What kinds of pick-ups would give great warm tones? And when needed some really crunchy rhythm tones? And maybe one that can give nice clean acoustic sounding tones? I've heard that JP used or still uses(?) DiMarizio Air Norton in the neck, and then the Drop sonic pickup. On my guitar I have a Hum-Single-Hum configuration. So what pickups would recommend? Heres some that caught my eye... http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/DiMarzio-DP161F-Steves-Special-Pickup-FSpaced?sku=302977 http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/DiMarzio-DP193-Air-Norton-Pickup?sku=302704 http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/DiMarzio-DP207-Drop-Sonic-Pickup?sku=309370 http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/DiMarzio-DP217-YJM-Pickup?sku=302124
If you can wait a few days to a week, I'll be able to give you first-hand opinions on the Dimarzio Tone Zone, HS-2, and PAF Joe pickups. They should be here by Friday, Monday at the latest, and I'll more than likely install them the day they arrive.
I gotchya. It's still fun to think about and plot out, though, isn't it? Just the idea of new gear is always pretty appealing.
Well, Seymour Duncan sounds much warmer to my ears than DiMarzios do. So I recommend a JB in the bridge and a -59 or a Jazz in the neck.
You would recommend SD's, you Dimebag. I love the JB, too, it's still one of my favorite pickups--just not what I'm looking for in the guitar that I'm giving the Tone Zone. Jade, what's your guitar made out of? You really can't go wrong with the Duncan JB, regardless of what it's made of. You might want a little more heat in the neck than the Jazz will give, though.
My guitar is a GRG170DX, pretty low end, and its made out of Basswood. http://ibanez.com/guitars/guitar.asp?model=GRG170DX
I would definitely suggest the Duncan JB (SH-4) in the bridge. Basswood can be kind of hinky, but I think the mighty JB will make it work for you. By the way, you'll be BLOWN AWAY by how much better your guitar will sound with good pickups. What sort of amp are you driving? If you don't have something with tubes in it, make it a point to try to make that happen in the next several months. You'll appreciate your new pickups all the more.
I've noticed that the Seymour Duncan Distortion works better with mahogny than basswood for some reason. It adds a ton of bass and treble, but in a basswood it can sound muddy. Don't know why I wrote this, I just did. :P
I agree with the Seymor Duncan! I've played a Yamaha Pacifica 812v for years (I'm a bass-player, so that's my only electric guitar), and the SD-pickups in that are just great! They work with heavy dist, and they sound GREAT on the acustic tones!
I've got all Seymour Duncans - Jazz in the neck, '55 in the middle, '59 in the bridge. I love it, very warm. The jazz actually give plenty of distortion too.
Glad I spotted this thread before I made a new one. I'm looking for 2 humbuckers and I just can't decide. I was leaning towards Duncan, but I figured I'd get some outside opinions first. So, by all means, keep posting nice humbucker combos. :P
There was a hiccup with my pickup order and they sent me three singles instead of two hums and a single, so the updated info is: I'll let you know about Tone Zone-HS-2-PAF Joe as soon as I get them.
If Petrucci uses Air Norton/DSonic, then I think when I get the Evolutions for my RG, I will put the DSonic with an Air Norton in my Epiphone. Evolutions will be cool to have...
in my OLP Petrucci I got the Tone Zone in bridge and PAF Joe in neck, I love them both. I've tried SD Beck and for some reason I didn't like it that much, not the rhtymn tone I wanted with this guitar. I find the PAF in that guitar gives an excellent warm lead tone, with a lot of definition to single notes also. Shred masters would appreciate such a pickup. Are you planning on installing the pickups the same way?
Yeah, the Tone Zone is going bridge and the Joe in the neck. I'm putting an HS-2 in the center and seriously considering running it in full humbucking mode in the center and having the in-betweens (5-way switch) run double humbuckers (bridge or neck with middle).
