now is the time

[georgeguitars]

i have the money to upgrade the stock in my Rg 2550 prestage . there Dimarzio. i need a neck and bridge humbuckers and a single in the middle. i want a blues stratish sound. i never played a guitar with upgraded pickups so dont know how to go about choosing the tright ones. can anyone help~?

[RadioElectric]

Originally Posted by georgeguitars

i have the money to upgrade the stock in my Rg 2550 prestage . there Dimarzio. i need a neck and bridge humbuckers and a single in the middle. i want a blues stratish sound. i never played a guitar with upgraded pickups so dont know how to go about choosing the tright ones. can anyone help~?

What's your budget? If you want to invest a fair wad of money into the guitar then I'd recommend Bare Knuckle Pickups. If you email Tim (he's the guy behind them) he'll bend over backwards to give you just what you're after. You could also try asking on the forums there for advice.

Depending on what you want from the new pickups it might be difficult to find anything cheaper that'd be significantly better than the Dimarzios. I'm sure others here can reccomend something though.

To give my own response to your question, it might be difficult to get the "classically" strat sound from a HSH (Humbucker:Singlecoil:Humbucker) setup. I'd reccomend either Humbucker sized P90s or some creative switching so you can have the humbuckers working full out or as single coils (coil split).

[Niallmo]

You do realise if you want to replace all three you are looking at about £100-£150 or more for a really good set? Not much more would get you a perfectly good Squier Strat, Pacifica and definitely get you a Vintage V6 Strat. It seems a bit odd to turn a SuperStrat into a "normal" Strat.

Do you actually like the sound you have already? If you don't then by all means change the P/U's. If yes then think hard about the possibility that you will loose that sound to get a Strat sound.

the grass is not always greener!

[evilmags]

I had the old RG550 (basically the same guitar) and found a set of EMGs drastically improved it. The DiMarzios on my RG 7 string are not really that good TBH and I would reccomend looking elsewhere for pups. Hayden of Bulldog Pickups made an RG550 sound very good at last years LGS, so might be worth trying.

[sam_m]

+1 for Bulldogs.

Though I am keen to try some EMGs in the Ibanez. I have it in my head that actives sound less dependant on the body than passives, though whether that'd true or not I don't know.

Anyone?

[evilmags]

Originally Posted by sam_m

+1 for Bulldogs.

Though I am keen to try some EMGs in the Ibanez. I have it in my head that actives sound less dependant on the body than passives, though whether that'd true or not I don't know.

Anyone?

Deffo. EMGs always sound like EMGs (no bad thing). Not quite the same in an LP as a Basswood superstrat, but a much better option than Dimarzios.

[sam_m]

Hmm, just wondering as I'm never happy with it really, and the body is pretty small so I wonder if that's what lets it down.

[Sporky_McGuffin]

P-Rails!

With some cool rails in the middle.

Stripey.

[evilmags]

Originally Posted by Sporky_McGuffin

P-Rails!

With some cool rails in the middle.

Stripey.

Ibby Basswood body????

The only pickup I've ever liked in a mid proced Ibby is an EMG, and I'd never put them in a guitar made from decent wood.

[Sporky_McGuffin]

Originally Posted by evilmags

Ibby Basswood body????

Yup. Nothing wrong with basswood - it's good enough for Anderson and Suhr, if I remember correctly.