DiMarzio/IBZ pickups! Made in the DiMarzio factory but there has been some controversy of late surrounding the quality of these pickups. Are they as good as 'Original' DiMarzio pups? Vote here and post your thoughts on these pickups.
IbanezDaemon
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I just bought an RG2570EXVSL with the Dimarzio/IBZ pups and this is the first guitar (I've owned 9 in my life all together) that I have no desire to change the pickups.
They are a little hotter than a PAF Pro, with tight bottom and clear highs... the midrange is good, though I usually prefer a lot of mids, but these are great sounding pups, to my ear, and I've played almost everything from Dimarzio and SD... and too many stock pups from Ibanez, Fender and Gibson to count.
First time EVER I'm keeping the stock pups in a guitar, so... for me anyway... that says a lot about how good these pups are.
They are a little hotter than a PAF Pro, with tight bottom and clear highs... the midrange is good, though I usually prefer a lot of mids, but these are great sounding pups, to my ear, and I've played almost everything from Dimarzio and SD... and too many stock pups from Ibanez, Fender and Gibson to count.
First time EVER I'm keeping the stock pups in a guitar, so... for me anyway... that says a lot about how good these pups are.
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I'm partial against ceramic so when I recently got a RG 2620 I pulled them out and put in a Fred and PAF-Joe. That's me being subjective about pickups. 
I just bought a used RG2570E Prestige (vital gold, all stock) with Dimarzio / IBZ pick-ups...
I also own an rg2610e prestige which has an EMG 81 in it.
I have experimented with Seymour Duncan Jazz / JB, Dimarzio D-Sonic, EMG-81 and various 'stock' pick-ups on Gibson, Schecter and BC RICH guitars...
My honest opinion is : the Dimarzio / IBZ pick-ups are wonderful for stock pick-ups. However, an Ibanez Prestige is a guitar that usually cost near $1000 brand new, so it SHOULD sound good from the manufacturer. The single-coil Dimarzio/ IBZ pick-up was a nice surprise as I really dug the pseudo-bridge pick-up sound that it has when Isolated.
As far as the BRidge IBZ pick-up, it's adequate for most hard rock, metal applications but a Seymour Duncan JB or EMG 81 would slay it. I'd compare the IBZ bridge pick-up to my DImarzio D-SONIC (which is really a pretty killer bridge humbucker).
I will say that the DIMARZIO/IBZ pick-ups are very articulate (not too bassy or muddy) but lack a little bit of 'character' compared to a SD JB for instance...
I'm currently contemplating replacing the bridge IBZ with an X2N. WIll probably leave the rest stock as I use the bridge pick-up 99% anyways...
Now in my honest opinion : My 2610 with the EMG slays my 2570 with the stock Dimarzio/IBZ Pick-up for HIGH-GAIN applications. Essentially the same guitar / neck / woods just one has a single humbucker and one RG has the HSH set-up. The 2570 is MUCH more versatile with the 5 way selector switch. But for a pure METAL tone, nothing I have come across can even touch the 2610 except oddly enough a Gibson SG with a JB in the bridge.
I also own an rg2610e prestige which has an EMG 81 in it.
I have experimented with Seymour Duncan Jazz / JB, Dimarzio D-Sonic, EMG-81 and various 'stock' pick-ups on Gibson, Schecter and BC RICH guitars...
My honest opinion is : the Dimarzio / IBZ pick-ups are wonderful for stock pick-ups. However, an Ibanez Prestige is a guitar that usually cost near $1000 brand new, so it SHOULD sound good from the manufacturer. The single-coil Dimarzio/ IBZ pick-up was a nice surprise as I really dug the pseudo-bridge pick-up sound that it has when Isolated.
As far as the BRidge IBZ pick-up, it's adequate for most hard rock, metal applications but a Seymour Duncan JB or EMG 81 would slay it. I'd compare the IBZ bridge pick-up to my DImarzio D-SONIC (which is really a pretty killer bridge humbucker).
I will say that the DIMARZIO/IBZ pick-ups are very articulate (not too bassy or muddy) but lack a little bit of 'character' compared to a SD JB for instance...
I'm currently contemplating replacing the bridge IBZ with an X2N. WIll probably leave the rest stock as I use the bridge pick-up 99% anyways...
Now in my honest opinion : My 2610 with the EMG slays my 2570 with the stock Dimarzio/IBZ Pick-up for HIGH-GAIN applications. Essentially the same guitar / neck / woods just one has a single humbucker and one RG has the HSH set-up. The 2570 is MUCH more versatile with the 5 way selector switch. But for a pure METAL tone, nothing I have come across can even touch the 2610 except oddly enough a Gibson SG with a JB in the bridge.
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131 Posts
i thought these ibanez/dimarzio were pure pap,even infinity pups are better than these.just my 2 cents on it
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I love my V7/S1/V8 pickups (1550m pbl); initially I thought they were thin and flavorless...now I hear as much/more character in them as I do any straight-up DiMarzio I've ever played. (Call me crazy, but for me: [V7/S1/V8] > Evos)
UPDATE: after pulling out my JEM7VWH and playing that for a few days, I must retract my previous statement...I'm not certain if the humidity changes affected the resonance of my JEM or what may have changed, but it sounds better than I remember. I still really like my IBZ pickups, but those Evos are awesome - they deserve more respect than I initially gave them.
Bravo
UPDATE: after pulling out my JEM7VWH and playing that for a few days, I must retract my previous statement...I'm not certain if the humidity changes affected the resonance of my JEM or what may have changed, but it sounds better than I remember. I still really like my IBZ pickups, but those Evos are awesome - they deserve more respect than I initially gave them.
Bravo
If you mean swapping out the ceramic magnet on the V7 with an Alnico 5, I tried it. It was nice. However, for me there is something unique about a ceramic neck pickup's sound, and I've come to really enjoy the V7 in the neck of my RG1570 in it's stock form.
Ha! Zombie thread!
I personally live them. Never played them much except in trying out the RG920 and RG25th. They came stock on my RG921 and I love them! I took to calling the guitar "Kontrol", like "control" in an experiment, as this is the only guitar I've ever bought I had zero inclination to modify. And it's black, which itself is kind of a basic finish. Nothing flash about the guitar but it sounds AWESOME stock!
Of course, I do like it for the change of pace compared to my other guitars, which have Tone Zones, Evos, Super Distortions or other typical pickups people swap out for stock stuff. If the RG921 were my only instrument I'd change the pickups out to my typical Tone Zone - PAF Pro combo.
I personally live them. Never played them much except in trying out the RG920 and RG25th. They came stock on my RG921 and I love them! I took to calling the guitar "Kontrol", like "control" in an experiment, as this is the only guitar I've ever bought I had zero inclination to modify. And it's black, which itself is kind of a basic finish. Nothing flash about the guitar but it sounds AWESOME stock!
Of course, I do like it for the change of pace compared to my other guitars, which have Tone Zones, Evos, Super Distortions or other typical pickups people swap out for stock stuff. If the RG921 were my only instrument I'd change the pickups out to my typical Tone Zone - PAF Pro combo.
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I see this is an ancient thread that resurfaced.... but I'm glad it did. Right now I'm on the fence about whether to swap out the V7/V8 combo in my RG520qs for a set of Dimarzio/IBZ's that I came across. I did the V7/V8 magnet swap and they sound pretty good... but I get no sustain and could use some more versatility. I guess in the end I'll have to just try it... as some people say the IBZ's are horrible and some say they are awesome... lol!
I've never done the V8 magnet swap. I've only tried the IBZ's previously on a trem equipped guitar but on my RG921 it's a fixed bridge so the sustain and sound characteristics will be slightly different. I think the IBZ bridge sounds like a Super Distortion with a tad more warmth. More late 70's early 80's rock. Definitely not metal I think.
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Thanks for the feedback... I would love to play metal, and I do try to, but my fingers are too slow to rip it up. Don't get me wrong, I like to play me some Iron Maiden, Dokken, and Scorpions! Unfortunately, abilites are more suited to rock and blues, ha ha... So maybe the IBZ's will be a good match for me. I need something that can play hard rock/metal with the right pedal in front of it... or dial back the gain and play blues or smooth jazz or whatever. Thanks again!!
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Yeah, I guess by today's standards Iron Maiden is more "hard rock" than metal. I still consider them metal though... metal with tone. Adrian blows my mind... and Dave and Janick are both fantastic too.
So do you think the DiMarzio/IBZ humbuckers are hotter than the V7/V8 combo? The V7/V8 pair in my rg520 seem hotter than the Duncan/Ibanez pair in my sz320. Otherwise I don't really have any experience with anything hotter or "more metal".
So do you think the DiMarzio/IBZ humbuckers are hotter than the V7/V8 combo? The V7/V8 pair in my rg520 seem hotter than the Duncan/Ibanez pair in my sz320. Otherwise I don't really have any experience with anything hotter or "more metal".
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The IBZ are average pickups IMO. They aren't spectacular at anything and they aren't horrible either. I think they are clearer and a bit more articulate than the V7/V8 combo, but not as hot either.
For what you're looking for FE they will probably work just fine, but I wouldn't expect a huge upgrade from the V's.
For what you're looking for FE they will probably work just fine, but I wouldn't expect a huge upgrade from the V's.
I don't know about "hotter" as I've never checked the output of either but I like the IBZ's better than the V7/V8's. My favorite V was the V2 that came stock with the RG20th. I was a big dummy and switched it out and when i put it back it never quite sounded the same.
I don't think the IBZ's sound better or worse than other Dimarzios; they just sound different - and that's why I like them. I've recorded and played live with the RG921 and have been nothing but satisfied.
I don't think the IBZ's sound better or worse than other Dimarzios; they just sound different - and that's why I like them. I've recorded and played live with the RG921 and have been nothing but satisfied.
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I love the IBZ humbuckers. The neck is nice and warm and has good overall balance. The bridge is sorta similar to an AT-1 imo, but it's a little different. Dunno how to explain it. The middle single coil I wasn't a fan of so I put a blue velvet into my 2550 to replace that, and I can get a real nice twang in split
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Thats good to know... I like a nice smooth neck humbucker. Especially since the 520 has no middle single coil. Hopefully it sounds good split too. I have not been able to get my amp/mic/interface working right for recording either, so the neck pickup sounds better than the harsher bridge when recording direct from the emulated output from my amp. See my July guitar challenge track...:roll:I love the IBZ humbuckers. The neck is nice and warm and has good overall balance. The bridge is sorta similar to an AT-1 imo, but it's a little different. Dunno how to explain it. The middle single coil I wasn't a fan of so I put a blue velvet into my 2550 to replace that, and I can get a real nice twang in split
Thanks! Once I get the swap made I can make a vote and give some feedback on here.
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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.
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.
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