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19K views 75 replies 24 participants last post by  Phishphood42 
#1 ·
Hi guys!

I own a marvellous rg2620 cubed ice....

it mounts two dimarzio/ibz pups....
I was wandering if upgrading to better pups would impressively increase my sound... What do you guys think?

Thanks
 
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#5 ·
Yes, thanks guys!

What do you exactly mean with "adjust the pole pieces"?
As for the pups height the range of excursion is not that big...

But all that I meant, I'm pretty satisfacted by my setup..
it's only that maybe I can't get enough gain with my ampli's overdrive!
Of course it could be the ampli, too! It's an old marshall jcm 900 combo 50 W dual reverb... I use effects for having a real stunning distortion. And I was wondering if with some other pups I could have this sound leaving off the effects!

Bye!
www.violetlips.com
 
#6 · (Edited)
ciao Giuseppe, GAZ intendeva dire di settare i poli magnetici alla giusta altezza con una brugola (se guardi bene i poli hanno l'invito esagonale per la brugola) ma cmq non sarà questo che cambierà il suono nè che valorizzerà i DiMarzio/IBZ.
metterci dei pickups "di marca" cambierà sicuramente il suono, più che altro la pasta e l'intelleggibiltà delle singole corde, anche in distorsione. la maggior parte delle volte cambia in meglio. strana scelta cmq, una RG Prestige per un gruppo glam... interessante.

hi Giuseppe, GAZ meant you can set the height of individual polepieces with an Allen key (look closely, they've got a hex head for the Allen key), but i doubt this would change or improve your DiMarzio/IBZ pickups sound. of course putting "real" DiMarzios or whatever good pickups brand will change your sound, and it would increase the "intelligibility" of every single string sound and freqs, also on distortion. the most time it will get better, way better, though the DiMarzio/IBZ aren't bad at all. weird choice anyway, an RG Prestige in a glam band... interesting.
 
#12 ·
i was referring to raising just the polepieces, not raising the whole pickup. raising the polepieces only, won't make that difference, you're probably going to hear better definition on some strings freqs, but no big deal. instead, raising the whole pickup will make noticeably difference in presence, volume, sustain and attack.
 
#9 ·
So 'throwing in a Tone Zone' made the neck pup sound better too did it ?? I have guitars with both TZ and Dim/IBZ's, they are different, I like both, a lot of folks on here hate the TZ too and I don't understand that either. Try what I said then decide !!!
 
#11 ·
No, lol.... obviously the Tone Zone didn't make the neck pickup sound better.

However, I can tolerate a weak neck pickup more than a weak bridge pickup. I like a clearer sound with my neck pickup, anyway, so that's not too big of a deal. Those DiMarzio/ IBZ bridge pickups are terrible in my opinion.
The Dim/IBZ neck pup has at least as much output as the AN which most people love and I would say is 'better sounding' than the bridge version. To me it's more for classic rock, like a brighter sounding Angus Young sound.
 
#17 ·
You're not going to see a drastic "improvement" in the tone due to the quality of the pickups if you switch them for real dimarzios, because they ARE real Dimarzios. The bridge is based on the Super Distiortion, as I recall, and I completely forget what the neck is based on, but they're based on the same pickups as the custom-would seven string pickups from the RG7CST were, and I can attest that whether or not they're exactly "your" tone, they're perfectly fine sounding pickups.

Which brings us to part 2 - they're high quality pickups, but there's a lot of variety in the Dimarzio range, so you might be happier with another set. They won't necessarily sound "better" than the stock dimarzios, but they'll certainly sound different and for you that might be a good thing.

Either way, if you're using a distortion pedal to get your gain sound and you want to know if maybe a different set of pickups will get you there without a distortion pedal, the answer is probably no. ;)
 
#20 ·
You're not going to see a drastic "improvement" in the tone due to the quality of the pickups if you switch them for real dimarzios, because they ARE real Dimarzios. The bridge is based on the Super Distiortion, as I recall, and I completely forget what the neck is based on, but they're based on the same pickups as the custom-would seven string pickups from the RG7CST were, and I can attest that whether or not they're exactly "your" tone, they're perfectly fine sounding pickups.
+1!!!!

The bridge pick-up is a cross between a Super Distortion (425mv, DC Resist: 13.68, bassy eq voicing) and a Steve Morse Bridge model (450mv, DC Resist: 9.64, middy eq voicing). The neck pick-up is close to a Super 2 (425mv, DC Resist: 8.7, trebley eq voicing).

I don't know why so many s**t all over these pickups. It's as if a bunch of people had a meeting and said "Hey, lets focus on a random pick-up for no reason, and bash the crap out of it because we need another politic.".

This set sounds good (clear, articulate, good bite) in all tonewoods (from mahogany to ash). I've tried out an RGA321, RG2620, and a RG220A, and these pickups stomp all over most of the other pickups from most manufacturers IMHO.

Giuseppe, ignore the politicians, and let YOUR ears decide.They are REAL Dimarzios, so if you decide to get another set, it will be a lateral move as opposed to an upgrade. It is merely a question of taste that comes into play in your case.

Cheers
 
#18 ·
DREW you finally got the point!! :)
Nuno sei italiano?? di dove?
I play with My band (www.violetlips.com) in a more neoclassical style (even if we play glam covers during gigs).. So I think it's worth having an ibanez rather than those ugly (for me) gibsons ecc.. :)
So we're a glamour band only because we dress up and lots of this stuff...
As for playing styke we're a bit like malmsteen's early days.. (WE ONLY TRY TO GET THAT :p)

Thank you guys
 
#24 ·
i suggest not basing your decision on something 'a guy my friend's friend' told you. just try the guitar out and make your own decision. dimarzio/ibz's are designed to sound good in a number of different guitar models, just like the v series from before. there's nothing wrong with either of them and if someone doesn't like them, it's all about personal taste. tone is all in the ear of the beholder and one man's holy grail of tone is another man's boot through his amp speaker.
 
#26 ·
I tried the RG2610 to the RG2550 yesterday and there was no comparison in sound.

The 550 sounded weak compared the the 610 and the duncan pickup, it totally blew it away.

If your happy with the sound, keep it the way it is, but if you want something better and want to stick to dimarzio, head over to their website and read up.

I've actually heard if you buy from a dimarzio dealer and you dont like the one you get, they'll exchange for free, not sure how true that is tho?
 
#35 ·
Well, when you're wrong, you're wrong and apparently I was wrong. I'll be a man and admit it. I didn't make up what I said in my post. I was told by the owner of the store where I teach, who is an authorized Ibanez dealer, that the Ibanez rep told him that the DiMarzio/IBZ pickups were made in Japan and that they were only licensed by DiMarzio, not actually MADE by them. But, hey.... I got bad information.

It doesn't change my thoughts on the pickups -- they suck in my opinion -- but, I apologize for the post that lead to this argument and retract my statements. I only interjected my thoughts because someone said they were "real DiMarzios" and, based on the information I thought was accurate, I figured I'd add to the discussion. But, my information was inaccurate. Sorry, fellas. Carry on.
 
#37 ·
It doesn't change my thoughts on the pickups -- they suck in my opinion -- but, I apologize for the post that lead to this argument and retract my statements. I only interjected my thoughts because someone said they were "real DiMarzios" and, based on the information I thought was accurate, I figured I'd add to the discussion. But, my information was inaccurate. Sorry, fellas. Carry on.
I like your spirit JazzT. But quite frankly, do not apologize as there is nothing to apologize about. Your word of mouth argument is as valid as that fluffy assumption that what the Japanese and UK web sites say is the absolute truth. Just the fact that the US site is not consistent with the other two leaves a lot of room to think.

Bottom line is that unless somebody can factually show a picture of the pups showing any inscription on the back saying "made in USA", they can be anything.

I was fully convinced my S Quantum pups were custom-made DiMarzios, as some other have suggested. I just replaced them and they say "made in Japan". So not pure real DiMarzios. Just as an example.

So as others have suggested, let your ears be the guide. If you consider they suck, then they do. I respect that opinion.

Gus.
 
#39 ·
Gus, thanks for the support. Who knows why the USA site doesn't have "Made in USA" on them. Maybe they just assume Americans automatically just know that they're made in America because that's where all DiMarzios are made. Kinda weird, but whatever. I can't prove otherwise, so I'll just accept that I was given false information [by a usually reputable source].

GAZ, I get what you're saying, but rememeber -- I didn't just hear it from ANYONE (you know, "my friend told me, and he was told by this guy and that guy was told by this guy, etc"). I was told by an IBANEZ DEALER and, more importantly, who is the owner of the place where I work. This guy doesn't bull****....ever.

Anyway, I think this unfortunate deviation from the original topic should come to a close now and go back to the original topic. :)

DiMarzio/ IBZ -- the reason I don't like them is because they're too damn weak for the guitars they're in. They sound like pickups made for playing Classic Rock. I think they should have a lot more output.
 
#41 ·
Jazz T, I agree that the bridge pup is more suited for classic rock (which I do play some of, being a wrinkly!) and compared to my TZ equipped Ibanez's it sounds a bit weak, yes. As to place of manufacture, do they have 'Made in XXX' written on the pups ? If so. loads of members on here have replaced theres and surely would have noticed if it said something other than USA ?? Anybody fancy whipping theres out to have a look ......if you'll pardon the expression !!!??
 
#44 ·
Jazz T, I agree that the bridge pup is more suited for classic rock (which I do play some of, being a wrinkly!) and compared to my TZ equipped Ibanez's it sounds a bit weak, yes.
Yeah, it's not that it sounds bad.... I guess I was just exaggerating. It sounds okay for what it is. I just find it strange that Ibanez, which SHOULD know its market (usually shredder types who like a lot of gain) put something like the DiMarzio/ IBZ pickup in all their guitars now.

I also find it REALLY strange that Ibanez doesn't install them on J. Customs....

As to place of manufacture, do they have 'Made in XXX' written on the pups ? If so. loads of members on here have replaced theres and surely would have noticed if it said something other than USA ?? Anybody fancy whipping theres out to have a look ......if you'll pardon the expression !!!??
I took out a DiMarzio/ IBZ from my RGA321 and unfortunately never looked at it. Maybe I'll e-mail someone on e-bay who's selling one and ask what it says. It probably says "Made in USA," though.
 
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