Is this worth it?

[varador]

Should I shell out 180 Euros for a set of Seymour Duncan Dave Mustaine active pickups? This pickup set includes both a neck and bridge humbucker as well as replacement pots.

Now - although I have no doubts that these pickups kick ass - is it worth dunking them in a 2006 MII (Indonesia) Ibanez RG350dx?

Or should I just keep the money and save up for a better guitar, like a RG550 or a BC Rich Mockingbird Exotic Classic (drool) ?

I play hard rock to heavy metal, some blues on the side. I want these pickups because I've read that they're "organic" like the JB and '59, but have a bit more output, which is exactly what I'm looking for considering I play higher gain stuff and I need to give the tubes in my Peavey Valveking 112 a bit of a boost.

JEM owners, please do not diss my gear

[Crazy_Guitar]

Check out the user reviews on Harmony Central...

[screamndemon69]

If you get along with your RG350 nicely then go for it.

If you are questioning if it is "worth it" right now you will end up in one of three places if you put the new pups in it:

1) You'll love it.

2) You'll still regret not upgrading your guitar but still love what the pups do.

3) You'll be sad you didn't upgrade your guitar and don't like the pups (not likely on the pups )

All three are choices you'll have to make for yourself. Good luck.

[bdk]

Originally Posted by varador

Should I shell out 180 Euros for a set of Seymour Duncan Dave Mustaine active pickups? This pickup set includes both a neck and bridge humbucker as well as replacement pots.

Now - although I have no doubts that these pickups kick ass - is it worth dunking them in a 2006 MII (Indonesia) Ibanez RG350dx?

Or should I just keep the money and save up for a better guitar, like a RG550 or a BC Rich Mockingbird Exotic Classic (drool) ?

I play hard rock to heavy metal, some blues on the side. I want these pickups because I've read that they're "organic" like the JB and '59, but have a bit more output, which is exactly what I'm looking for considering I play higher gain stuff and I need to give the tubes in my Peavey Valveking 112 a bit of a boost.

JEM owners, please do not diss my gear

I cannot say this enough: DON'T DO IT MAN!!! DO NOT BUY THOSE PUPS!! They are terrible. They have WAY too much gain. You won't even be able to get a clean sound out of the neck pickup without turning the volume past 1/3 open. SD tried but they didn't put much effort into it. The pickups are buzzy and sound terrible. The "organic" feel of SD does NOT come through because the gain is ridiculously high.

Again, this is my personal experience with these pups, you might love them, but I haven't heard anything good about them. My suggestions: get a Seymour Duncan SH6, the Duncan Distortion, it has a lot of gain and still sounds organic and crunchy. In the neck go Dimarzio PAF Pro it's the best neck pickup I've heard. THEN, if you don't like the tone, take the pups out, and stick the stock ones back in and sell the guitar. THEN go SHOPPING!!! RG550 is a great choice, RG770's are fantastic too. One of the most underrated Ibanez's out there has to be the RG520QS. Sapele top, mahogany body, Edge trem, and super wizard neck and every single one I've come across plays uber high quality.

[mike80sguy]

I dont know (read: havent heard) the pups your talking about but I must say that 180 euros isnt a bargain for a set of pups. Relatively speaking its a very expensive upgrade.

I know that guitar players like to buy and sell gear, it comes with the territory i guess, i know ive owned and sold quite a lot of em.

One golden rule: If youre not sure about your guitar, DONT upgrade it

[varador]

Originally Posted by bdk

I cannot say this enough: DON'T DO IT MAN!!! DO NOT BUY THOSE PUPS!! They are terrible. They have WAY too much gain. You won't even be able to get a clean sound out of the neck pickup without turning the volume past 1/3 open. SD tried but they didn't put much effort into it. The pickups are buzzy and sound terrible. The "organic" feel of SD does NOT come through because the gain is ridiculously high.

Again, this is my personal experience with these pups, you might love them, but I haven't heard anything good about them. My suggestions: get a Seymour Duncan SH6, the Duncan Distortion, it has a lot of gain and still sounds organic and crunchy. In the neck go Dimarzio PAF Pro it's the best neck pickup I've heard. THEN, if you don't like the tone, take the pups out, and stick the stock ones back in and sell the guitar. THEN go SHOPPING!!! RG550 is a great choice, RG770's are fantastic too. One of the most underrated Ibanez's out there has to be the RG520QS. Sapele top, mahogany body, Edge trem, and super wizard neck and every single one I've come across plays uber high quality.

Thanks for your input bdk... What can you say about the SH6 for bridge vs the DiMarzio Evolution? I've been thinking of getting the latter since it's praised everywhere and supposedly makes you a better player since it picks up anything and everything you play, thus letting your style out through the amp.

Also, I agree with you mike80sguy that 180 euros is deffo a lot for a set of (bad) pickups. Too much, in fact

[bdk]

Originally Posted by varador

Thanks for your input bdk... What can you say about the SH6 for bridge vs the DiMarzio Evolution? I've been thinking of getting the latter since it's praised everywhere and supposedly makes you a better player since it picks up anything and everything you play, thus letting your style out through the amp.

Also, I agree with you mike80sguy that 180 euros is deffo a lot for a set of (bad) pickups. Too much, in fact

I have the Evolution and the Duncan Distortion. They are very different tonally. The DD sounds like a super hot rodded Seymour Duncan. It maintains a vintagey tone but has higher output. It's crunchy and has a decent amount of mids to provide that vintage tone.

The Evolution is a totally different pickup. It has less mids and has a more modern tone to it. Now, this is just my opinion. I think both are great, and they both provide that awesome Bridge Pickup kick that folks are looking for. Just in a different way.

The best think about pickups is if you buy them used on **** you can resell for the same price and try something else. If you buy new, I know Dimarzio and I believe SD allow you to exchange within 36 hours.

What kind of music do you play? Any high gain pickup is going to force you to be careful with your picking and attack. Both pickups are sensitive. Neither have a "gated" type output.

[varador]

I play mainly 80s thrash and heavy metal (Megadeth, Judas Priest etc), 80s hard rock (glam e.g. Poison), and some blues on the side. I don't need a perfect tone for the blues, it's more something I practice because of advice given in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwnPpU1VDrg

Since I have a Peavey Valveking 112 that I find more adept at getting vintage tones than modern ones due to the inherent warmth of the distortion (not something I can explain, it's just... there), I think I'll go for the SH-6. Also, listening to some clips on youtube really clarified why the SH-6's distortion is referred to as "crunchy" and I love that tone. It's organic, crunchy, thick, like your breakfast cereal It makes power chords sound very rich, it's cool Added midrange is definitely a plus, I like midrange-heavy tones like Brian May's.

Would the SH-6 sit well in a midrange basswood guitar (RG350dx)?

[mike80sguy]

Why not drop in Breeds, or if you really want a fat sound id go for Super 3 and Super 2.
The hell of it is that you wont know exactly what youll like unless you actually hook em up. You could use the pick up selector on dimarzio.com for some specs on sound of all their pups. keep in mind that the type wood can suck or enhance cerain ranges.
If I were you Id go and check out some other (higher end) Ibanez guitars. Find a sound you like and try to copy that by selecting the right pups. Ibz is easy as most guitars are basswood in RG series.

[varador]

OK dude mike80sguy I dropped my 350 today off at a guitar tech's for a complete setup: neck (truss rod adjustment), frets (they're slightly wavy ), trem, etc... And I ordered an SD SH6 distortion from the shop to be installed during the setup. I'll let you know how I like it.