noob question

[Homebake]

i know almost nothing about different pickups. i know about how humbuckers sound different to single coils etc but that's about it. i just don't get the chance to play enough guitars to hear the different nuances between pickups.

i wanna know, what kind of difference would you hear between the dimarzio/ibz pickups in a basswood rg (rg2550z) compared to an "air norton" or "tone zone" or whatever.

basically i'd like someone to explain how they sound better/different to the stock ibanez pickups.

[brothersnowgone]

At the very least MOST, but not all of your "name brand" pickups are a little more focused. You hear little things that before were sort of muffled or completely inaudible altogether. They are also (again usually) more responsive to different amp settings and your guitars volume pot setting.

That being said, if you put the wrong pickup in a guitar (meaning the pickup sounds bad because of the wood it's in) it can sound like fart just like the stock crappy pup's will.

[Homebake]

i often see air nortons in the neck position and tone zones in the bridge of RGs. i guess they're a good match for RGs? it's kind of impossible for me to try any pickups out because there's only two guitar shops in my city and neither of em have anything above stock.

[TMatt142]

And that being said, it's usually a P.I.T.A to "try" pickups out anyways. Thats why it's nice to either get feedback about the pickups you are looking into or check out any and all reviews about the pickups you are planning on selecting. I know SS.org has a great "pickup review" section on their website where members give the type of guitar they installed it in, what type of pickup, ....everything plus a rundown of how it sounded. It was very helpful to me when it came time to make my decision about pickups. Seems as though, if you have a Q about a pickup your looking at, Just ask. There are a lot of people here willing to help....

[Jaden]

evilbay ?
theres no substitute here for trying stuff out, thats the only way to know the improvements that are made over stock pickups by installing decent ones.
its an expensive learning curve but you cant go wrong with TZ/AN combo.

[Homebake]

compared to the stock IBZ/Dimarzio pickups that come on prestige RG's, how does an air norton and tone zone's output compare?

[_FR0D0]

Air Norton vs Ibz/Dimarzio Prestige Neck(IDPN):
Air norton is warmer, more organic, with a kind of hollow tone, not mud at all but with lot of lower mids, and have very nice harmonics for a neck pickup. IDPN is brighter with higher output, very tight low end, more generic hard rock tone.

Tone Zone vs Ibz/Dimarzio Prestige Bridge(IDPB):
The Tone Zone is also more organic and warmer, it shares a lot of characteristics with the Air norton, but the TZ is more heavy on the low end, has a more classic tone that the AN but still have a peculiar feel in the mid frequencies. The IDPB is basically a brighter and tamed Super Distortion and it gives hadr rock tone generic tone.