[madasahatter]

I have a set of dimarzio/ibz pickups that I measured. I would consider them medium output. The neck model (based on the super 2) reads in at 10.92 Kohm and the the bridge one (based on the super distortion) clocks in at 13.76 Kohm. With the music I play I don't care for either one in the bridge position but they make wonderful neck pickups paired with other dimarzios in the bridge.

Now if we're talking IBZ/USA F series pickups... those are the shiznit. My favorites are the F1 (similar to the breed) and the F2 (similar to the tone zone) The F1 reads in at 16.89 Kohm & F2 is at 17.74 Kohm. Comparing the F1 & F2 to their dimarzio counterparts there is only a shlight difference in sound only a tone nazi would pick up on. I love these things and wouldn't hesitate to put them in a guitar.

I saw some discussion on the V series pickups. I can't stand the V7 & V8 ones, way to brittle & sterile. The V1 & V2 aren't too bad, not my favorites but but they work well for more classic rock style music. I've never been a fan of pickups Ibanez designed on their own. One puckup I do like is the V-2... yes there is a difference between the V-2 & the V2. The V2 is newer and designed only by Ibanez, the V-2 is from the 80's and was co-designed by Ibanez & Maxxon. The V-2 is a great pickup along the lines of the F series designed by dimarzio. Unfortunately the V-2 is pretty hard to come by these days.

 

[madasahatter]

BTW, The Ibanez QM pups destroy the V series. They sound so much nicer.

I have an F2 and F4 in my 550, Love them both. Wouldn't switch them to my 2550 and replace the IBZs though. The only bridge pup that will ever go in that guitar, even if I change the pups, would be an AT-1.

I forgot about the QM pups. I have a set of those in my axstar rebuild, alot nicer than the V Series but a little too generic sounding for my taste. I say generic in a good way though. I have the tone I like and the QM's aren't quite it, but for a stock pickup that is supposed to be generic sounding to fit more styles of music they are quite good. I wish Ibanez would go back to those instead of putting the infinity pups in everything.

While I'm on that sublect, here's the way I would like to see Ibanez do it:

1. Scrap the powersound pups all together, those things suck all around. maybe I'd let them get away with putting them in those jumpstart packages.
2. Put the infinities and/or V series in the lower range guitars. Infinities & V's kinda suck but I think would still be acceptable in begenner guitars
3. Bring back the QM's & put them in the midrange/standard guitars. I think the QM's are a good choice for your average garage band player.
4. Use the Dimarzio/IBZ pups in the higher end of the standard models, like ones that would have a quilted or flame maple top. That would be a good way to go for your average player that wants a bit better quality and different tone than the QM's
5. Bring back the F series pickups and put them in the premium model and similar guitars. The F series would be a nice starting point for your semi-pro and session/studio players. The F series were designed by Dimarzio and made in their New York factory after all.
6. Stick with Dimarzio's in the prestige models. You can't go wrong with high end Dimarzio pups for your professional working/touring musician.

Just my thoughts, what do yall think?

 

[madasahatter]

The recent V2 in the RG20th was built by Maxxon. They're stamped by Maxxon on the back.
Interesting to know V-2 and V2 are different, though.

I'm not 100% sure on the full story as Ibanez and Maxxon won't readily divulge their secrets. I know that Maxxon did the bulk of the designing and all production on the original V-2's. When Ibanez started producing the new V2's I don't know if they tried to reproduce what Maxxon did and missed the mark or just redesigned them all together. On the V2's in the RG20th edition Maxxon did infact build them in their factory but I think they just kept the newer design that Ibanez did rather than going back to the original V-2's. Whatever the story is if you compare the V-2's to the V2's they're not the same, the V-2's sound much better.