Pickup recommendation for Ibanez RG565

[Qweklain]

Hey dudes, I have an Ibanez RG565 currently equipped with a Super Distortion in the bridge and a Little 59' in the neck. I fucking HATE both of them. The Super Distortion is WAY too hot and drives the first gain stage of my setup too hard, makes my pre sound like shit. The Little 59 just plain sucks, I can't explain why, I just don't like it.

I play mostly progressive type metal, such as Dream Theater, Vanden Plas, Circus Maximus, that kind of stuff. I love mids (without honk), I can't stand scooped tone. I also like articulation. For the neck I want something that's more on the smooth end, but can be used for lots of things, but I am not a fan of spank type tones. I was thinking maybe going Sonic D in the bridge and Air Norton S, but I really don't know too much about pickups and what's really good out there for certain types of guitars.

Another part of my question... is it hard to change pickups yourself? I know how to solder and all that, but I've never done anything on a guitar besides setups.

 

[guitarslinger]

bridge: Suhr aldridge
neck: Dimarzio Air Norton S

 

[chunktone]

What type of wood is the body?

 

[Qweklain]

What type of wood is the body?

Body is basswood and neck/fretboard is one-piece maple. I do like brighter tones though.

 

[Digital Jams]

MIne has a JB and a Hotrails and they are pretty balanced when paired together in this one......

I know the JB has been really bashed lately but I view pups as little EQs that just add to what your guitar sounds like as a whole. The JB is pretty clear and the hotrails provide a nice sustain in this guitar.

Man that pic was after a serious cleaning, the frtboard is black again

 

[badger71]

Wouldn't happen to have an emerald green RG565 in the stable, would you?

 

[gtrplr71]

+1 on the air norton in the neck that pickup is the secz. heard the aldrich is sick too.

 

[mrp5150]

I'd probably go with a Duncan Custom or an Anderson H2+ in the bridge. For the neck I'd say a Duncan Hot Rail.

 

[Qweklain]

Wouldn't happen to have an emerald green RG565 in the stable, would you?

I WISH!!! I have the black one. I can't complain as I got a killer deal on it and there is NO damage AT ALL. It's perfect minus some polishing swirls, but like I care about that!

I'd probably go with a Duncan Custom or an Anderson H2+ in the bridge. For the neck I'd say a Duncan Hot Rail.

I'm kind of set on the Air Norton S for the neck. I've heard really good things about the Duncan Custom and Anderson though. Hmm...

 

[Valtiel]

Well the Super Distortion is pretty crankin in terms of output, so it wont be hard to find something mellower. There are soooo many choices out there though, its hard to recommend one without having to recommend seven others just like it. The Duncan Customs might be good, although the ceramic mag in the Duncan Custom might have too much drive if high output is something you are concerned about. The Fralin High Output Humbucker is also a really nice alternative, similar to the Duncan Customs but mellower because of the Alnico IV mag. For Dimarzios, I think the Breed would work really well in a guitar like that. The Suhr Aldrich is a big favorite as well. If that seems too hot, maybe the Suhr DSH or SSH would be better.

 

[Jakem]

There's nothing you can do about it; you can't change the pups by yourself, there are no good sounding pups for the RG565 and the price is falling on those RG565s... The only wise thing to do is to send me that piece of shit. I'm on fair mood and I'll pay 50% of the shipping. Doesn't this sound fair?

Seriously speaking, Scott, you're killing me when you post pics of that hottie! As for the OP, I'd check out DiMarzio HS-3 for the neck position. It's a pup which Yngwie's been using for 25 years now and he gets a bitchin' good smooth and singing lead tone w. them. They're very low output pups though so you might have to do some tweaking for balancing the vols between that and a humbucking bridge pup. Do you have any pics of your RG565? I hope that Ibanez reissues the RG565 w. updated specs (offside dot MOP inlays, AANJ, reinforced neck, edge pro w. locking studs and white color w. matching headstock)...

Jaakko

 

[chunktone]

You may want to checkout the Duncan Custom 5. I put one in my Hamer, and love it! It may be a bit bright in your guitar though due to it being basswood. Swapping the pickups yourself is a piece of cake. There are really good wiring diagrams on the Duncan site for just about any pickup configuration. On, and for the neck poistion, you may want to try a Coolrails. I've got one in my Carvin and it rocks!

 

[JackBootedThug]

You may want to checkout the Duncan Custom 5. I put one in my Hamer, and love it! It may be a bit bright in your guitar though due to it being basswood. Swapping the pickups yourself is a piece of cake. There are really good wiring diagrams on the Duncan site for just about any pickup configuration. On, and for the neck poistion, you may want to try a Coolrails. I've got one in my Carvin and it rocks!

fuck yea! custom 5!

 

[jessexxx]

i have the dimarzio drop sonic in the bridge position of my sg and love it,...very very articulate pick up!!..one of the few that actually lives up to the hype!..

but!!

pickups are such an elusive science,..so many variables,...so hard to test them with out actually putting it in your guitar!!...thats not even taking into account the biggest variable!!.."what sounds good to me..may sound like crap to you!"

i tried out a ibanez(bass wood body) similar to yours with a evolution in the bridge,..sounded great!..bought one on the spot!,..rushed home...put it in my sg (mahogany body) i couldnt believe how bad it sounded,..i cant over state how bad,..bad was!!...i thought i must have it wired up wrong,..burnt a pot,...ground issue,..SOMETHING!!,,.but no,..i straight wired it,..still sounded like crap!.....i couldnt get that thing out of my guitar fast enough!!!..i was afraid it would poison the rest of my guitar is i didnt use gods speed!!,,,i cut the strings off with wire cutters to speed up the process!!

if your lucky enough to find another guitar like yours with a different pups in it..and they have the same amp you have to try it out,..it's gonna be a guessing game for ya....

i went through 5 different pickups before i found what i liked,...good luck

 

[Qweklain]

i have the dimarzio drop sonic in the bridge position of my sg and love it,...very very articulate pick up!!..one of the few that actually lives up to the hype!

See this is why I was thinking of going D-Sonic. I've heard countless times that it actually does what it's said to do!

There's nothing you can do about it; you can't change the pups by yourself, there are no good sounding pups for the RG565 and the price is falling on those RG565s... The only wise thing to do is to send me that piece of shit. I'm on fair mood and I'll pay 50% of the shipping. Doesn't this sound fair?
Do you have any pics of your RG565?

Jaakko

Ha ha! Sorry, but I'll never let this guitar go! It is the best feeling guitar I've ever owned, and I'm not going to be like a lot of you who have had "their best guitar ever" and let it go only to regret it! I made that mistake last time when I got a 100% mint RGT3120 for like $600 two years ago... here's some crappy cell-phone pics of the RG565 though!
http://www.rig-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=35683&hilit=NGD

 

[SFW]

For your setup, I would recomend a DiMarzio Crusier for the neck and either a ToneZone or an Air Zone for the bridge.

 

[Jakem]

There's nothing you can do about it; you can't change the pups by yourself, there are no good sounding pups for the RG565 and the price is falling on those RG565s... The only wise thing to do is to send me that piece of shit. I'm on fair mood and I'll pay 50% of the shipping. Doesn't this sound fair?
Do you have any pics of your RG565?

Jaakko

Ha ha! Sorry, but I'll never let this guitar go! It is the best feeling guitar I've ever owned, and I'm not going to be like a lot of you who have had "their best guitar ever" and let it go only to regret it! I made that mistake last time when I got a 100% mint RGT3120 for like $600 two years ago... here's some crappy cell-phone pics of the RG565 though!
http://www.rig-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=35683&hilit=NGD

Now I remember that older pic thread. Amazing guitar you have! I tried to negotiate a deal about a black RG565 couple of years ago but couldn't get the price down to 450€ including shipping from Germany to Finland. It didn't have a hardcase and that worried me with the long shipping to Finland. So far that one and your RG565 are the only black ones I've seen (well, one at Ibanezregister too). Blue, green and red ones come up every once in a while but black ones are damn hard to come by. If I find one, I'll get it refinished to white w. matching headstock (black logo). Did you check out DiMarzio HS-3?

Hopefully Ibanez reissues it w. updated specs; AANJ, Edge Pro w. locking studs, reinforced neck and white color would fit the guitar fantastically well, IMO.

-Jaakko

 

[Code001]

AN S and Evo or Evo 2 in the bridge. The HS-3 has SUCH low output that I was fighting with the guitar every time I played it through my rig. Also, it's bright as fuck, even with 250k pots. The ToneZone sounds like a half cocked wah on 100% of the time. It can sound cool, but it can also get tiring. The D-Sonic sounds fairly even, but it has this weird and annoying treble/presence thing going on. It sounds better with the blade towards the neck. The Steve's Special, while scooped, is actually a really nice pickup (and this is coming from somebody who loves midrange). Oh, and don't forget the Breed for a cool, high output PAF sound.

 

[ke2]

AN S and Evo or Evo 2 in the bridge. The HS-3 has SUCH low output that I was fighting with the guitar every time I played it through my rig. Also, it's bright as fuck, even with 250k pots. The ToneZone sounds like a half cocked wah on 100% of the time. It can sound cool, but it can also get tiring. The D-Sonic sounds fairly even, but it has this weird and annoying treble/presence thing going on. It sounds better with the blade towards the neck. The Steve's Special, while scooped, is actually a really nice pickup (and this is coming from somebody who loves midrange). Oh, and don't forget the Breed for a cool, high output PAF sound.

Yeah, the Steve`s Special is nice. I had mine in an RG 507 earlier, and didn`t care too much for it, but now I have it in my 560, and I really like it. Of course, it`s a different amp setup as well. I`m also looking for a SC-sized humbucker, and I`ve had my eyes on the Air Norton S. I saw the Cruiser mentioned up in this thread, how is that like?

 

[Code001]

AN S and Evo or Evo 2 in the bridge. The HS-3 has SUCH low output that I was fighting with the guitar every time I played it through my rig. Also, it's bright as fuck, even with 250k pots. The ToneZone sounds like a half cocked wah on 100% of the time. It can sound cool, but it can also get tiring. The D-Sonic sounds fairly even, but it has this weird and annoying treble/presence thing going on. It sounds better with the blade towards the neck. The Steve's Special, while scooped, is actually a really nice pickup (and this is coming from somebody who loves midrange). Oh, and don't forget the Breed for a cool, high output PAF sound.

Yeah, the Steve`s Special is nice. I had mine in an RG 507 earlier, and didn`t care too much for it, but now I have it in my 560, and I really like it. Of course, it`s a different amp setup as well. I`m also looking for a SC-sized humbucker, and I`ve had my eyes on the Air Norton S. I saw the Cruiser mentioned up in this thread, how is that like?

The Cruiser sounds a lot like a P90. It has a real cool spank to it, round and smooth single coil kinda tone, with some interesting "vowel" kinda overtones. It's the pickup Andy Timmons seems to enjoy.