Am I stupid or why do I like Ibanez stock pickups?

[Lindmann]

Hi everyone,

today I am wondering why I am different. Why cant't be a nornal kid like everyone else...?

I got my Ibanez RG7321 today which is loaded with the AH2-7 bridge pickup that I heard a lot of bad things about. They have a reputation for being extremely muddy and undefined. I believe some folks over here said that these were the muddiest pickups they've ever had in a guitar.
So prior to the purchase I planned on swapping the pickups right away as soon as I would get the guitar. Black Winters were the most likely candidate.

After I unpacked it today I hooked it up with my 6505 and played a little. So what can I say..? I was expecting the worst, but I was pleasantly surprised! Yes..it has a lot of bass and yes...it does not sound as agressive and tight as an EMG81. But fuck it...this pickup sounds heavy, chunky and well balanced in my ears. It gives me a nice old-schoolesque tone.
Chords may be a bit muddy though but single notes for instance sound even better than with the EMGs or the Duncan SH6.

So now I am thinking about keeping then in there and forget about the black winters. I know...such a statement is very rare on SSO...so tell me what is wrong with me?

(fun fact: I have another Ibanez RG, this time with the INF pickups in there. And you know what...? I like them too. They admittedly do not sound as metal but I like them anyay...for beeing...umm...different...I guess)

 

[NoodleFace]

It sounds like you like some aspects of the pickup but not the whole package. I think that's probably how most people feel - with the bad outweighing the good.

 

[KailM]

To be honest, I could get by with most pickups, as long as they’ve got output in the right ballpark. Really, if two pickups have roughly the same output, the differences between them come down to subtle EQ differences, which, in the greater scheme of things, doesn’t change your sound in a band mix by very much.

If more people ran EQ pedals in front of their rigs, there would be a lot less pickup buying and selling.

 

[mnemonic]

I’ve got a few guitars with pickups ranging from expensive Lundgrens, to Duncan Designed and whatever comes stock in a low-end Dean. The reason I didn’t change the cheapo stock pickups on some of my guitars is that they sounded fine.

In other cases I’ve had name-brand pickups that I didn’t like, or just weren’t a good fit for the guitar.

It might be that as your ear becomes accustomed to the new sound of that guitar that you come to dislike the pickup, or it might just be a fine pickup.

At the end of the day pickups are a piece of plastic with wire wrapped around, and a magnet under it. How well it works just depends on what you like, and what it’s in.

One person’s ‘muddy’ is another person’s ‘fat’, one person’s ‘tight and percussive’ is another person’s ‘flat and sterile’.

 

[Edika]

Hey it's all personal preference, I love the Dimarzio ToneZone in my Ibanez, the Seymour Duncan JB in one of my Jackson's and the Carvin C22 in my Carvin which seem to not be that popular.
On the other hand I had tried the Dimarzio Ionizer that everyone was raving about and I wasn't that impressed. As well as the Dimarzio D-Activators and the Evolution set which were nice but not ideal, for me.

 

[odibrom]

@Lindmann I think it's the amp that sounds good to your ears...

 

[Nick]

If you like them great, no need to replace them.

 

[Strobe]

They are a little more vintage-y than many Ibanez players want. Also, they are a little better sounding for lead work than most metal rhythm in my opinion. They are not bad though. I have never hated them.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

nah not all ibby pickups suck. just the v7/v8 set and whatever hunks of shit come stock in the rg8 (iirc they're bass pickups lol). they sounded like a tsunami of diarrhea. i swapped the v7/v8 for a bunch of different pickups including an evo2 set, dactivator set, and titan set. none of them worked in that particular guitar, which is when i got fed up and sold that shitplank body.
i really like the stock pickups in my mini destroyer, they're perfect for 80s hair metal and thrash, they're the only stock pickups in an ibby that i've actually left alone.

anyways, you do you booboo, different strokes for different folk, etc

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

If you think it sounds good, then it's good of course the stock pickups in a 7321 aren't optimal for brutal down tuned sounds, but they're decent all-around pickups that can still do some heavy stuff with a boost.

I've also been pleasantly surprised by a V7/V8 set that a friend of mine had in a guitar he was using for his pop punk project. It really comes down to preference and the rest of the rig IMO

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

As others have said, pickups are personal preference, and if you like them then you like them.

Most people don't like those pickups (and other 'stock' pickups) because they tend to have more bass and low-mids, often coupled with a ceramic magnet that is 'overwound', which is exactly what some people are looking for, but for others it's too much bass, not enough clarity, and sometimes too hot.

It also helps that you're running through a very 'tight' modern amplifier which will make almost any pickup sound pretty good!

 

[KnightBrolaire]

To be honest, I could get by with most pickups, as long as they’ve got output in the right ballpark. Really, if two pickups have roughly the same output, the differences between them come down to subtle EQ differences, which, in the greater scheme of things, doesn’t change your sound in a band mix by very much.

If more people ran EQ pedals in front of their rigs, there would be a lot less pickup buying and selling.

nah, some stuff just can't be dialed out well, like the weird wah midrange of juggernauts. conversely, you're not really going to be able to dial in the unique growl of a lundgren m series (and i've tried lol).

 

[guitaardvark]

The Ibanez Quantums (old ones, haven't tried the new ones) are one of my favorite pickups of all time. Pickup quality is still subject to taste. What you play, how you play it, and what you play it through all determine if a pickup is "good" .

 

[GatherTheArsenal]

Nothing wrong with it and yeah it's a little strange but hey it's all gravy

I personally really like (maybe even prefer) solid state amps and active pickups, the amount of times I've had that opinion shat on over the past 17 years and told how much "tubes rock dude" and how that kind of tone is "sterile" is amazing. A constant broken record just looping over and over.

I'm like yes. I know. I get it. I hear it too. But I like it. Can we move on now? Don't need to hear it everytime... IMO there's more to metal music than passives and tube amps.

If you like stock pickups, have at it. And if you make something good with them I'd be happy to hear it.

 

[Curt]

Nothing wrong with that. I really like their low end stock pickups for cleans, the quantum ones. Very glassy and crisp

 

[Mathemagician]

You can like whatever you like. There’s people out there playing in touring bands with Squires with stock everything having a great time.

And Ibanez pickupsbgenerally sound solid clean so no I don’t think you’re crazy.

 

[Catalyst Collide]

Nothing wrong with that at all, I will echo what others have said. You like what you like, if it gets you a tone you dig, call it a day. Forget what other people say about what's great and what's not. Satisfy yourself and you're golden.

 

[MerlinTKD]

I have an Agile 8-string, and while I toy with replacing the pickups (because tone chasing is an addiction ) I actually really like the sound I get with them. If I swapped the pickups, I'd have to spend a bunch of time reworking all my settings, just to get a tone I liked as well as what I've got now. Well, plus I'm chronically broke, but that's another story

 

[diagrammatiks]

the hot grinders in this s5470 I just got are not the worst...

the short tracer 2 middle pickup in this sv5470 I also just got is just a steaming pile of shit.

some of them are ok. some of them are just no great.

 

[littlebadboy]

I had an RG7321. Replaced bridge with DiMarzio Blaze. It sounded a lot better. Just change it, thank us later.