New pickups for Ibanez RG1527?

[TGI11]

So I've decided to start investing for new pickups for my Ibanez RG1527 since after putting new thicker strings for my guitar (74-13, same as Structures in Drop #A with low G) my tone has sounded extremely muffled and the clarity has greatly deteriorated. I have been recommended several pickups such as EMG 7O7 and 81-7, BKP Aftermaths, Seymour Duncan Blackouts and Dimarzio's. So Im wondering which pickups would suit me the most for achieving a tone similar to Structures and Fall In Archaea among others, while still maintaining maximum clarity for each string?

Thanks for all the help!

(Btw. I have a Line 6 spider IV amp)

 

[Lorcan Ward]

I have Bare Knuckle Miracle Mans in my RG1527 and they are really tight with a lot of clarity but I have it tuned to B. Are you using a tubescreamer before your spider. That would be a much bigger contributor to your tone especially when tightening things up.

 

[TGI11]

I have Bare Knuckle Miracle Mans in my RG1527 and they are really tight with a lot of clarity but I have it tuned to B. Are you using a tubescreamer before your spider. That would be a much bigger contributor to your tone especially when tightening things up.

No, I own boss metal pedal though but it sounds extremely bad without the noise suppressor, hence I barely use it. I've been thinking about purchasing a tube screamer before though.

 

[MikeH]

Well Structures uses BKP, so if you want that tone, go for BKP.

 

[TGI11]

Well Structures uses BKP, so if you want that tone, go for BKP.

Don't they use the stock pickups on their Carvins? At least on the two guitar playthrough videos they both seem to be using the stock ones...

 

[ProgShredder73]

use the tube screamer from spider fx infusion works for me all the way down to F.

 

[Valennic]

I'd upgrade from the Spider IV personally. That's just a side note.

What's your budget TS?

 

[Zerox8610]

Forget new pickups! New Amp! Stock pickups aren't THAT bad....

 

[Asrial]

Forget new pickups! New Amp! Stock pickups aren't THAT bad....

They are.

If you are on a budget, get some Seymour duncan passives. Distortions should sound decent.
More cash though, and you can get the CL/LF-set! And if you are willing to pay, BKP and Lundgren pickups would be possible.

 

[Don Vito]

nu omp

 

[Rayaus]

If you're looking at BKPs, your best bets for a bridge pickup would be the Aftermath, Ceramic Nailbomb or Miracle Man. The Aftermath is very tight and has lots of low mids, but very little high mids, which makes it sound darker. The Ceramic Nailbomb is brighter, and remains very tight and clear, I personally love it in my RG1527Z. Finally the Miracle Man is also very tight and saturated, and it's quite scooped sounding, and harmonics are a breeze on those. If you could give me more info on what type of tone you're looking for, having tried all three, I can identify which one would suits your needs best.

Having said that, I think putting active pickups in there could work to achieve a very tight tone, but it's more trouble to install active pups. (Especially if they are EMG sized and you need to route the pickup cavities)

 

[MikeH]

Don't they use the stock pickups on their Carvins? At least on the two guitar playthrough videos they both seem to be using the stock ones...

Spyros uses the stock Carvins, but Brendon uses BKPs. Not sure which models, though.

 

[TGI11]

I'd upgrade from the Spider IV personally. That's just a side note.

What's your budget TS?

My budget is around 200-400ish. Personally I think my amp had pretty good tone and clarity with the 7 string (before i put the thicker gauges on), so I don't really see it being the problem...

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

I recently changed out my stock Ibanez AH pickups for a Dimarzio Blaze set. To be honest i noticed a bigger difference going from light to heavy gauge strings than with the pickup swap. could be that the pickups were just very close tone-wise. I find a lighter pick gauge also helps with some of the darkness from heavier strings.