rg1570 racer x pup combo

[90341689]

i dunno if this is in the right forum section, but here goes anyways!
i plan to get an ibanez rg1570 soon. i love the look, the playability and it just feels right to me. its flawless except for one thing...the pickups. imo they suck donkey balls and will be going as soon as i get it.

this is where i need your help and advice.
i want to start playing racer x and paul gilbert songs. for that im going to want to get pauls signature scaified tone (heavily picked, bridge pickup shred!!!)
ino paul gets his tone by using ibanez guitars (his signature pgm) and he uses paf pros and a jem single. i've been told his pickups are pretty much the main key to getting that tone of his. does anyone know if this is true?

i just want to know this because i plan to put his pickup combo in the rg1570 when i get it. so i wanna know if i put the same pickups as paul (paf pros and a jem single) in my rg1570, will it sounds the same or similar to the pgm signature guitar? theyre both basswood, so they should have the same or a similar tone right? the only differences that are there is the maple fretboard and the massive chunk of wood missing in the rg1570 due to the tremolo. will the maple fretboard and that great big void effect that tone that much? will it prevent me from getting his signature tone?

rg1570 with pup upgrades will be cheaper than a pgm and i kinda prefer the paint job on the 1570...i still love those f holes and the maple boards...such a unique and hot guitar!!!

neways, i hope you can help me out
thanks alot
cheers
90341689

p.s. does anyone know where i can get a jem single from? and...this is gonna sound n00bish...but does anyone also who makes it, because i cant find it on the dimarzio site...maybe im not looking hard enough

[ChopTart]

Ok, I do know that Paul Gilbert uses double PAF Pros and a Jem single in his PGM301's including the one he plays in the "Scarified" video. If you want to get close to his tone, PAF Pro's would do the trick through a dirty Laney half stack. IMO, PAF's are great pickups for bridge and neck because in both positions, they can sound so different with a little tone adjustment.

The Jem Single is not for sale on its own, but DiMarzio people say its supposed to be very similary to the HS-2. Personally, I'd put in a Blue Velvet instead to give it more tonal versatility. The DiMarzio site is www.dimarzio.com. For getting the pickups, I'd have a looksee at Rich's site and get them from him. He has a set of "Probable Paf Pro's" for cheap that I think would work fine. www.ibanezrules.com is the site.

[toneboy]

A fixed strings-thru-body bridge is going to sound different than a Edge equipped guitar. No way around that. The maple fretboard also adds a bit more "snap and twang" to the tone too. You'll get very close to his kind of sound by using the same pickups and amp but not that close without the same bridge and fingerboard. I've had a PGM100 and now have a PGM301 and even with the same pickups in both guitars, they sounded a little bit different.

Besides, the best you can hope for is a simliar sound to his. The key to Gilbert's (or anyone's) tone is in their fingers so unless you can borrow those, you'll never get exactly his tone

[nickcoumbe]

Didn't he use Super Distortions in that period?

I am sure I heard that somewhere.

[toneboy]

I'm sure he's used Super Distortion pickups in the past. The PGM-700 (the violin/Hofner shaped guitar) had dual Super Ds in it. He's also used them in an old Ibanez V he's played.

Over the years, he's officially used:
- PAF Pro
- Tone Zone
- Super Distortion
- Humbucker From Hell

It doesn't matter what he plays because he always sounds like him. All you can hope to do his achieve a similar sound via your gear. After that, your sound will be you.

[guitvai1]

I've heard this statement repeated way too many times "the tone is in your fingers", I think EVH coined the phrase years ago and guitarists have been saying it every since because they don't understand how to get great tone out of equipment. Yes the vibrato, pick attack, notes you choose come from your fingers but the overall sound comes from your gear. I guarantee you that if Paul Gilbert played through SRV's rig or BB Kings rig vs his own he'll have a different tone.

[spkenn5]

i heard somewhere, that his key tone is came from his amp, laney... thats somehow true, cuz i own a pgm ( cant play like him though hiihhiih ) and i cant get his tone with a vox haha

[Angelo Guitars]

If I remember correctly he used to use Super Distortions as mentioned above. I think they were wired in parallel.

[Andelusion]

The racerxband.com forum is the place to go tbh.

I'd go with ToneZone in bridge and PAF in neck so you've got more variation.