NGD: Ibanez Prestige RG652FX

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Just received the D-Activators and... shit, they're too thick. I'd have to mill out the cavities to fit them, and I'm definitely not going to do that. I have now ordered a Bare Knuckle Brute Force set instead. According to the technical drawings, these should be much flatter and therefore hopefully fit well.

Edit:
I thought about it a bit more, looked at a few reviews and came to the conclusion that the Bare Knuckle Brute Force pickups probably don't really suit the guitar, because with its basswood body it has a very midrange-emphasised basic sound and rather calls for slightly scooped pickups.
So I cancelled the Brute Force set and ordered Seymour Duncans: a Custom 5 for the bridge and a Saturday Night Special (!!!) for the neck position.

 

[State of Epicicity]

Just received the D-Activators and... shit, they're too thick. I'd have to mill out the cavities to fit them, and I'm definitely not going to do that. I have now ordered a Bare Knuckle Brute Force set instead. According to the technical drawings, these should be much flatter and therefore hopefully fit well.

Edit:
I thought about it a bit more, looked at a few reviews and came to the conclusion that the Bare Knuckle Brute Force pickups probably don't really suit the guitar, because with its basswood body it has a very midrange-emphasised basic sound and rather calls for slightly scooped pickups.
So I cancelled the Brute Force set and ordered Seymour Duncans: a Custom 5 for the bridge and a Saturday Night Special (!!!) for the neck position.

I can tell you at least the Saturday Night Specials are incredible. I have a set in my hard tail superstrat. If you set the heights to get the output levels to match, a Custom 5 bridge with SNS neck could be awesome. I'm really curious to see how you feel once they're installed.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

I can tell you at least the Saturday Night Specials are incredible. I have a set in my hard tail superstrat. If you set the heights to get the output levels to match, a Custom 5 bridge with SNS neck could be awesome. I'm really curious to see how you feel once they're installed.

Yes, I've never liked the usual Seymour Duncan neck pickups with A5 magnets - the 59 just sounds too bloated, the Jazz too sharp, both too scooped. Pickups with A2 magnets, on the other hand, are usually too weak to work well with higher output bridge humbuckers. A few years ago I experimented a little with different magnets and realized how much you can achieve with a simple swap. I put an A4 magnet in the 59 and suddenly it sounded nicely balanced and pleasant. A huge difference! So this time I thought why not buy a neck pickup with an A4 magnet right away, and the description and specs of the Saturday Night Special looked promising. I think it could be very similar to the modified 59 with A4 magnet. The SNS will be delivered on Monday and I'm very excited to hear the result!

 

[State of Epicicity]

Yes, I've never liked the usual Seymour Duncan neck pickups with A5 magnets - the 59 just sounds too bloated, the Jazz too sharp, both too scooped. Pickups with A2 magnets, on the other hand, are usually too weak to work well with higher output bridge humbuckers. A few years ago I experimented a little with different magnets and realized how much you can achieve with a simple swap. I put an A4 magnet in the 59 and suddenly it sounded nicely balanced and pleasant. A huge difference! So this time I thought why not buy a neck pickup with an A4 magnet right away, and the description and specs of the Saturday Night Special looked promising. I think it could be very similar to the modified 59 with A4 magnet. The SNS will be delivered on Monday and I'm very excited to hear the result!

Don't quote me on this, but I believe they were actually developed in response to users on their forum who are habitual magnet swappers consistently preferring A4s for hot PAF tones. I got them because I called Seymour Duncan and a rep told me by far their most dynamic pickups are the SNSs. I was looking for what would roll back best with the volume knob.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

To make a long story short: The Seymour Duncan pickups I ordered didn't fit either. The pole screws are too long and I would have had to either shorten them or mill out the pickup cavity. In the end, the Bare Knuckle Brute Force Set is now in the Ibanez - the only pickups I found that were flat enough for the guitar. But I'm now very happy with it and with black pickups the guitar finally looks as beautifully simple and elegant as I like it.

Tomorrow I will install the Seymour Duncan Custom 5 and Saturday Night Special pickups in my PRS Custom 22, which is currently fitted with EMGs. Since I still have two other guitars with EMGs (which I still love), I thought it would be a good idea to have a little variety and that it would be a shame to send the new pickups back.

 

[maguchi]

What? No Floyd?!

 

[MindCrime]

Congrats!!! Always wanted a prestige

Which one ?

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

What? No Floyd?!

Why would I want that? I hate Floyds.

 

[maguchi]

Why would I want that? I hate Floyds.

Oh, OK.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

I have installed the Seymour Duncan pickups in my PRS today.
Holy shit, does the Custom 5 sound awesome! No wonder Ola Englund has the Solar guitars fitted with an OEM version of it, because the pickup just sounds metal as fuck. It has the same larger-than-life quality as the regular Custom, but sounds very musical despite the reduced mids. At the same time, it doesn't have the unpleasantly icy highs of the Custom.
The Saturday Night Special also delivers what it promises. Not dissimilar to the 59, but much more balanced and less bloated.
This set simply destroys the Bare Knuckle Brute Force pickups I put in my RG. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and get my luthier to enlarge the Ibanez‘ pickup cavities so I can fit a C5/SNS set after all.