Time to replace the heart, which pickups to go for?

scratchy

So the time has come that I've grown out of the sound of the stockers on my Ibanez GI0.

I'm looking for something heavy with a lot of crunch and bottom line, but must sound clean and full of tone when I need them to.

Any suggestions?

EMG?
Duncans?

AlanRatcliffe

Which GI0 is it? I'll need to look at the specs before I can make a meaningful recommendation.

scratchy

Alan, off the top of my head, I'd be lying to you.

IIRC it's the GRGM21 and looks similar to this:

AlanRatcliffe

That's a GRG170 if I'm not mistaken - the GRGM's are small, short scale instruments AFAIK and have two humbuckers with no middle single-coil - and may not be worth the pickup upgrade because of the size.

Working on the assumption that it's a GRG170, it's a floating trem, but not a double locking. It has a basswood body, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. I'd look at hotter pickups for this to emphasize the midrange.

So something like the Duncan JB and a '59 neck (maybe a Jazz if you want it brighter and more articulate at the neck). Cool Rails in the middle. Keep 'em backed off a bit if you want a decent clean tone too. For better clean to crunchy tones look at the Pearly Gates in the bridge.

DiMarzios have a bit of a stronger upper midrange voice, which I like with a basswood body. Tone Zone for high output bridge and Air Zone for medium output. Neck's a bit more difficult to choose (they have quite a few really good neck buckers), but probably an Air Norton or a Mo' Joe. Middle pickup would be a Chopper.

scratchy

Man, 90% of that went straight over my head. :-[

It's def not a small scale instrument, but I may just have posted the wrong pic.

It has 2 humbuckers with a middle single coil.

Malkav

Well I'd have to disagree on the choice of Seymour Duncan, I've found that with Floyd Rose style trem systems they just never get the output right to compensate for the loss of low end that having a big metal bridge instead of wood gives you.

I'd say go with a Dimarzio Air Norton in the neck if you want a warmer tone with less definition for smoother sounding leads.
Dimarzio D-Sonic in the bridge with the rail facing the neck if you want biting tone with fatter high end.
And either the Dimarzio HS-3 or a Dimarzio Purple Velvet pickup seems to go well in combination with high output humbuckers.

Though ultimately you should go and look up as much info as you can about pickups in order to make an educated choice, there are many brands out there and though my personal favourite is Dimarzio you still have options like Bill Lawrence,Q-Tuna,Carvin,Suhr etc. for pickups.