custom. I never really warmed up to the v7/8 in any of them. I mean, you can make them work, but just not something I would keep. I did not care for the Tone Zone either, at least not with basswood. YMMV.

Oddest thing I ran into, for my particular taste... I ordered a set of BK MM for another guitar, and while I was waiting for the guitar, the MM came first. I had a 92 RG570 that I had refinished, and I wanted to see what the zebra looked like, so I slapped them in. They turned out to be one of my favorite pickups in the RG's, and I've tried most of the standard production pups. They shouldn't really work, considering who they were built for, but I really dig them. :dunno:

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