rg8527 pickups

adamcbest · #1 03-14-2004, 02:38 PM

hey does anyone know what model pickups come stock in a 2003 J custom RG8527?? i'm going to change them to a Tone Zone 7 in the bridge and an Air Norton 7 in the Neck. I was just curious what was in the guitar stock.. cause they sounds kind of muddy for my taste. Also. For the bridge pickup I thought about an Evolution 7. What are you guys' thoughts on one over the other?? i'm a dream theater/joe satch/steve vai/ eric johnson style player. thanks guys

Gresh · #2 04-30-2004, 06:45 PM

I think they are the new 7s or something like that, I don't thing they are blazes or blaze customs (whatever the current version is). You can't go wrong with Tone zone/AN combo, and a Blaze/AN combo would be great as well. I think EVOs are a little too hot and brittle, but in the mahogany it might be less so due to the enhance mids typically present in mahogany bodied guitars. Super nice guitar though.

Praetorian · #3 05-01-2004, 04:49 AM

hmm...the new 8527 pups are listed on the site as DiMarzio RG-7's. I wonder if this is like the old 770DX pups, made by DiMarzio with Ibanez specs. Ibanez never was that great in judging what pickups go good on what though...so maybe you might want to check out the TZ/AN's or Blaze/AN. I want to get an 8527 soon too, so I'll have the same question. A 7 string w/ mahogany must be pretty thick. So does anybody know the difference in sound between the Blaze and the TZ-7? There are too many people who don't like the TZ/AN combo for me not to be skeptical.

Gresh · #4 05-01-2004, 01:40 PM

I don't know how different these pickups are compared to the stock set up in the 2027. I had one of those a while back and felt that it was just too mid rangy for me and assumed it was more due to the mahogany than anything else. I wasn't using the piezo at the time so I opted to back to the old UVs which absolutely sound killer. I'm a basswood guy I'm convinced and the blazes in basswood sound awesome. I also have a basswood guitar with TZ/AN combo (the art) and it sounds fantastic, more straight up rock sounding, a little snappier (maple board and top)..the mids arent' scooped like on the UV or the petrucci, but the mids still aren't as pronounced as with the mahogany bodied 2027. I'd probably opt for a blaze set up in the that 8527 due to the fact that they tend to have less mids to my ears.

I'm probably not helping you much. Better off just working with the stock ones for a while and let them settle on you a bit before you change things, maybe they will sound great to you. I know Bob Oakman loves the stock pickups in the 2027 while others can't stand them, so to each his own.

Praetorian · #5 05-02-2004, 03:57 AM

I've never played a TZ, Evo, Blaze or AN, so I don't know the first thing about this, but from what I've heard, the Blazes are the pickup of choice for an Ibanez 7 string. I play a lot of rythm/lead stuff, a lot of fills, and having a lead oriented pup like an Evo probably wouldn't be the best thing. I need the good leads, but something that has extremely crunchiness and full power chord capability. I actually like the stock 1527 pups, maybe I'll like the 8527 ones too when I get to try them.

adamcbest · #6 05-02-2004, 10:56 PM

hey guys.. i talked to a dimarzio about pickups.. they seemed to know a lot about what i should get for the sound i'm looking for. they said, since i'm not big on tons of gain, to try the air norton 7 in the bridge and the paf 7 in the neck.. i know i have a 3120 with a paf pro in the neck and it is really smooth. i think probably i will end up with the 'tone zone/air norton' or 'air norton/paf'. we'll see.. plus i'm going to rewire the guitar. instead of the ibanez 5 way.. i'm going for the prs mcarty style wiring. 3 way pickup switch with a push/pull tone knob coil split. i love that feature in the mccartys so i'm going to put in mine. anyway i'll let you all know what i get and how it sounds. i plan on getting it done this summer sometime

Praetorian · #7 05-03-2004, 03:51 AM

hey, that's cool, and a good idea. Yeah, the JS has the same kind of controls, I just realized that. The push/pull tone pot for coil splitting would be a great feature to add to a 7 string rather than the 5 way. Either way, it gets the job done. Anybody else know what goes good in a 7 string mahogany guitar?

Scott of Actual Time · #8 05-05-2004, 09:50 AM

the "RG-7" pickups are the DiMarzio "New 7" or B2 (bridge) / N2 (neck) pickups that were stock on the RG762Xs. these are really hot pickups that DiMarzio's techs compare to the Super Distortion models of their 6-string pickups. these are not the same as the stock 2027 / 742X pickups, the Ibanez-made V7-7 and V8-7, which many people don't like at all.

the Tone Zone 7 / Air Norton 7 is a good combo for articulate sounds, with most any level of gain. your J-Custom is mahogany with a maple cap, right? lots of people who find the TZ7 too dark are running it in RG2027s, which is just mahogany without the maple cap. in your case, the maple will brighten the sound a touch and the TZ7 i think would be a great choice.

running the AN7 in the bridge would definately give you a lower output, which would be great for jazzy or fusion kind of things, but if you ever wanted a little more power you'd have to get it from a pedal or from the amp. the Blaze sounds more compressed to me, with a scooped EQ curve and high end sizzle -- if you like medium-lower gain tones, i would definately put the Blaze and the Evo7, which has tons of mids, at the bottom of the list.

and don't kock the 5-way!

if you're willing to learn about complicated switches and coil cutting ideas, you can wire up some really cool schemes with a 5-way switch. but if the mccarty scheme works for you, by all means wire it up.