Pickups for Ibanez RG 550

J.DavidAX8

J.DavidAX8

Member
It is with original pickups, V7-S1-V8 so it is time for a proper replacement. I have read may people who use the combination that Ibanez equip nowdays for their guitars. Air Norton-True velvet-Tone Zone. I have read that with that set the guitar sounds sound shrill due the basswood body. I was thinking in Paf pro on the bridge instead of Tone Zone but im not sure. Ax8 user BTW.
Any other suggestions?
 
My recommendation for the bridge- Let me say- I wouldn't call basswood 'shrill' in Ibanez guitars-
Many of them have EVOLUTION pickups which are very loud and shrill and high and in the wrong guitarists hands sound terrible- so those are the most shrill pickups out there- and I've never had dislike for them in Basswood Ibanez'.

SO- I say that not to recommend the evolution- but to tell you- you have more options than you think.

I would recommend an EVO2 in the bridge- I think it has similar characteristics to the ones mentioned but some more things to like...

I also wanted to say- Dimarzio doens't put the word AIR in their pickup names for no reason... this is from their website...
What are Airbuckers?


Airbuckers are full-sized humbuckers that contain a gap or space between the magnet and the polepieces. The distance is quite small, and may be filled with nothing but air or by some non-magnetic material. The purpose of the gap is to lessen the magnetic field over the pickup, which in turn lets the string vibrate more freely. This results in a purer, more open sound and improved sustain.

The other purpose of the “air” design is to reliably reproduce the performance of vintage humbuckers (1950s and 60s), many of which contain magnets weakened by age and mishandling. Weakened or "aged" magnets are inherently unstable, and therefore cause unpredictable performance. Airbuckers utilize stable, full-strength magnets, yet the magnetic field is the same as produced by an "aged" magnet, thus offering the performance advantage without the unpredictability.


If that is something you like the sound of- go for it.

I like the EVO2, Crunch Lab, Evolution

ACTUALLY
If you're held up between a Tone Zone and lets say an EVO2
I'd get a BREED

I have a 30 fret guitar and put a BREED in the bridge of that because I didn't want it too shrill.

So I'd say the best bet would be EVO2 and Breed of the pickups not mentioned
 
Thanks guys that is great information I have postponed the pickups upgrade until after christmas, now is the time to see how that air norton sound with Axe Fx :)
 
So funny you should ask this right now!!

I had been going through a lot of the Sam Bell videos from Lick Library and I really liked his white Ibanez that he plays on most of them, so I bought a RG2550z of the same year, when they were white and black. I had written to Sam from his web site, and he got back to me saying it was his favorite Ibanez to play and he gave me all the details which was pretty cool of him...

Then I watched this video where Tom Quail demo's the 2015 model of this guitar which has exactly the same pickups you mentioned loaded in it. It was a no-brainer, so I swapped out the original stock pickups for the Air Norton-True velvet-Tone Zone and there is no looking back! Guitar looks and sounds amazing! You can hear those pickups in action on Tom's demo video of the RG2550z here:
https://www.guitarinteractivemagazine.com/issues/issue-36/reviews/ibanez-prestige-series-rg2550z/

Hope it helps!
 
Manny Fufish said:
So funny you should ask this right now!!

I had been going through a lot of the Sam Bell videos from Lick Library and I really liked his white Ibanez that he plays on most of them, so I bought a RG2550z of the same year, when they were white and black. I had written to Sam from his web site, and he got back to me saying it was his favorite Ibanez to play and he gave me all the details which was pretty cool of him...

Then I watched this video where Tom Quail demo's the 2015 model of this guitar which has exactly the same pickups you mentioned loaded in it. It was a no-brainer, so I swapped out the original stock pickups for the Air Norton-True velvet-Tone Zone and there is no looking back! Guitar looks and sounds amazing! You can hear those pickups in action on Tom's demo video of the RG2550z here:
https://www.guitarinteractivemagazine.com/issues/issue-36/reviews/ibanez-prestige-series-rg2550z/

Hope it helps!
Click to expand...
Oh great welcome to the RG club, hopefully we can share presets cause im decided with that combination. The luthier who is gonna do the job recommended me that combination of Air norton-True velvet-Tone zone because it what brings the Ibanez Prestige nowdays.

Although watch that video it makes me doubt in a good way hehe:
 
In my '89 RG-550 I went for the Petrucci combo: Air Norton - Blue Velvet - Steve's Special. I love the tone, though I admit it's a bit redundant as I also have an '04 JP6 guitar that essentially has this configuration. I've been considering swapping the SS for a Duncan to turn it into more of an 80's shredder (most of my other guitars have Dimarzios), but haven't decided which one to go with.

If you're looking for a Dimarzio tone other than the SS in an RG-550, I do like the ToneZone-7 in my RG7420, and the custom pickup in my Axis Sport (modeled after the TZ) also sounds good. Between these two bridge pickups, the Tone Zone is beefier (without being overly woofy) and a bit smoother, whereas the Steve's Special has more scoop and bite.
 
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