Replacement pickups for my s540

Log Out | Topics | Search Moderators | Edit Profile

Author Message   James Thornton Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 11:04 am:    I own an Ibanez S540 and have always been happy with the sound, but felt that there was something I could do to make it better. I really want to put new pickups in it, but I am not sure what type. I play heavy metal (e.g. Metallica, Pantera, Sepeltura, Slayer) through a Dual Rectifier. I have thought of adding EMG 81's to fatten up the sound, but I am tentative to add active pickups because I have never played thruogh them. I have also heard good reviews of the Seymore Duncan Screamin' Demon, which are a passive pickup. Any advise on an upgrade or details of exactly how active pickups work would be appreciated. Thanks   Saberdude Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 11:04 am:    Dude...this is a killer guitar to mod to get a great sound have you ever heard obituary's song the End Complete? if you have, listen to it again, this song has thier guitarist allen west using an s540LTD with two emg's in it, an 81 in the bridge and a 85 in the neck this song has a very very fat sound to it but also, i have the screamin demon in my other S540LTD, but it is very thin sounding, it has gain but its too metalic and very unorganic sounding, basically it sounds like a machine. and i dont like that i have a seymour duncan JB in the bridge of my other S and its is bloody amazing its got great tone for jazz..........my god......its so thick....and it sounds amazing with distortion.........ive never heard something like it before...i love it but this is just a personal preferance...........so you might want to check some guitars out with those pickups in wm first, but take into account that if the guitar is different..its not necisarily going to sound the same, but give it a go and dont compromise, thats the worst thing you can do, is compromise your tone Saberdude   James Thornton Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 11:04 am:    I have heard that active pickups require a 9 volt battery to operate. If this is correct, then where would it go. I have no desire to cut a hole in the body to be able to mount it, and the idea of having it mounted on the back of the body where it can easily be bumped or snag one of my shirt buttons does not appeal to me. Where would the battery mount, would I have to modify my body, and would it require an on/off switch somewhere? My guitar is beutiful and I would hate changing its current appearance just to run active electronics.   spiro Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 11:04 am:    There has always been a major misconception when it comes to changing pickups.People think that changing a pickup to same one that has been used on some recording or that some Joe giovanni who has his own limited 45fret 15 humbucker guitar will make a difference to their sound are wrong!!! The basis of a good sound is the Amplifier and effects.. if these are no good then putting in seymarzio or any other pickup are just being taken for a ride... My Amp and effects unit can recreate any sound that has been used on any recording at any point in time through rock right down to Celine Dion (if your'e that way inclined) The thing you have to be aware of is that yes you do need a good pickup as a basis but the differences between a Jeff Beck and a paf pro are so minute that you would need an oscilloscope to really see the differences & then again Two Jeff becks or whatever will be different from each other. I have worked in music shops ever since I was 15 and have probably sold 2000 pickups to people who wanted that killer sound from the second track on the Sadistic Sodomizers first record and have sold them what they asked for. And then came back to me and told it only made a slight difference here and there but nothing major... Be careful before you go changing pickups.. The ones in your guitar are probably sufficent Just change your settings on whatever amp you have...   Ionianuser Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 11:04 am:    I recently bought an old and abused S540 in a local pawnshop for a stupid $75! It had a lot of nicks and dings on the body, so I have taken it apart and used the least amount of filler I could to bring it back to it's original glory. Anyway, I just happen to have a "Evolution" Bridge pickup in my music krap, and let me tell you, that WILL be a big improvment when it comes to using the guitar through my JCM 900 Marshall! All I can say is that Dimarzio makes a outstanding line of pickups, and if you ever get a hold of a catalog, you'll see they rate them from 1-10 in the lows, mids, and highs. I play FRED in a RG570, and now when I play anything else, it's just not the same. Do yourself a favor, and replace those pickups. You won't notice a big difference at first, until you play at a live volume!!!   mike Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 11:04 am:    pickups can make a HUGE difference in your sound. granted, you more than likely aren't going to get the exact sound you want with any pickup you use to replace as it is a combination of all factors that give you the ultimate sound. i myself have changed pickups many times (its cheaper than buying new guitars) and can hear differences like day and night between each different one. if you're still considering pickup changes go with dimarzio, theyve kept me happy and if you don;t like the sound of a pickup you always have 30 days to send it off for an exchange. REALLY, they don't hassle you about how many times you exchange a pickup either. ••••, they might even accept a duncan in trade for one of theirs. mike TheToneZone@hotmail.com (no i dont work for em)   Koadude Username: Koadude Registered: 06-2003 Posted on Wednesday, January 05, 2005 - 7:27 pm:    I think the cheapest thing to do is throw a duncan trembucker in the br., the s body is so low in weight compared to a lp or tele plus the fact that it's a trem., not a hardtail sucks tone like crazy.Out of my 10 axes I love the playability of my 540 the best so I hard tailed it per projectguitar.com left the stock pups in and it's KILLER!

Add Your Message Here Post: -Color- Black Red Green Blue Yellow Purple Orange Cyan Gray White -Font- Arial Courier Symbol Times Verdana -Size- Smallest (-2) Small (-1) Normal Large (+1) Largest (+2) Enter Item number: Username: Posting Information: This is a private posting area. Only registered users and moderators may post messages here. Password: Options: Enable HTML code in message Automatically activate URLs in message Action: