Muddy Ibanez 7321 - Amp (or) PUPS?

[7seven7]

Hey guys - I have recently purchased a brand new bone stock Ibanez 7321 (IMHO it's an awsome 7)

I've been playing a bone stock Schecter Blackjack 7 for the last 2 years (IMHO another awsome 7)

My rig is very simple, I am playing through a Line 6 Flextone II HD and usually on the Rectified setting with the gain at slightly past 1/2 way, distortion on a light setting, bass at about 1/2 way, mids 1/3 , treble about 3/4 and presence on about 1/2 way - volume boost is on lightly for a slight in your face feel. this head is hooked up to one of the older (2yrs old) Behringher 412 slant cabinet with the Jensen 12"s in it - I have awsome bass response and overall tone with just about anything I play.

For those of you that do not know this amp then please excuse me.

Anyway, my question is this:

My black jack sounds fairly well on this amp, all of my 6 strings sound terrific, however my new Ibanez 7321 sounds like a sagging P.O.S. very muddy and the highs are brittle - would you think its the pickups (or) the amp?

I am thinking more along the lines of the pickups.

I want a sound that is focused and tight, it must destort well and I want a smooth top end and defined low end - does anyone have any suggestions that I could do to get me that sound?

I am willing to dump a few buck into this Ibanez 7321 - I would consider a new amp but I really like the Line 6.

Please any help (or) advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Elysian]

pickups dude, they are garbage. i'd get something like an x2n7 in the bridge and a an7 in the neck, or sub the x2n7 for a ds7 in the bridge, but thats just me. or, get the x2n7 or ds7, and get a duncan jazz 7 in the neck spot... thatd give you the smooth highs for lead work, and the brutal crunch for rhythm work. both x2n7 and ds7 are definately focused and tight.

 

[technomancer]

+1 for what Elysian said, the stock pickups in the 7321 are absolutely horrid and sound like mud.

I can highly recommend the D Sonic 7 in the bridge and Air Norton 7 in the neck, it's what I have in my 7321 and I love it.

 

[7slinger]

I have a Flextone III...it probably is the pickups, but your dealing with a couple of different beasts with those 2 guitars. Try this setting:

Rectifier setting, gain about 12-1 o'clock, highs about 1 o'clock, mids about 11 o'clock, cut your lows down to about 9 o'clock and then dial them up from there until you are happy. Presence should probably stay about where it is, but if the highs are sounding brittle, try backing off the highs and dialing in some cut with the presence control.

I don't know what cab mod you are using either, but IMO the recto cab sounds like ass on my amp, I think I use the JCM 800 cab IIRC

 

[Stitch]

Yup, 7321 pups are shit. Either EMG's, although they would require routing and cant be undone.
The real options are either Bare Knuckles (hand wound to your specs for under a century, in U.K pounds) or Lundgren Model M7's. Both are awesome high gain pups. Id recommend Bare Kncuckles over the Lundgrens, as all of my experiences with them has been awesome, we tend to see a lot of them at work getting fitted, and they always sound awesome afterwards.
Lawrence L-500XL7's are also an option, although I would venture they arent quite as "smooth" or "rounded" as the other two i have mentioned here.

 

[rogue]

id say change the pups like the other guys suggest

 

[rummy]

81/85 or JB/Jazz

 

[usagi]

D-7 neck and Blaze in the bridge or try a SD Distortion in the neck.

 

[metalfiend666]

It's the pickups, not question. The stock pickups are total rubbish. X2N7, DS7 or Blaze Bridge should work quite nicely for the bridge. For the neck, Blaze neck, PAF7 or AN7.

 

[7seven7]

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys - I have decided to go with X2N7 in the bridge and a Air Norton 7 in the neck,

This combo of pups should give me a fair palatte of tone to choose from.

 

[Vince]

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys - I have decided to go with X2N7 in the bridge and a Air Norton 7 in the neck,

This combo of pups should give me a fair palatte of tone to choose from.

I can't speak for the X2N, but I've heard they're great. I can speak of the Air Norton as I own 3 of them, and I absolutely love them. If you like a warm, percussive, high gain neck pickup, they're absolutely amazing. If you're into Petrucci/Morse style rapid-fire alternate picking & Yngwie-style sweeps, the Air Norton is 100% bar-none the best pickup to buy IMO. They also sound incredible for crystal clear cleans when you split the coils.

 

[Elysian]

if hammer smashed asshole could have a sound, it would voice itself in the pickups of an RG7321

 

[Jason]

81/85 or JB/Jazz

not for 7's

 

[includao]

D Sonic 7 in the bridge and Air Norton 7 in the neck FTW

 

[technomancer]

if hammer smashed asshole could have a sound, it would voice itself in the pickups of an RG7321

+1 they may be the worst sounding pickups I've ever heard. I tried for quite a while and was completely unable to get any kind of decent sound out of them.

 

[Briggs]

+1 they may be the worst sounding pickups I've ever heard. I tried for quite a while and was completely unable to get any kind of decent sound out of them.

I've tried too...the only thing that worked, even slightly, was rolling off a bit of the guitar volume.

 

[rummy]

not for 7's

What the hell? What was I thinking there?

I'd say Blaze/Air Norton, then.