The ol' pickup switcharoo

[Guest]

Awhile back I posted about switching out the stock pickups in my little ol' Ibanez. Its a GAX30- no biggy. But I love this guitar, its real sweet. Good player.
The pups though- real lame. Barf.

Well I decided to go with some Dimarzios.
I put an Air Norton in the neck and a Tonezone in the bridge this afternoon.
DUDES! Very awesome. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I had been warned that sometimes a pickup upgrade won't help your sound much in a cheaper guitar, but I lucked out.
I noticed a difference right off the bat- so much warmer and more full. I'm very pleased so far. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]


Just thought I'd let y'all know.
Thanks to those who gave me some good input. You rock.

Em

[BLOOD SPLATTER]

Re: The ol\' pickup switcharoo

Very cool Em!!Certainly worth a try whether you were warned or not!!Happy for ya!!

[Budman68]

Re: The ol\' pickup switcharoo

<font color="aqua"> excellent to hear Em, glad it worked out for ya [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]</font>

[guitarsjb]

Re: The ol\' pickup switcharoo

That's good to hear. Glad it worked in your favor. Enjoy and be inspired to write more great riffs... [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: The ol\' pickup switcharoo

I'm dying to try the Tone Zone someday, although I'm seeing APC swooping in in the future for some reason... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Emthrax]

Re: The ol\' pickup switcharoo

Thanks you guys.
The Tone Zone- very cool. [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

Priest- you and APC! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
I am waiting anxiously for the review ya know.

Em

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: The ol\' pickup switcharoo

I still have to order them and learn how to solder. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] Eventually though... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I spent a good amount of time sculpting a more refined tone tonight and was extremely satisfied. The DiMarzio Super 3 is a much better pickup than I originally anticipated. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Emthrax]

Re: The ol\' pickup switcharoo

Awesome, sounds like fun, dude. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Soldering is very very easy, and wicked fun! You don't need a whole lot. Sarge snapped my pic while I was at it- I look all geeky wearing glasses. (I can't see fine stuff)
Anyway, Good luck.

Still working on my new tone with these two- will experiment more tomorrow. Need to do a bit more adjustment to get just the right sweet spot. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Cheers,
Em

[ABSOLUT CHARVEL]

Re: The ol\' pickup switcharoo

Glad to see you were talking about guitars. When I saw the title "The ol' pickup switcharoo", I thought it might have been about picking up guy's at the bar with your friends and let's say "Trading Places".

[kpacheco]

Re: The ol\' pickup switcharoo

I'm glad you had good results. In fact it kind of helps me in my situation. I bought my son an Ibanez GRX20 and the pickups sound like ass, but the neck and action are pretty good. I got the idea to replace the Fender style pick guard with one that has 3 single coils. It has 2 hums right now. Anyway the only thing holding me back was whether or not I could get a regular style pickguard to fit in its place. Carvin Sells one that is already prewired with 3 single coils and was thinking of using it but wasnt sure if it would fit right in. Or I have also seen some prewired Fender ones on EBAY. Either way, your situation give me more confidence to do it.

I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

Ken

[Emthrax]

Re: The ol\' pickup switcharoo

Yeah, I was a little skeptical at first. This Ibanez had a good sound and nice sustain already, but just a little weak and not very full sounding. The neck pup was muddy as hell too- this Air Norton is fantastic. Solved that in a snap!
I had read around the JCF about these ToneZones... yeah. Very cool.

Good luck, Ken. I'm interested in hearing how this works our for you! How do you plan to do this?

The only thing about these new Dimarzios is that the high E and B strings aren't directly over the poles. The G is a little off center too. I cannot figure out how to get them centered correctly. [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]
There's not much room to fiddle with the placement.
Sounds fine though. She's going in for a visit with the tech soon, maybe he can do something. I dunno.

Cheers [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

Em

P.S. Eric- haha. Very funny. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]