Oh, look another "suggest pickups for me" thread

[Devyn Eclipse Nav]

So - long story short - I have an Ibanez Iron Label 8 string, and I hate EMGs. Tones on that guitar are impossible to dial in as satisfactorily as with my 5 other guitars.

It had the stock 808s, and now it has a 57-8 in the bridge, but I'm just not feeling it. Too saturated, too thick in the low end.

What my guitars with the best tones, imo, are my LTD H207, an Ash bodied, maple necked guitar with a DiMarzio CL/LF set, an Ibanez SZ520 (Mahogany body and neck, maple top) with a Drop Sonic/Air Norton set, and my Epiphone Explorer GT (mahogany body, maple neck) with a Bill Lawrence XL500L

So mostly, I'm looking for something tight, with snarly upper mids, and plenty of treble.

Obviously the first place I was looking was the new standards - Nazgul/Sentient, Ionizer, etc - I just wanted to see if anybody else had any suggestions. I'm just not at all satisfied with the way it sounds now with the EMGs.

 

[elkinz]

...So mostly, I'm looking for something tight, with snarly upper mids, and plenty of treble...QUOTE]


the nazgul sentient are exactly that in my guitarists RG2228 prestige. He used to have the standard 808s in and the difference was night and day.

Definitely rate the nazgul and sentient! Id absolutely love to try the ionizers but none of the stores in my area stock any of the tosin signatures hahaha

 

[jerm]

Dimarzio D-Activators or Ionizers.

 

[Prog_Freak]

Unfortunately just the muddiness of 8 strings just drove me away from them.
I'm not against them by any means, I frggin dig Charlie Parker's solo performance at PDX of YouTube.
If you do come across 8 string PUs that have good definition let me know I may give 8 strings another try.
Living dangerously playing 7 string ones, most hilarious thing was neighbors complain about my (this is their exact spelling) Base Guitar being too loud (Damn no wonder I was only hitting pop fly's...) and the "best" part of the story is the neighbor who complained "Claimed" they played Bass for years, yeah.... anyone wanna buy a "slightly used bridge that was from England" ??? Give ya a good deal

 

[Promit]

Nazgul/Sentient.

 

[Halowords]

You may also want to consider one of the smaller custom/"boutique" pickup builders. Vintage Vibe Pickups are well reviewed, reasonably priced, and custom tailored to your specs. I like mine (admittedly not for an 8-string), and my experience with Paul was very positive. If you let him know what you have and what you are looking for, he may be able to come up with something.

Vintage Vibe Guitar Pickups: Assorted Pickups

-Cheers

 

[jacksonguitar1111]

If money isn't an issue buy lundgrens
For Price/Value defenitely nazgul&sentient

 

[IChuckFinleyI]

If money isn't an issue buy lundgrens
For Price/Value defenitely nazgul&sentient

+1 on the Lundgrens.

 

[Opion]

Ionizers are great, articulate and clear. D-activators are a little more pissed off sounding, very great in mahogany, but replaced mine due to microphonics. I think both are great and won't fail you!

 

[sevenstringj]

I know this'll sound crazy, but the EMG 81 or 81X should be right up your alley.

 

[UnstableinLINY]

Got Lace deathbars in my nine and I got a bill lawrence L-705 in my eight. Deathbars are great sounding and clear. The BL snarles and has that classic sig sound. The BL had to be custom installed and I had to deepen the routing on my guitar (Ibanez S8QM) which was a lot of work. The bill lawrence L-705 is "steel lap guitar pickup" but the electrical characteristics and the dual rail setup is just fine for an 8 as long as you can mount it. That's different the the list you have up there. Not sure if you must have actives.

http://www.bluestarmusic.com/Bill-L...Blade-Dual-Coil-Pickup-Narrow-Base_p_231.html

 

[Maggai]

I have Dimarzio D-activators in my Agile 8 string, and they sound great. Example here:

https://soundcloud.com/aspherium/reality-unfolds


In my Ran custom 8 string I have Bareknuckle Aftermath's. They also sound great, I like them better than the Dimarzio's because they are less compressed sounding.
I also have Aftermath's in my Ltd H-207, and the same great sound translates to both that and the Ran.

 

[Jet Racer]

I am using a rg2228 with 808s with a jcm 800 and have satisfactory results. And I'm the kind of guy that uses dimarzio air classics on almost all of my 6 strings. Granted I did do the 18v mod on the 808's to "open" them up. But maybe check your pickup height/ string tension? and go from there.


What kind of amp are you running?


Furthermore, I have been debating whether or not I should slap some dimarzio's on my rg2228. Just don't know it it will be worth the $200 + hardware in upgrades. Ive been waiting for some used ionizers to show up on ebay for some time now.