"Ibanez RGA8 WH" pickup upgrade

[noodlezoup]

Hi.

I just bought a RGA8 and have some ideas for switching the pickups.

I've asked a few people what they recommend and a lot of the answers has been that it's more about personal preference witch i agree with.

Though i live in Sweden and have a hard time getting hold anyone with good 8string pups that doesn't cost me a fortune.

From what I've researched i found the DiMarzio PAF (Neck) and 8 Dimarzio D activator 8 (Bridge) be the best choice!


Question:

Does anyone know another shop that sells both pickups then Axepalace? (DMZ 8-Strings -- THE AXE PALACE / 508-921-9973 --)

Can I buy any 8string pickup rings that will suit with the Dimarzios? It would be so awesome.

Is the wiring hard to figure out, I'm considering leaving it to a pro but any tips would be really helpful how to do!

Putting some pics on it just for the hell off it.


Cheers

 

[Philligan]

I'm not sure what European shops or online stores are close to you, but I'd suggest checking eBay. They usually have better pricing than most shops, and if you search in eBay - handla från hela världen på eBay.se från pålitliga säljare som levererar till Sverige you should be able to find something without huge import taxes.

For pickup rings, other than making them yourself or finding someone to make them for you, the only place I know of that does that is Frets on the Net. It can't hurt to email Dave there and see what his pricing would be like with shipping to Sweden.

Frets On The Net Home

 

[MFB]

That first pic made me so jealous because it washed out the rosewood so it looked like maple. Now THAT'D be a crazy RGA8, white + maple board. Hot damn.

 

[brutalwizard]

That first pic made me so jealous because it washed out the rosewood so it looked like maple. Now THAT'D be a crazy RGA8, white + maple board. Hot damn.

me too man i had to double take.

 

[nsimonsen]

That first pic made me so jealous because it washed out the rosewood so it looked like maple. Now THAT'D be a crazy RGA8, white + maple board. Hot damn.

I totally did that.

Made me think of how a RG1527M would look as an 8. Would be so nice.

 

[noodlezoup]

For pickup rings, other than making them yourself or finding someone to make them for you, the only place I know of that does that is Frets on the Net. It can't hurt to email Dave there and see what his pricing would be like with shipping to Sweden.

Frets On The Net Home

Thanks alot man! just spoke with dave and im gonna get them shipped to me. pretty fair price too considering they are custom parts.

 

[Konfyouzd]

Board looks like maple in the first pic.

 

[MJY71]

White DiMarzio D Activator 8 pickups would look gorgeous in that guitar with white pickup rings.

EDIT: On second thought, with the black hardware, black pickup rings might look better with white pickups... just to provide better contrast and evenness.

By the way, is that a Gator case? I'm currently looking for a good hard case for my RGA8QM, and am surprised that Ibanez has so few available for these particular models.

 

[Zeetwig]

I know Thomann at least has the D activator, so you might wanna phone them regarding the PAF. Maybe they can arrange something.

Btw how does it play? I have heard a lot off bad stuff, but also some not so bad stuff about the RGA8s. How is it tension-wise, playability-wise, etc? I've even heard that the bridge sometimes comes out :S What do you think about it? A review from a fellow swede would be awesome!! (have been thinking about an 8 string too for maybe 6 months now)

Good luck with the pickups!

Hälsningar från en landsman!

 

[canuck brian]

White DiMarzio D Activator 8 pickups would look gorgeous in that guitar with white pickup rings.

EDIT: On second thought, with the black hardware, black pickup rings might look better with white pickups... just to provide better contrast and evenness.

By the way, is that a Gator case? I'm currently looking for a good hard case for my RGA8QM, and am surprised that Ibanez has so few available for these particular models.

The Gator XL case would exactly what you need. Awesome case btw.

 

[sage]

The wiring should be fairly easy as long as you turf everything Ibanez put in there except the switch and the ground wire. The bonus on the RGA8 is that the weirdo active setup they have in there actually has a ground wire attached to the bridge post receiver.

 

[noodlezoup]

White DiMarzio D Activator 8 pickups would look gorgeous in that guitar with white pickup rings.

EDIT: On second thought, with the black hardware, black pickup rings might look better with white pickups... just to provide better contrast and evenness.

By the way, is that a Gator case? I'm currently looking for a good hard case for my RGA8QM, and am surprised that Ibanez has so few available for these particular models.

Yeah its the gator xl
you just gave me a idea, though my plan was to repaint the pickupsrings whitecream and have the pickups in the same color and switch the volume and tone to white cream aswell, would look rather diffrent from the most guitars, but i think black and white go together almost too good.. fml

 

[noodlezoup]

I know Thomann at least has the D activator, so you might wanna phone them regarding the PAF. Maybe they can arrange something.

Btw how does it play? I have heard a lot off bad stuff, but also some not so bad stuff about the RGA8s. How is it tension-wise, playability-wise, etc? I've even heard that the bridge sometimes comes out :S What do you think about it? A review from a fellow swede would be awesome!! (have been thinking about an 8 string too for maybe 6 months now)

Good luck with the pickups!

Hälsningar från en landsman!

Yeah l know, lots of diffrent opinions about it. I'd say if you want a premium quality guitar, save your money on the rg2228a. That said, rga8 is a perfect guitar in it price range as long as you get rid of the stock pickups as soon as possible! Dont worry about the bridge, the newer has that fixed, and the neck is thinner then hellraiser 8 so if you dont have giant hands the neck on the rga8 is Thin but playable , its all about what you looking for really. I think the white one is sexy as hell so it was not a question for me to pick it. Right now the guitar us sent back to thomann for getting a white headstock, and when my pickuprings is ready ill start posting picks on the mod.

Jag kan langa lite ljudsamples när jag är klar!

 

[noodlezoup]

White DiMarzio D Activator 8 pickups would look gorgeous in that guitar with white pickup rings.

EDIT: On second thought, with the black hardware, black pickup rings might look better with white pickups... just to provide better contrast and evenness.

By the way, is that a Gator case? I'm currently looking for a good hard case for my RGA8QM, and am surprised that Ibanez has so few available for these particular models.

Actually, i think ill go with black pickuprings, your idea seems to awsome, ill order the white PAF 8 and DA8 now before i change my mind!! 1

 

[Zeetwig]

Yeah l know, lots of diffrent opinions about it. I'd say if you want a premium quality guitar, save your money on the rg2228a. That said, rga8 is a perfect guitar in it price range as long as you get rid of the stock pickups as soon as possible! Dont worry about the bridge, the newer has that fixed, and the neck is thinner then hellraiser 8 so if you dont have giant hands the neck on the rga8 is Thin but playable , its all about what you looking for really. I think the white one is sexy as hell so it was not a question for me to pick it. Right now the guitar us sent back to thomann for getting a white headstock, and when my pickuprings is ready ill start posting picks on the mod.

Jag kan langa lite ljudsamples när jag är klar!

Ok great! Then I shouldn't rule it out completely.

Najs! Det vore trevligt ^^

 

[nin2thevoid]

I have an RGA8 and I totally love it now that it's set up properly (took me days) and has replacement electronics (D Activators). I've got the black headstock. Personally I think it looks best, I'm just going to put some white machinehead knobs on it to extend some of the white to the headstock and it will look balanced (just like white headstock with black tuners).

I probably won't be getting pickup rings. I put silver color screws in there (similar to the color of the pickup poles) to make the gap look... functional, for lack of a better term. And it looks good (imo). I find the bare D Activator pup (without ring) makes it look less bulky, much more sleek instrument. Then again I may be changing my mind soon enough after seeing some pics of the rings