Middle Single Coil Suggestion.

[ShredGH]

Hey there I was wondering what good single coil I could put in the middle of a Tone Zone a Paf Pro. I am a massive fan of Gilbert and I would love to get some of the glassy sounds he gets when he turns down his volume and puts the selector on 2nd or 4th Position. Thanks! I have an Ibanez rg350m (5way selector.)

[jrade]

well paul gilbert uses a different type of body wood then your guitar does mostly for that effect. he uses a korona wood which is very deep sounding wood a okay at some random mid ranges but then has extremely clear bell like highs which is where he takes advantage of the korona using very clear trebly pickups called dimarzio area 67. your guitar is basswood the same pickups would make yours very trebly too but probably would not be capable of the mirror clearness like his it might but i dont think it will. i think his really has to do with the wood he uses and the treble of the area 67 really takes advantage of those bell like highs in his pgmfrm1. basswood strength is very clear noticable mid to high midrange like joe satriani's music. but i believe it struggles a considerable amout at clear highs compared to pgm's fireman guitar. in his bass wood guitars he uses the fs-1 as his middle pickup. you might like that although the bass wood in his are also a little better in color then the 350 so he probably does not need as bright of a pickup. for a true single pickup the fs-1 is probably your best bet though. i think the hum cancelling virtual vintage heavy blues 2 is much better. tone wise there pretty much the same but the virtual vintage heavy blues 2 is hum cancelling and a bit better harmonics from my experience also better sustain too. i would recomend the virtual vintage heavy blues 2 as the best choice. although you realize the when playing in section 2 and 4 the humbuckers really do make a big part in this too if there very hairy all something clear will do is just acknowledge that more and clear it a bit but compromise with like a blues twang. still cool. so i think the virtual vintage heavy blues 2 is a good start for a dimarzio pick but eventually you will probably want to change them all to get the major effect.

here is my list of middle single pickups i recomend from best to worst for you guitar for this situation. i assume you want dimarzio as you like these signature players from ibanez and they use dimarzio pickups.

hum cancelling
* * = my pick

*1. virtual vintage heavy blues 2*

the only true single coil i recomend if needed but not as good as the above
2. fs-1

back to all hum cancelling under here
3. chopper

4.area 61

5.virtual vintage 54 pro

6. area 67(as these are the brightest and worked for the fireman great i put them here because i think they will do much worse in bass wood and the ones above will do a lot better. i put the 61 above this because i find they have better harmonics)

7. area 58

8. fast track

9. virtual solo ( the last one which is not really even considerable for you situation)


i would also listen to some of the samples of seymour duncan very few of the samples are in basswood, mostly alder but those pickups can very well also fit your situation as there very clear and bright too and not very hairy at all. but it all depends on the model still.

oh yeah i dont see any single paf pro pickups but i really feal the tone zone is a bad pickup for the middle it wont help brighten your situation just expand the ruffness of the rest of your humbuckers.

so in the end while there are many good pickups like the area 67 your guitar will not automatically sound like another guitar with it and take the most advantage of it. but i think your guitar will eat up and take advantage of every aspect of the virtual vintage heavy blues 2 in the middle and a lot more then it would of any other pickup. i think that pickup will suit your guitar and make incredible sounds with it. and its a great sounding pickup anyways listen to samples of it. i am sure your guitar will not sound very different at all then many of the good ones with that pickup. i really feal this pickup was designed for a guitar just like that one.

[ShredGH]

Originally Posted by jrade

well paul gilbert uses a different type of body wood then your guitar does mostly for that effect. he uses a korona wood which is very deep sounding wood a okay at some random mid ranges but then has extremely clear bell like highs which is where he takes advantage of the korona using very clear trebly pickups called dimarzio area 67. your guitar is basswood the same pickups would make yours very trebly too but probably would not be capable of the mirror clearness like his it might but i dont think it will. i think his really has to do with the wood he uses and the treble of the area 67 really takes advantage of those bell like highs in his pgmfrm1. basswood strength is very clear noticable mid to high midrange like joe satriani's music. but i believe it struggles a considerable amout at clear highs compared to pgm's fireman guitar. in his bass wood guitars he uses the fs-1 as his middle pickup. you might like that although the bass wood in his are also a little better in color then the 350 so he probably does not need as bright of a pickup. for a true single pickup the fs-1 is probably your best bet though. i think the hum cancelling virtual vintage heavy blues 2 is much better. tone wise there pretty much the same but the virtual vintage heavy blues 2 is hum cancelling and a bit better harmonics from my experience also better sustain too. i would recomend the virtual vintage heavy blues 2 as the best choice. although you realize the when playing in section 2 and 4 the humbuckers really do make a big part in this too if there very hairy all something clear will do is just acknowledge that more and clear it a bit but compromise with like a blues twang. still cool. so i think the virtual vintage heavy blues 2 is a good start for a dimarzio pick but eventually you will probably want to change them all to get the major effect.

here is my list of middle single pickups i recomend from best to worst for you guitar for this situation. i assume you want dimarzio as you like these signature players from ibanez and they use dimarzio pickups.

hum cancelling
* * = my pick

*1. virtual vintage heavy blues 2*

the only true single coil i recomend if needed but not as good as the above
2. fs-1

back to all hum cancelling under here
3. chopper

4.area 61

5.virtual vintage 54 pro

6. area 67(as these are the brightest and worked for the fireman great i put them here because i think they will do much worse in bass wood and the ones above will do a lot better. i put the 61 above this because i find they have better harmonics)

7. area 58

8. fast track

9. virtual solo ( the last one which is not really even considerable for you situation)


i would also listen to some of the samples of seymour duncan very few of the samples are in basswood, mostly alder but those pickups can very well also fit your situation as there very clear and bright too and not very hairy at all. but it all depends on the model still.

oh yeah i dont see any single paf pro pickups but i really feal the tone zone is a bad pickup for the middle it wont help brighten your situation just expand the ruffness of the rest of your humbuckers.

Wow Dude thanks alot.

[jrade]

although in the end let your ear hear what you like for most songs thats played by pgm, steve vai, joe satriani, i think the one i picked the virtual vintage heavy blues 2 is the most versitile and best pickup for your guitar. it fits the best especially for shredding and a little dirty but if your really want the cleanest simply brightest ever clean sound for blues or high pitch sound for any thing clean and not strong or good sounding on dirty sounds at all for most guitars but just flat out clean as water sounds the area 67 should still win in that catagory unless your playing with ply wood.

[RedTiger]

If you're looking for the middle single coil pickup used by Paul Gilbert, correct me if I'm wrong but that would be the FS-1...at least on his custom RG-type guitars with the faux f holes.