7 string pickups?

[TGI11]

Hey,

So I've had my RG1527bk for a good 5 months now, after changing my strings to a much thicker gauge in order to play some Structures and Fall In Archaea (74-13) I noticed that my tone sounded extremely muffled and (I think) the pickups we're receiving too much noise from other strings. I know that the stock pickups on the RG aren't the greatest and I've recently considered buying new pickups like EMG 707's. So my question here is, would the pickup change help the overall tone and clarity or should i re-string the guitar?

EDIT: I got a Line 6 Spider IV amp

 

[mikemueller2112]

You sure you need a .074"? Don't both Structures and Fall in Archaea tune their 7th to G#? New pickups can definitely help clarity and of course it will help tone, but play around with your amp too. What kind of amp are you running the guitar through?

 

[Konfyouzd]

Those are some pretty heavy strings. I heard that with EMGs, large strings can cause them to clip. I've also heard that backing the pickups up off the strings can help with this...

Might help you too?

 

[purpledc]

What I would do is clear your mind of everything you think you know about dialing in a guitar tone and start from scratch. When i started playing a 7 I noticed that my amp needed to be eq'd in a much different way than what I was used to. Dont let your pre conceived notions of how it should be effect you dialing in your tone. Also mess with the height of your existing pickups. Im assuming they are passive. Many tend to raise the pickup as close as they can to the strings. This will give more output but it also increases bass response. You may want to try lowering the pickups some and then raising just the pole pieces of the pickup. This will increase treble response and picking definition. Also consider checking out DR DDT strings and/Or Dunlop Heavy Core strings. I buy the heavy gauge 6 string sets and add my own high E to make a seven set. These strings have a thicker core wire and when they are detuned have a greater amount of tension. This way you get the cutting attack of the thinner string yet the taught tension of a thicker string.

Changing your pickups does help. I have a Carvin DC700 and even though it came with an active system it was not for me. I ended up swapping them for emg's. I personally love them. I have and 81-7 in the bridge and 707 in the neck. Some feel the 81 is too harsh but I think its perfect. Best thing to do is go try out some guitars with EMG's if thats what you want to get. The good thing about trying active guitars is that the pickups tend to be less sensitive to instrument changes. In other words EMG and blackouts tend to sound like themselves regardless of the guitar they are in. This way you may not know exactly how they will sound in your guitar but you will get a close approximation.

 

[TGI11]

You sure you need a .074"? Don't both Structures and Fall in Archaea tune their 7th to G#? New pickups can definitely help clarity and of course it will help tone, but play around with your amp too. What kind of amp are you running the guitar through?

Yeah i know FIA has G#, and Structures has G...

 

[benjy]

those gauges would sound too dark to me. i would use 56-12 for drop b and a .066 for G#. me and my un balanced strings

 

[Pikka Bird]

I know that the stock pickups on the RG aren't the greatest...

I used to walk around contemplating which pickups I'd want to swap my 1527's stocks for, but after fiddling around with my settings for a while I realized that I find the stock pickups to be just fabulous.

 

[toiletstand]

64 + 56/52 - 11

 

[KiD Cudi]

BKP Aftermaths=Note Definition. I imagine you'd be satisfied with them.

 

[Asrial]

I have no idea why you still got ibby stock pickups in your guitar.
Yea, it's okay thick strings you got there, and the muffled sound might be the pickups, but not sure. My .080 sounds alittle muffled too, but that's what to be expected, and I'm using BKP warpig.
I can recommend you the Seymour Duncan Distortion, they sound fairly decent and handles lower tunings fine. It's Ola Englunds preferred pickup from what I know and most of his stuff sounds stellar, too. They also are fairly cheap (65% or so of the BKP price).

Also, yea, you could go 707 or something along those lines, but that requires a rather nasty extra route, which potentially could wreck the guitar if done by an inexperienced. Plus, it will most likely also make you refinish the guitar if hefty cracks in the finish appears.

 

[CrushingAnvil]

Trial and error, bud.

 

[sammyg35x]

i had a hard time choosing between 707 and 81-7 . I went with the 81-7 and I am very happy with the sound. but 707 doesn't sound bad either. even though some people here will try to tell you emg pick ups suck. they dont go with what you like

 

[AvengedESP]

I use a Bareknuckle Painkiller/Cold Sweat combo in my RG7321- the note definition/clarity is incredible in comparison to the stock sound, especially in drop G# (I also owned a Spider IV up until Christmas, they sounded great through that too).

I would definitely suggest BKPs if you are willing to pay extra for them, however a good set of Dimarzios or Duncans will work just fine- EMGs are also an option but they would probably require much more work to install.

As a side note .64 works fine for me in G# with almost no fret buzz, are you sure that going to .74 is necessary?

 

[Ishan]

EMGs needs routing, a bad idea IMO. There's a lot of choices in term of 7 strings passives pickups, check Dimarzio and Seymour Duncan first, then as suggested if you have the money check BKP and Lundgren.

 

[Philligan]

You sure you need a .074"? Don't both Structures and Fall in Archaea tune their 7th to G#? New pickups can definitely help clarity and of course it will help tone, but play around with your amp too. What kind of amp are you running the guitar through?

They use pretty crazy heavy strings. The one dude from Structures with the darker Carvin has 6 wound strings, his high C is the only plain string, which leads me to believe he's playing at least 13s, with like a wound 18 or something. A 74 G is totally doable.

I've got a low 64 on my RG right now with a 10-46 on top, and IMHO it's too light for G#, I'm keeping it in Bb standard for now. If I tuned to G# I'd probably do a 68, and at least a 70 for G. 26.5" Schecter 8s ship with a 74 for the F# and a lot of people say they'd like more tension. It's perfect for me, but tuning that down to E is way too flubby. Just some food for thought.

OP: Try backing off the pickups first, but in my experiences (and pretty much everyone else's ) the Ibanez pickups definitely aren't helping your clarity. Try the go-to Crunch Lab/Liquifire set, or D Activators. I've used D Activators in a neck-through RG 6 string and they were great; tight and aggressive, but pretty neutral so they sounded really balanced. Great cleans too for a pickup geared towards metal. I've had the stock pickups, EMGs (81 and 85, both 18v modded) and Blackouts in it, too, and I thought the D Activators smoked them all.

 

[foxbody351]

Hey wassup. i have an RG7321 too and i want to change these pickups. Is there a demo video of the Barknuckle combo?? thanx

 

[MistaSnowman]

www.bareknucklepickups.com

Check out the sample sound clips on each pickup model to get an idea of what that particular pickup would sound.