2027 bridge/neck pickup

[7 Dying Trees]

Yep, it currently has a TZ7 which, really, has a very muffled dull sound to me and really does not cut when playing leads, also it seems to really not have that amount of gain midwise that I'd like. I've also tried an evo7 in it, and it was too, well, sharp without enough bottom punch (although very clear, but lacked balls).

Any recomendations? have read good things about the JB7 on the site, but what would people recommend? P.S: I really like mids in the guitar ittself

James

 

[Drew]

Evo7. I had one in my old 2027 for a while.. I got the guitar with a Tone Zone, but while it sounded gorgeous clean, it just never cut it for me distorted... Great for godsmack-like crunch, but nothing else. It had no high end to speak of, and not a heck of a lot of bass, just lots of lower mids.

Swapped it for an Evo7, and man... that pickup just screams in mahogany. A bit more sparkle clean, but still very controlled, comparable for rhythm, just a bit edgier, but one of the best "screaming lead" sounds I've ever heard. It had all the character of a "For the Love of God" type tone without sounding particularly like Vai himself, if that helps... also, as you rolled back the volume, it did southern rock with a surprising amount of authenticity, through the mesa Rocket-44 combo I was playing those days.

It's a pickup that works exceptionally well in mahogany, and would address most of your concerns.

 

[7 Dying Trees]

I did have an Evo7 in there to start of with, and kind of did/didn't like it. The TZ7 kind of works, but just gives me that nu-metal rectumfrier type vibe which I don't like.

The Evo7 just didn't have that, you know, character/punch etc. It was in a way too tight if that makes any sense...

basically, although fairly impossible as it's totally different wood, I would like to get the same kind of vibe of it as I do off the Universe with a blaze custom, if that makes sense :s

 

[ecalcagnino]

Hey bro! I would suggest trying it with the Blaze Custom. I have those in the CTs which are mahogany/maple and I think you'll find you dig it in there as much as the UV. It's smack dab in the middle between the TZ and the Evo. The JB-7s are nice but more similar to the Evo with their high-mids.

 

[Vince]

I'm a huge fan of the JB7 in a mahogany guitar

 

[Regor]

What pickups did Petrucci use in his 7s? Wasn't it a 'custom' Steve's Special 7 (which is supposed to be the Blaze custom?) in the bridge and an Air Norton 7 in the Neck? (And how would those sound in a Mahogany guitar?)

 

[The Dark Wolf]

What pickups did Petrucci use in his 7s? Wasn't it a 'custom' Steve's Special 7 (which is supposed to be the Blaze custom?) in the bridge and an Air Norton 7 in the Neck? (And how would those sound in a Mahogany guitar?)

Shit, they sound like the bee's knees, mu-fucker, 'cause that's what I use in my 2027.

BTW, I answered basically this same post from 7 Trees on jemsite in more detail. Long and short, the Blaze Custom kicks ass in mahogany.

 

[Mind Riot]

What pickups did Petrucci use in his 7s? Wasn't it a 'custom' Steve's Special 7 (which is supposed to be the Blaze custom?) in the bridge and an Air Norton 7 in the Neck? (And how would those sound in a Mahogany guitar?)

I could be wrong, but I thought that JP's pickups were like the regular Blaze bridge and the Air Norton 7. I don't think he used the Blaze custom.

Oh, and in my opinion, the JB7 is hands down the best pickup for a solid mahogany guitar. It's just magical in mahogany, and I am far from the first person to say that.

I haven't tried the Blaze Custom myself so I can't comment on that, but I did try the Evo 7 before and returned it. In short, great leads, bad rhythm tone. But I think it's worth noting that the Evo 7 and the Blaze Custom have almost identical EQ curves and almost identical output levels (both around 430 mV, I believe) so if you've tried the Evo 7 and didn't like it you might not like the Blaze Custom either. But the Evo 7 supposedly has some different design aspects that make it pick up more harmonic overtones (according to Dimarzio, anyway), so that may have anywhere from a subtle to radical effect on it's tone.

 

[The Dark Wolf]

I haven't played the EVO7, but the Blaze Custom sounds quite a bit different than the regular EVO. Warmer, fatter, and punchier, without the harsh top end.

JP's EBMM sig pickups, according to Dimarzio, resemble a darker, louder AN7 for the neck, and a fatter, mid-ier Blaze for the bridge- hence, Blaze Custom (so says Steve Blucher). The BC is more the like D-Sonic than the EVO.

I significantly prefer the BC to the JB-7. I have both, and I find the BC to be much better all-around pickup. It's, to my mind, essentially perfect for a passive pup.

 

[Drew]

I think I've heard Dimarzio confirm the JP7 Bridge pickup was closer to a BC than a Blaze recently...

 

[Mind Riot]

I think I've heard Dimarzio confirm the JP7 Bridge pickup was closer to a BC than a Blaze recently...

I must have been thinking of his six string pickups then. I have this Guitar World from like 1995 with a review of the Ibanez JPM where they talk about the custom pickups and they call them the Air Norton and the Steve's Special, and I know the Steve's Special is the six string version of the Blaze bridge, with the scooped mids. In the review, JP says that the SS was designed specifically with scooped mids to work with his Mesa gear. I guess he used different pickups for his sevens. *shrug*

 

[Mind Riot]

JP's EBMM sig pickups, according to Dimarzio, resemble a darker, louder AN7 for the neck, and a fatter, mid-ier Blaze for the bridge- hence, Blaze Custom (so says Steve Blucher). The BC is more the like D-Sonic than the EVO.

Do you have a link to that anywhere handy? I'm curious to see what they said about it.

I find the BC to be much better all-around pickup. It's, to my mind, essentially perfect for a passive pup.

Yeah, but you said that before about the Tone Zone 7, and the Blaze bridge, and the JB7...

 

[Drache713]

Do you have a link to that anywhere handy? I'm curious to see what they said about it.



Yeah, but you said that before about the Tone Zone 7, and the Blaze bridge, and the JB7...

gotcha covered, dude! from our site (just check out my post on the last page):

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2727

and from Jemsite (just look for TDW's post):

http://www.jemsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28175

 

[The Dark Wolf]

Do you have a link to that anywhere handy? I'm curious to see what they said about it.

No link. That was from an e-mail from Dimarzio.

Yeah, but you said that before about the Tone Zone 7, and the Blaze bridge, and the JB7...

You noticed that, eh? Well, each got succesively better

Seriously, they're all good pickups. I went with the TZ7, and it is a nice pickup... but after playing it for quite awhile, I wasn't exactly satisfied with it (changing your mind is the perogative of women and guitarists!). So, I went with the Blaze Bridge. And I STILL love that pickup. I tried the JB-7, because I always liked the JB in mahogany, and everyone was nuts about the 7-string version. And boy, it does have a nice sound to it. There's an element to it that sounds just beautiful. But, the round bass thing... eh, I could live with it for the beautiful mids and round treble. However, after playing with it live a few times, its loudness and tendency to feedback (too much output) turned me off. It seems to me to be a great recording pickup, but less of a live pickup (the exact opposite of the TZ7, to me. I grew to not like the TZ7 nearly as much when practicing/recording, but I loved it live). The JB-7 is almost like the hot, gorgeous girl you lust after, but when you get her, eh... she's more maintenance tha you want. So, I went back to the Blaze (again, which I still love. I have it in my backup 7. Tried the TZ7 and JB-7 in that, too, and went back to the Blaze).

Which leads me to the BC. Eric (@ericsguitars) had a great sale on the Blaze Custom that I couldn't resist. Put it in, and no looking back. It still sounds like the Blaze (which, I reiterate, I love ) but it has all the good qualities of the TZ and JB added in, but in moderation. It's perfect. (For a passive. I'm considering EMG's, but NOT for tone reasons. I can't imagine improving on the tone of the AN7 and BC. Alas, I'm never satisfied )

 

[Drache713]

No link. That was from an e-mail from Dimarzio.


You noticed that, eh? Well, each got succesively better

Seriously, they're all good pickups. I went with the TZ7, and it is a nice pickup... but after playing it for quite awhile, I wasn't exactly satisfied with it (changing your mind is the perogative of women and guitarists!). So, I went with the Blaze Bridge. And I STILL love that pickup. I tried the JB-7, because I always liked the JB in mahogany, and everyone was nuts about the 7-string version. And boy, it does have a nice sound to it. There's an element to it that sounds just beautiful. But, the round bass thing... eh, I could live with it for the beautiful mids and round treble. However, after playing with it live a few times, its loudness and tendency to feedback (too much output) turned me off. It seems to me to be a great recording pickup, but less of a live pickup (the exact opposite of the TZ7, to me. I grew to not like the TZ7 nearly as much when practicing/recording, but I loved it live). The JB-7 is almost like the hot, gorgeous girl you lust after, but when you get her, eh... she's more maintenance tha you want. So, I went back to the Blaze (again, which I still love. I have it in my backup 7. Tried the TZ7 and JB-7 in that, too, and went back to the Blaze).

Which leads me to the BC. Eric (@ericsguitars) had a great sale on the Blaze Custom that I couldn't resist. Put it in, and no looking back. It still sounds like the Blaze (which, I reiterate, I love ) but it has all the good qualities of the TZ and JB added in, but in moderation. It's perfect. (For a passive. I'm considering EMG's, but NOT for tone reasons. I can't imagine improving on the tone of the AN7 and BC. Alas, I'm never satisfied )

yeah...and I just found the e-mail you speak of on a LINK and posted it, haha!

on a side note, when are you going to get those emg's put in your 2027? Are you going with 707's or 81-7's?

 

[The Dark Wolf]

yeah...and I just found the e-mail you speak of on a LINK and posted it, haha!

on a side note, when are you going to get those emg's put in your 2027? Are you going with 707's or 81-7's?

As for the EMG's, probably around Christmas (I'm looking at somewhere near $300- $202 for both pickups (EMG 707's, BTW), another $40 or so for brushed aluminum mounting rings (decorative, not functional), and about $40 for a dremel and a router bit.)

Like I said, the only reason I want to get EMG's is because of the nature of the pickups... I much prefer a system not grounded to me, and I like the low-noise of actives. I also like the tone, but I'm no passive hater, either. As far as tone goes, I'm essentially satisfied with the AN/BC combo. It's just, I think actives are a better design (compared the the what? 1930's technology?) of passives, and I've always liked actives anyway. But money and the route scared me off from that particular mod. I've heard some good results from people on the mod lately, however, so I'll probably take the plunge.

I like these current pickups so much, however, that they'll almost certainly go right into my backup 7, or maybe another 2027 if I can score one. They sound fantastic.

(And I can make them sound even more versatile with mt RP300. Since I bought the GNX1 off of giannifive, to use for the piezo out of my 2027, I put the RP300 first in my magnetic signal chain, and use it as an EQ shaper/noise gate/output booster/auxillary WAH/VOLUME. It's very cool... I have channel 1 setup as a default pickup setting. Slight bass boost, mid boost at around 2.3k, and a treble boost. Basically the same sound as the BC, but sounds like an active version. Channel 2 has a mid boost at around 1.3k... punchy, EVH-type sound. Channel 3, big bass boost, mid boost at like 1k. Total vocal WAH sound, like it's half-cocked. It's a fun trick, and it's sorta like having actives and passives all at once. I still don't like being part o the ground equation, though I've yet to get shocked since I have my 2027 and decent equipment, and lots of nice PA stuff at our studio. But you never know when you're playing some shithole dive... I got shocked enough times when I was younger to always have a bit of me turned off to passives. Of course, I use a wireless when I play live, so it's not really an issue...

Damn, I'm long-winded )

 

[Drew]

I must have been thinking of his six string pickups then. I have this Guitar World from like 1995 with a review of the Ibanez JPM where they talk about the custom pickups and they call them the Air Norton and the Steve's Special, and I know the Steve's Special is the six string version of the Blaze bridge, with the scooped mids. In the review, JP says that the SS was designed specifically with scooped mids to work with his Mesa gear. I guess he used different pickups for his sevens. *shrug*

See, this one gets confusing, lol.

The Steve's Special essentially IS a six-string Blaze - he was using Tone Zones in his guitars prior to Awake, but really liked how the slightly scooped midrange of the Blaze worked with his mesas, so he asked Dimarzio to make him a six string version. They eventually brought this into production (a safe bet - half the guitar world had a collective wet dream when JP posted his Triaxis settings in some mag, lol, his fans are, well, fanatical) as the Steve's special.

Fast forward a bit - JP splits from Ibanez, signs with EB/MM, and figures, what the hell, time for a pickup redesign. He has his AN/SS setup tweaked slightly. The end result for the bridge pickup apparently ended up slightly closer to the Blaze custom than to the Blaze, according to Dimarzio, but isn't a direct match for either.

Help any?

-D

 

[Mind Riot]

See, this one gets confusing, lol.

The Steve's Special essentially IS a six-string Blaze - he was using Tone Zones in his guitars prior to Awake, but really liked how the slightly scooped midrange of the Blaze worked with his mesas, so he asked Dimarzio to make him a six string version. They eventually brought this into production (a safe bet - half the guitar world had a collective wet dream when JP posted his Triaxis settings in some mag, lol, his fans are, well, fanatical) as the Steve's special.

Fast forward a bit - JP splits from Ibanez, signs with EB/MM, and figures, what the hell, time for a pickup redesign. He has his AN/SS setup tweaked slightly. The end result for the bridge pickup apparently ended up slightly closer to the Blaze custom than to the Blaze, according to Dimarzio, but isn't a direct match for either.

Help any?

-D

Actually, yes. That makes it pretty clear.

So, what you're saying is that JP is just like all the rest of us who try something new, declare it to be the end all be all of awesomeness and total world dominating guitar tone and setup, then try something else and switch and start talking about how the old setup was awesome, but there was always this little thing that bugged us...

Man, are guitarists predictable or what?

 

[Mind Riot]

I tried the JB-7, because I always liked the JB in mahogany, and everyone was nuts about the 7-string version. And boy, it does have a nice sound to it. There's an element to it that sounds just beautiful. But, the round bass thing... eh, I could live with it for the beautiful mids and round treble. However, after playing with it live a few times, its loudness and tendency to feedback (too much output) turned me off. It seems to me to be a great recording pickup, but less of a live pickup (the exact opposite of the TZ7, to me. I grew to not like the TZ7 nearly as much when practicing/recording, but I loved it live). The JB-7 is almost like the hot, gorgeous girl you lust after, but when you get her, eh... she's more maintenance tha you want.

It's perfect. (For a passive. I'm considering EMG's, but NOT for tone reasons. I can't imagine improving on the tone of the AN7 and BC. Alas, I'm never satisfied )

You could be right about the JB7, I'm just a home recordist so I couldn't really comment on it's capabilities in a live situation.

Oh god, Dark Wolf is going active!! Here we go again. EMG's are the gateway drug, then the next thing you know he'll be ordering $1000 custom actives running at 36 volts.

 

[Mind Riot]

gotcha covered, dude! from our site (just check out my post on the last page):

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2727

and from Jemsite (just look for TDW's post):

http://www.jemsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28175

Thanks!