OPINIONS ON IBZ V7/S1/V8 Pickups?

muttznmongrelz · #1 03-03-2010, 09:29 AM

Are they any good??? I've read mixed opinions on Harmony Central...curious how they sound and to what pickups (Duncan/DiMarzio) the sound would be comparable?

**jono** · #2 03-03-2010, 12:27 PM

I would say that they're generic rock pickups designed to give a generic, but quite high output, sound. They're not particularly distinctive so I wouldn't companre them to any DiMarzio per se. I don't know duncan's well enough to comment.

There's a reason that a lot of folks here rip them out as soon as the guitar arrives

That said, I've heard a couple of guys here (Scali comes to mind as a guy who still has them in his RG570) make them sound great.

RedTiger · #3 03-03-2010, 02:49 PM

Coincidental to this thread, I just bought a 2002 RG570 with those stock pickups. They sound pretty good. I can't compare them to anything in particular, but I know what I think sounds good. They probably won't stay. Unless the guitar has some sort of finish that shows the wood grain, I'm prone to change pickups just as much for aesthetics as I am for sound.

taracatac · #4 03-03-2010, 03:00 PM

I don't like them at all. For metal / thrash, they don't cut it.

muttznmongrelz · #5 03-03-2010, 04:37 PM

Thanks for the input. I appreciate it...they'll be going in place of an Air Norton/'54 Pro/Tone Zone F.

valcian · #6 03-03-2010, 06:55 PM

They were the stock pickups in my RG1570, they're okay, but nothing special at all, they just seem to lack that little bit of bite, slightly fizzy sounding. Suffice to say I now have an Evo 2, HS-2 and a FRED in while the stock pickups live in the guitar cupboard.

HeavyMetal4Ever · #7 03-04-2010, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taracatac

I don't like them at all. For metal / thrash, they don't cut it.

+1.

Rock on!

RG550metal · #8 03-06-2010, 04:17 PM

I think they sound terrific. I love the output and harmonics.

sniperfrommars1 · #9 03-06-2010, 07:21 PM

They have good single coil quack when split, but otherwise sound undefined with heavy gain in regular hum-bucking modes. The single coil quack is nice though, on par with some other pickups, I wouldn't say that they are terrible versatile though and can be a bit brittle in sound. They are not garbage though that's pure exaggeration on most peoples part. Remember most pickups are simply a coil of wire wrapped around some magnet and pole pieces.

RedTiger · #10 03-06-2010, 09:39 PM

Unless we're talking about how a pick up is EQed here, I'm not sure what exactly about certain pickups "don't cut it for metal" means.

How exactly does say, a PAF Pro, "not exactly cut it for metal" once you throw a ****load of gain in your chain, which is what I assuming people are talking about when they say "metal". No one that I know of is trying to drive a tube amp to the insane amounts of gain, if that is even possible. They're using a high gain channel on the amp or a pedal.

Korn had some pretty heavy tone and didn't they use PAF 7s? Those are very low output humbuckers.

HeavyMetal4Ever · #11 03-08-2010, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedTiger

Unless we're talking about how a pick up is EQed here, I'm not sure what exactly about certain pickups "don't cut it for metal" means.

How exactly does say, a PAF Pro, "not exactly cut it for metal" once you throw a ****load of gain in your chain, which is what I assuming people are talking about when they say "metal". No one that I know of is trying to drive a tube amp to the insane amounts of gain, if that is even possible. They're using a high gain channel on the amp or a pedal.

Korn had some pretty heavy tone and didn't they use PAF 7s? Those are very low output humbuckers.

When I +1'd that I think they don't cut it for metal I was indeed referring to the eq. I found them to be a bit muddy and "chunky" for want of a better word. Each to their own.

Rock on!

RedTiger · #12 03-08-2010, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyMetal4Ever

When I +1'd that I think they don't cut it for metal I was indeed referring to the eq. I found them to be a bit muddy and "chunky" for want of a better word. Each to their own.

Rock on!

Yessir, I figured that.

RG550metal · #13 03-08-2010, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyMetal4Ever

When I +1'd that I think they don't cut it for metal I was indeed referring to the eq. I found them to be a bit muddy and "chunky" for want of a better word. Each to their own.

Rock on!

Well I almost entirely use the bridge pickup but with the way I have my 550 set up my V8 and V7 pickups have an amazing clarity. More than a Duncan dist or Bare-knuckle. I find them to be a very impressive factory pickup and I wish more guitars came with them today.

Deny · #14 03-17-2010, 04:15 PM

I've grown to hate them, probably because it took me too long to replace them in my RG1570. Still looking for the perfect replacement, unfortunately I can't stand playing it anymore while I don't get rid of at least the bridge pickup

I'm thinking about the Breed bridge because of its lowered midrange peak, any opinions on this?

ELEMENTLE · #15 04-13-2010, 10:41 PM

Usually, the first thing I do with any guitar that I didn't build myself, is change the pickups to Seymour Duncans. I've used Pickups from every major manufacturer as well as custom wound and I keep going back to Seymour Duncans. What can I say? I like several different models of Duncans. One day I stopped by Guitar Center and was checking out axes, I found a used RG2EX1 in great shape. It had IBZ V7 and V8 pickups. I sat down to play it. 3 hours later, I had to stop playing and buy it. I considered changing the pickups several times, but decided that I liked the tone of them. I may go all active at some point and load Duncan blackouts into my three axes but for now, I dig the V7 and V8. If you want to hear what kind of tone I'm getting out of them through my Ibanez Tone Blaster TB100H half stack, hit my Myspace band site in my profile. It could be that my combination of an Ibanez Half Stack and Ibanez guitar with these pickups just work. SHRUG.