Blazes or JB and '59...Fret Dressing? Nickel Plated Strings?

[Drache713]

Well, I've finally made up my mind. I've been using my 7621 with 707's for long enough. They are one trick ponies, and I need something more flexible (instruments are supposed to be able to do MANY things anyways, not just sound good doing one! ) Anyways, I don't think I'll take the 707's out of this guitar, that would look ugly with all the routing on the sides showing, I was going to buy a 7621 in the local store here for about $600. Anyways, I want to put some nice passives in the new 7621 once I get it, and if I was to go DiMarzio I'd put in Blazes, and if I was to go Seymour Duncan I'd put in a JB in the bridge and a '59 in the neck. Question is: I'm looking for a high output bridge pickup with powerful low end, good bite, and somewhat scooped mids, but not so much that the tone is dark or indistinguishable. And in the neck I want a medium output pickup that won't distort the clean channel, that's warm and bright, and has enough mids for note defintion but not so much that it becomes muddy. Which set of pickups do you guy's think would be best for what I'm looking for? I was leaning towards the DiMarzio's, just because the parts of the pickup you screw into the body are shaped for the 7621, you'd have to mess with the square corners on the Duncans. While we're at it.......my current 7621 needs a fret dressing, they're becoming flat and grooved in some places. How much do those usually cost for a good overall dressing, leveling, and polishing? One last thing (tiresome ain't it?)...Do Blue Steels eat up your frets faster than regular nickel plated strings? I seem to remember reading that somewhere.

[Dylan7620]

blazes are quite versitile, theyd be my choice but a tonezone7 and evo7 combo sound pretty sweet and can make a variety of sounds. gotta love the 5 way split

[THE UNIVERSAL ONE]

Personally, the Blazes in the bridge didn't cut it with me that well in my UV. They sound like they have good bottom end distortion but have no depth to them, sort of like it had no punch at all to it. My RG7-421's bridge pickup (which is stock) sounds so much better to my ears. The Blaze is the bridge postition sounds ok though. I'm personally considering Seymour Duncan's pickups myself. Probably the JB.

[Scott of Actual Time]

i have JB's in the bridge position of both my 7620s. i think they give exactly the kind of sound you describe - high output, high gain, but still with midrange character and without super scooped mids. i think they work well in the basswood body for a high gain metal or a medium-high gain hard rock sound.

the JBs sound a lot better than the "DiMarzio New 7" that was stock in all the 762x model guitars. i never tried the Blaze II a.k.a. Blaze in the basswood RGs, but i always found that pickup in my 540S7 a little muddy and inarticulate. so i would recommend the JB as a much better choice than the Blaze. the Blaze Custom also might give the sound you want, if you prefered DiMarzio.

i have the Tone Zone 7 in 4 (!) other guitars, all mahogany or agathis and not basswood. i think the TZ7 has a great fat, wide open, big rock sound. it is really thick and "boomy" and sounds great for the 1 guitar ahrd rock band i play in. i don't think the TZ7 is as tight or crisp as the JB for really sharp metal style riffing.

like you mention, the JBs are a little tougher to mount in the 7620 because the metal tabs and the screws on the bottom of the pickup protrude lower than on DiMarzios. they require some extra fidgeting, but no routing or anything.

[Drache713]

I'm still leaning towards the Blazes more than the Duncans, mainly because even though no matter how well they can fit into the cavity, I want pickups with tabs that match the routing, lol. I don't want to do no cutting or routing or nothing (sure I could put a duncan in a 7321 or 7421 (i think) cause they have the cavities shaped right, but why (7621 all the way!). Anyways, I was wondering still if Nickel Plated strings treated frets better than Blue Steel's and how much a fret dressing costs, cause my current guitar needs one. One more question- I know the pickups in the 762x's are not the same as DiMarzio Blazes, but the pickups in the Universe ARE Blazes like the ones you can get on the market, right?

[Scott of Actual Time]

Originally Posted by Sempetra7621

(sure I could put a duncan in a 7321 or 7421 (i think) cause they have the cavities shaped right, but why (7621 all the way!).

the Duncans will fit in a 762x without any routing. the pickup cavities where the tabs go are shaped more pointy than the 742x or 7321 route, but the Duncans will fit.

[Skarekrough]

I've never met a Tone Zone 7 I didn't like....

[Drache713]

Anybody got sound samples of 7 string pickups by chance?