Changing Pickups in a Ibanez JS1000BP

JlMMY · #1 07-17-2007, 09:54 PM

I bought this guitar a few months ago and I love the neck pickup but the bridge pickup is not bright enough and lacks sustain that I am used to. I primarily play two other guitars one is a strat with a Seymour Duncan Hotrail in the bridge position and the other guitar is a PRS custom 24 which has nice sounding pickups. I was thinking of looking at the Seymour Duncan line for the bridge pickup of the Ibanez. I have an old RG550 and I favor those pickups over the sustain of the Ibanez JS1000BP. My JS1000BP is a 1998' year. Does anyone have any suggestions for where to start? Anyone else been down this road? Is it me or is the stock Dimazio bridge pickup lack shred ability? I have been reading for answers but I haven't found anyone complaining about the JS1000 pickups. Maybe I just need to crank up the amp but actually, I just think it sounds too muddy and I like the sounds of my other guitars better in the bridge position. Advise appreciated...

JVal4 · #2 07-18-2007, 10:02 AM

I have 4 of these JS guitars, including one just like yours. I get a really nice tonal range with the tone pot and IMHO this pickup sounds great. Yours may be having problems though.

Make sure the push/ pull pot is working properly. Also, the pickup could have actually been wired out of phase or something. (Happened to me on a different type of guitar once)

Alot of of people use the neck pickup anyway for shredding, as I'm sure you know. Nonetheless, I think the pickups in these are a great compliment to each other and sound killer.

What are you playing through amp-wise?

JV

rty13ibz98 · #3 07-18-2007, 12:47 PM

in one of my students js1200, we found that the fred was extremely lacking in the same areas you described, especially compared to his new h/s/s highway one strat. i recommended the super3 for him, but he opted for the mo joe-for the joe vibe. after the swap, the difference was obvious. the more joe was bigger and meaner. not over the top and agressive like the super3, but definitely meaner and louder than the fred. great match for the paf joe from the factory, which is a great pickup.

rich

_FR0D0 · #4 07-18-2007, 01:05 PM

I recommend you the regular Norton, as replacement to your FRED. Norton is one the best medium output Humbucker of the market IMHO

JlMMY · #5 07-18-2007, 02:05 PM

Thanks for the replies. Keep them coming. I am still thinking and playing the guitar. Last night I went to the websites for Duncan and Demazio and listened to some of the pickups there. The answer to the question of what amp I am using is: at home a Line 6 Flextone III or Roland Micro Cube. Whenever noise isn't a problem I play a Marshall Plexi superlead 100 and with the Marshall overdriving the sound is never a problem. I can't use the Marshall at home so I am comparing my sound to other guitars played through the Flextone III. I can overdrive my other guitars with the Flextone III. I like the tone of the JS and prefer the neck pickup at this point. I just want the bridge pickup to step up to the plate!

ashbass · #6 07-18-2007, 02:31 PM

try turning the Fred around. Fred is one of the dimarzio pups that have a different sound depending on which way it is installed. It makes quite a difference in the Fred and Evo. I haven't tried it with any other pups.

Rocker1 · #7 07-18-2007, 06:32 PM

I think the same about my rg2550 bridge pups, the neck is good but the bridge seems too 'Empty'

rastachild · #8 07-19-2007, 06:13 PM

i love the fred. it is definitely my favorite dimarzio pickup. i've owned about 5 js guitars at different times and have also had it installed in a few different guitars. my #1 guitar is my js6, which is fixed bridge mahogony body. it sounds incredible in that guitar. so much so that i only use that guitar for recording only. it's ballsy, not too gainy but enough output for very long sustain and is actually kind of bright (but not in a bad way). it sounds pretty good in the js1000 i have (2001 model), but not as good as the js6. seems a little tamer, but most of the tonal qualities are still there. i had a js1 from the early 90s and it sounded much mellower than the previous mentioned js guitars. the tone was warmer (or muddier, depending on if you see the glass half empty or full, lol) and a little fuller, but the output was about the same. it seemed to be lacking compared to the other two, so i sold it. i also put the fred in an rt450 (alder body) and it sounded very weak and anorexic. nothing like it does in my js6. i took that fred out of the rt450 and put it in a js600 (cheapie js with fixed bridge) and it sounds a little better, but still kind of weak output-wise.

i guess the moral to that long winded rant is that it may not be the pickup at all, but the guitar. even within the same model guitar there are going to be some that are not built as well as others and variances are common.

but then again, it may be that you don't like the fred. to each his own...

JlMMY · #9 07-19-2007, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rastachild

i love the fred.
i guess the moral to that long winded rant is that it may not be the pickup at all, but the guitar. even within the same model guitar there are going to be some that are not built as well as others and variances are common.

but then again, it may be that you don't like the fred. to each his own...

I agree that the pickup sounds different with different guitars, woods, and setups. I adjusted the pickup closer to the strings and got a brighter sound. I had an old Kramer Baretta (bass wood) and it had duncans (if I remember correctly) and it was hot sounding at full volume / gain but when you lowered the volume the sound dropped off terribly. I think I will get another pickup for sure but now it is just deciding which one will best compliment my style. I love the Hotrail in my alder wood / strat. It almost has too much gain and since it is the Eric Clapton model it has a -25 db boost / gain built in to the pickups which I sometimes use in the neck pickup but never with the Hotrail. I played the JS1000 tonight and it is growing on me but between studying this site and the pickup websites I will likely make a move soon. Thanks for your analogy and feedback.

JlMMY · #10 07-20-2007, 04:01 AM

Looking at an Evo for the bridge pickup and using the Fred for the neck. Than I will use the PAF PRO for a guitar I am building. Or go with some Duncans like these here....

http://www.seymourduncan.com/compareTones/

On Dimazio can the color caps be purchased separately? Anyone playing Evo and can comment against FRED PAF PRO Evo 2 and Duncans please pipe up. Thanks

_FR0D0 · #11 07-20-2007, 11:11 AM

Evo 2 is one of the best bridge pickups from DiMarzio, but for me you should try Norton first

GuitarGuru · #12 08-20-2007, 12:22 AM

I love Duncan's. The Screamin Deamon is a great pickup. It's got a little more bite than a 59. The Dimebucker is also a really nice pickup for heavey rock sounds. The Custom Custom is hot, and Trembuckers are sweet also. Every guitar is different, and it depends on your amp.