How will my sound profit from new pickups?

[Lethe]

Hey guys,

I am playing a stock rg-7321 via Zoom G2 on my Home Hifi System. I don't own an amp and I am not ready for playing on stage yet.

I tune my guitar to Drop A and with the stock pickups, i don't hear a noticable difference in sound when tremolo picking the open low A string. When I palm mute it, I can hear the individual strums quite well, but when playing open it just sounds like one long note. This bothers me quite a lot and I wonder if slapping in a Blaze Custom or something like that would be the solution.

The next thing is when playing chords it gets hard to identify the individual strings. I would like to have more definition there.

Other than that, I am quite happy with the stock pups, although my sound could use that bit of aggression which you can't achieve by simply turning up the gain (I like low gain settings for the definition). I play metal mostly, so I am looking for an aggressive bone-breaker sound which isn't muddy.

Any suggestions on which pickups will give me the sound I am looking for?

[Mr. S]

id say invest in an amp first, i mean aftermarket pickups are great but you'll probally enjoy the sound of your guitar more through an amp.. and plus the stock pups for the RG7321 arent that bad really, i mean the neck isnt the best but its still pretty good for the price.. i mean my RG7321 is my favorite guitar really, i play it the most...

but i digress, i say take your guitar to some shops and try out some amps, at home i use a marshall mg100, its a really good sounding mid price amp.. id say invest in pickups when your ready to record some stuff..
hope that helped and wasnt too incohearent (long day)

[brothersnowgone]

I agree with what was said above, you're not gonna get the true sound of whatever pick-up you choose through a home audio system basically anyway. I say get a small used combo that sounds decent and then think about pups. I'm by no means knocking your home audio, please don't take it that way. It's just that's not what that audio setup is meant for so you might not get the true way it is supposed to sound.

[lyconxero]

I would have to further agree with everyone that you're not going to really know how the guitar sounds unless you play it through some decent amps. However, I have played the RG7321 as well as a few other Ibanez 7s and I can say that the stock pickups aren't very good metal pickups IMO and a Blaze Custom in the bridge along with a Blaze neck or Air Norton 7 would greatly improve the articulation of the guitar...but even then, you'll need a real amp to bring out the guitar's full ability.

[Lethe]

Thanks for all your answers so far, and don't worry brothersnowgone - I don't feel like my home audio has been knocked on. I understand that a guitar amp is not meant to be 40-20000Hz at +-3Db but quite something else.

The zoom has amp and cab modeling though, and I think - while it is far from perfect - the cab modeling introduces the nonlinear behavior, so having a linear home audio system at least lets me hear it the way I record it.

Guess that was my turn to disgress there. Back on topic:

I realize an amp would have the most impact on my sound, but I thought as far as definition goes, the amp can not retrieve what the pickups have failed to, well, pick up, can it?

That is why I thougt I might be able to get better definition by swapping pickups rather than buying an amp that won't see the stage anytime soon. I'm a bedroom player.

Would an Amp actually give me better definition? Isn't that the pickups' job?

Thanks for your patience, I hope I don't come across like a stubborn moron - which I actually am. Don't tell anyone though.

[brothersnowgone]

All the parts of a guitar, everything up until it leaves the speakers has an effect on sound and an amp can put a huge part of what you're asking for into your overall tone. But still the pick-ups do make a difference also, so it's really up to you. good luck.

chris

[lyconxero]

Even if you're playing through a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, if the pickups aren't wound to give you articulation then your sound is still going to be muddy. Having said that, new pickups would definitely make a difference in articulation and would be a good place to start for a "bedroom player" like yourself. Of course, practice amps aren't all that expensive and you could get a decent one for around the price of a Zoom G2.