Need Pickup Advice

[Tandred]

Sorry, I posted this in the wrong forum earlier.

I was thinking about upgrading the pickups in my guitar, but I need some assistance deciding which ones are most appropriate.

My guitar is the RG3EXFM1:

Two Humbuckers
Basswood Body/Flamed Maple Top
Maple Neck/Rosewood Fingerboard

It came with Ibanez V7(Neck) and V8(Bridge) pickups. Personally, the V7 sounds fine, but the V8 just sounds terrible...

I play a lot of heavy metal. Thrash is probably my favorite, but, I also like older heavy metal from the 70s in the vein of that thick, blues-rock sound.

What pickups would work best? I've heard good things about the D Activators(X), but I'm unsure if they would work in Basswood.

Thank you in advance.

[seani]

Hi

My fave pickups are made by Bare Knuckle Pickups. They are handmade in the UK and used by a lot of artists. I have the VHII humbucker in a Jackson Soloist and it sounds great - like a hot, but not too hot, PAF and great for that old school sound.

Seani

[djohns74]

Boy am I tired of hearing about Bareknuckle pickups. I'm sure they're fine pups (if expensive), but I'm just tired of hearing about them in every other thread regardless.

Sorry about that, back OT, you could pick almost any higher output Dimarzio and it will be far better for you than the V8, that much is for sure. I think this whole notion of what "works" in basswood is a little silly, to be honest. Basswood is a pretty neutral tonewood, so the tonal characteristics of the pickup you choose will define much of the final tone.