Why don't Ibanez guitars come with "better" pick ups?

[jairic]

I've noticed that at a price point, (which varies) that seems to be the $400+ range, other manufacturers, (Jackson, ESP/LTD, Squier, etc) start putting SD's in their guitars, or at least Designed by SD/EMG sort of thing. I know that some gutiars are starting to come with the Designed by EMG attrocities (lol, sorry) but just curious as to why Ibanez doesn't join in that?

BTW I'm not intending to knock ibanez here.

[C.Thep]

ibanez does have Duncan designed, and emg designed pickups on cheaper guitars.

[jairic]

My bad, didn't realize they had duncan designed pups out there. Thanks C.Thep!

[-Rhaab]

I dont mind the infinity pickups, but i'd still probably change the infinity or '___ designed' pickups with Dimarzio or duncans if I really like the guitar

[jairic]

I would too. I'm surprised no one is putting GFS pick ups in their guitars.. those things are going for $30-$40 a pop to the everyday consumer, a company like ibanez should be able to buy in bulk and get them in a guitar and end up making money off of them instead of losing money to companies like Jackson and Schecter that actually put great pick ups in their guitars.

[mike80sguy]

Really, does it make a difference if the pups are labelled "... designed". I still have my stock V1 and V2 pups in my RG20th and theyre pretty cool. They WILL be replaced by breeds tho but that a personal choice tone wise, its not that Im convinced that breeds are "better". just different.

Pups dont cost that much anyway so I dont really care what they slap in.

[jwoods986]

Ibanez definitely needs better pups in their mid-line guitars. $750 for an RG1570 and it has V7/V8 pups? Or the RGT42 which is around $700 and has Inf pups.

And no, pups are not that much but they aren't cheap either. For two hums you're looking at $120 and up.

With Jackson and ESP/LTD offering real Duncans and Emgs in their $500-700 guitars, Ibanez really needs to get on the ball.

[mike80sguy]

Still, stock pups be it INF, V2, Duncan, EMG Dimarzio whatever are still not YOUR choice. EG id never buy a guitar for its emg pups cuz I dont like em. They might be good or whatnot but not for me. I wouldnt not but the guitar either for its pups.

on the other hand its true that price wise ibz might as well slap in brand pups. i dont see that v's or inf could be significantly cheaper for a company like ibz if they buy bulk. whats 20-40 bucks on a 700 and up guitar?

[mike570]

I love the V1's and V2's that come on the 20th 550! I still say there were words between Ibanez and Dimarzio and, for some reason or other, Ibanez switched to V7/8 sos that people would switch out pickups and buy aftermarket.
Whatever the case, the stock pups in the 550 stay in.
And IMO "Designed by's" are nowhere as good as the real McCoy.

[rty13ibz98]

i actually agree with the originator of the post. maybe its the snob in me, but all my guitars, minus the artcores, have duncans or dimarzios loaded. i just don't like stock ibanez pickups. the v series:1,2,7,8; sound alright, but are always lacking. when i buy a new(to me) ibanez, it always gets swapped. i know that going in. i actually take that into consideration when buying one. with the new schecters, esp, and jacksons going to full blooded duncan and emg in their mid level guitars really speaks volumes about quality and competition in the present time. i hope that ibanez will follow suit. not to say that certain stock pickups don't sound good. the custom 58 pickups in my af105 are spectacular, but that is the only thing i can say positive towards ibanez oem line. just a matter of opinion, i guess.

rich

[ken_r152]

I have a lot of work experience in manufacturing companies and in procurement in particular, so I'll toss in a little bit of info here. Some of this is just speculation on my part, but it's just to give you an idea of sorts of things get discussed between companies:

Subcomponent suppliers (Like a guitar pickup company) often give discounts to customers for large volumes purchased over a certain amount, like $1,000,000 purchased or something. And that figure is based on economics. Large companies might be able to make use of that discount because they purchase a lot of pickups, but smaller companies might not be able to do it because they don't sell enough to hit that mark.

Also, small companies really can't afford to have piles of inventory sitting around. Particularly if it's expensive stuff. You have to report how much inventory you have each year, for tax and annual report purposes.

It might also be that a subcontractor only sells pickups in bundles of 10,000 units due to manufacturing schedules. It's easier to set up a machine to pop out a large quantity at a particular period of time than to set it up, manufacture a small amount, then take it apart again. The machines may need to be oiled and cleaned in between runs, etc. So the end result is that a company like Ibanez might be committed to use a large number of a particular type of pickup.

So it all comes down to economics, what a company is able to afford. I'm sure that Ibanez would switch to different pickups if it really meant a lot to the customers, and the customers are willing to show that they are serious by buying these guitars. And it probably will be a more expensive guitar.

Of course, there are plenty of people who think that the V1, V2, V7 and V8 are just fine the way they are

Anyway, I just thought I'd put some of these ideas out there.

[markg5150]

Originally Posted by mike570

I love the V1's and V2's that come on the 20th 550! I still say there were words between Ibanez and Dimarzio and, for some reason or other, Ibanez switched to V7/8 sos that people would switch out pickups and buy aftermarket.
Whatever the case, the stock pups in the 550 stay in.
And IMO "Designed by's" are nowhere as good as the real McCoy.

+1 - the V1/2's are pretty good IMHO, mine are staying in too

[ColinMmmmm]

And notice how companies like Jackson, and Schecter always use the same pickups? It's either a JB/Jazz combo or the EMG 81/85 set. They probably buy truckloads of those pickups, and are therefore committed to putting only those in their guitars. In some cases they might not sound as good as alternatives, but consumers think "hey, they put in REAL Duncans" or whatever.

Instead of putting a (possibly) more expensive pickup such as a "real" Dimarzio, which would still require them guessing as to the sound players are going for, maybe their view is they'll take a pool of cheaper pickups, try and match 'em with the guitar to get a decent sound, and people who want to swap them won't be paying more for pickups they won't use.

[sick-boy]

Perhpas Ibanez recognizes that a lot of their players have widely varying tastes in pups, so they save us a buck or two by not putting in pricier pups that we are just going to change out anyway. Just some food for thought...

EDIT: I didn't read Colin's post. So basically, "What he said"

[Eggy]

I've just put two high output (13k) pickups in my guitar that cost £7 each and they're two of the best humbuckers I've ever owned (and apart from Suhr I've pretty much owned most of them).

Eggy