rg560 pups upgrade or jem?

[kelvinator]

Newb question here. I never got a chance to play a Jem so I wanted to know if I upgrade my pups on my RG560 would it be close to a jem in playability and sound. Yes, I know my 560 has h-s-s pups.
thanks

[Dee]

Yes, it will be similar. The neck may feel a little different because the 560 has a Wizard neck which is a little slimmer than a JEM neck, but sound-wise there should be barely any difference at all if you were to use the same pickups as those fitted to a JEM (Dimarzio PAF Pro, Evolution, or Breed). Who knows, maybe the 560 can sound better than a JEM? A JEM isn't exactly the holy grail of tone and the 560 has more mass to the body -- there's no plastic pickguard with pickups floating on it or a swimming pool sized route underneath. If the setup is good it can play as good as a JEM. With a JEM, you're paying extra for the frills; monkey grip (again, less body mass), fancy inlays (again, slightly less overall mass, this time on the fretboard where a significant amount of the guitar's tone comes from), lion's claw trem route, etc. Plus, of course, the famous name association of Steve Vai.

[albee1952]

My opinion only but in a basswood body like the 560, I would go with a Breed in the bridge. You may have fun with the other holes. Maybe a Blue Velvet in the neck?

[waylay00]

+1 for what Dee said...My RG550 plays and sounds just as good as any JEM I've played, for 1/5 the price...

albee1952 is also correct. My teacher has an RG550 just like mine, except it has Evos in it. We were both discussing how bad they sound in basswood guitars.

I would go with Breed or PAF Pro for bridge + Blue Velvet or Fastrack for neck.

[kelvinator]

Thanks guys! I guess I'll be buying some new pups soon.

[jono]

Originally Posted by Dee

A JEM isn't exactly the holy grail of tone

It is for me, Dee. I've done the whole custom shop PRS and vintage strat. I just want to sound somewhere between Steve on Sex and Religion and Alien Love Secrets. So for me it is the wholly grail.

YMMV.

At the moment, I actually like the tone of my JEM10 best, Evos in basswood. My ears are obviously different to waylay's.

Overall though, the 560 is a fantastic guitar and whilst it might not sound identical it can sound every bit as good as a JEM, or Eric Johnson's strat, or Peter Green's Les Paul.

[Dee]

I agree mate, and of course, tone is subjective. There's nothing "wrong" with the tone I've heard from any JEM, I haven't heard a bad one yet, but I can think of guitars which, to these old ears of mine, sound a whole lot better.

[wixomwhat]

Originally Posted by waylay00

+1 for what Dee said...My RG550 plays and sounds just as good as any JEM I've played, for 1/5 the price...

albee1952 is also correct. My teacher has an RG550 just like mine, except it has Evos in it. We were both discussing how bad they sound in basswood guitars.

I would go with Breed or PAF Pro for bridge + Blue Velvet or Fastrack for neck.

Evo's sound great in basswood.

[waylay00]

Originally Posted by wixomwhat

Evo's sound great in basswood.

You might like them, but the majority of people (including myself) hate the sound of Evos in basswood. Once again though, YMMV.

[Algiman]

Evo in Basswood sounds horrible to me, but the Evo7 is great in basswood.

[wixomwhat]

are you guys using to much treble on your amps? or to much mids + to much treble?

[jono]

Originally Posted by waylay00

You might like them, but the majority of people (including myself) hate the sound of Evos in basswood. Once again though, YMMV.

You might hate them, but the majority of people (including myself) love the sound of Evos in basswood.

There that's better, now the facts are firmly established.

I think it might be a lot safer to say, "a lot of people here don't like the sound of Evos in basswood." rather than the potential overstatement you make above.

I think the only thing that is a fact on this issue (worldwide research notwithstanding) is that opinions and impressions of sound are widely variable.

[Scali]

Nothing wrong with the playability of an RG...
One thing you might want to investigate... Try out your RG unplugged and compare it to a Jem unplugged. Most RGs are basswood, like most Jems, but still there can be quite a difference... after all, wood is a product of nature.
If your RG gives you a good acoustic sound (similar to a Jem, or perhaps not, but more to your taste), then all you need is some new pickups.

My personal favourite is the Jem7VWH though, which is alder instead of basswood.

[waylay00]

Originally Posted by jono

You might hate them, but the majority of people (including myself) love the sound of Evos in basswood.

There that's better, now the facts are firmly established.

I think it might be a lot safer to say, "a lot of people here don't like the sound of Evos in basswood." rather than the potential overstatement you make above.

I think the only thing that is a fact on this issue (worldwide research notwithstanding) is that opinions and impressions of sound are widely variable.

Well saying that that the majority of the people like them in basswood can also be construed as an overstatement. But if you must, "a lot of people here don't like the sound of Evos in basswood."

Notice I didn't say all, and I clarified that your mileage may vary (ironically, I actually said that to prevent statements like that above). But from viewing many forums/threads, the general concensus is that Evos don't sound so great in basswood. In fact, I distinctly remember a poll somewhere a while back that proved so.

But once again, just to clarify, I'm not saying that everyone hates them. Obviously, some people like them, and if it sounds good to you, that's all that matters.

[Jaden]

Evo's sound good in ASH !!!!
IMO