Pickups to use

[spprashant]

Hi,

I have an Ibanez Gi0 guitar. I want to change the pickups on this guitar. Can some suggest me a good pickup to use? Also please let me know a site where I can purchase it.

Thanks,
Prashanth

[Stan]

For the site - the one I use is http://www.musiciansfriend.com - good selection, good prices, quick service.

As for the pickups - that is a very much trial-and-error process and knowing what kind of sound you are looking for. Different pickups are designed to produce different kinds of sound, and how they will work with YOUR guitar and YOUR strings in not something someone can easily predict. Read manufacturer's descriptions, read some reviews, see if you can find some posts on any forum of someone changing pickups on YOUR type of guitar - see if they have sound clips or videos ... try to get an idea of how THAT pickup would work for you.

Good luck!

[spprashant]

Thank you very much!

[Stan]

Also - check out various pedals and effects - they tend to change the guitar's sound quite a bit... I was looking at the Line 6 POD Express myself yesterday - this may find it's way to my house soon... This little bugger would work to change the sound of the guitar for the whole song, whereas pedals give you an ability to change it on an off DURING the song as needed. So what I do - I grab the name of the pedal or effect, then search YouTube for it - there's videos showing what a particular effect does to your sound at different settings - very useful in my opinion.

I am myself rather new to the word of electric, though I'm not totally new to guitars in general ;o)

[Bill]

About 4-5 years ago, the pickups in my 1983 Fender Elite Stratocaster had de-evolved to the point where they were picking up radio stations in Anchorage when I practiced. And not just any radio stations either but top 40 radio stations playing music such as Madonna and Britany Spears.

This form of mental, emotional and yes, self inflicted distress (especially for someone who likes Rock, Blues, Acoustic, Celtic, Jazz, and Classical music) was incredibly distracting and conflicting and I began to have brief visions of pouring lighter fluid on my guitar and setting it on fire (ala Jimmy Hendrix) or smashing it (ala Pete Townsend).

Fortunately, there was another alternative and that was to go on a quest to find absolutely noiseless pickups for my Strat. At the end of this quest, I would be performing or should I say, paying for a musical exorcism of the Top 40 demons that had taken up residence in my plugged in electric guitar.

Price in this case, was really not an issue - evicting Madonna, Britany, Legion, etc from what was becoming a mind numbing and demoralizing practice session was paramount. After spending allot of time researching pickups on the web I came across Kinman Pickups at http://www.Kinman.com, read many positive comments in forums as well as positive reviews and went ahead and ordered the Blues Set http://www.kinman.com/guitar-pickups/stratocaster/.

Additionally, I didn't care for the white pickguard on my Strat and with the Elite Strat it had 3 push buttons to select your pickups. These three push buttons would allow you to select any combination of pickups which was a feature I liked. The Kinman pickups with its optional wiring harness would allow a similar versatility.

It was time for a face lift of the pickguard exchanging the white one for a black pickguard to go with the Tobacco sunburst of the guitar and the installation of a standard lever pickup selector. I had Mammoth Music in Anchorage do the actual exorcism and so far, I have been very satisfied with the result as the tone is very good, the pickups do not pick up any radio stations, and I didn't loose any versatility. In other words, the musical exorcism of Top 40 radio stations from my electric guitar has been a tremendous success.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=524251&l=64c6d937a7&id=100000553485301

You may not have the same issues that I had with your guitar and you may want to spend less, but if at some point in the future your amp starts spewing out Top-Forty music (and it’s not what you are playing) you may want to consider Kinman Pickups.

May your guitar and amp only resonate with the sweet sounds you are playing, not music from insipid radio stations or what would be even worse……..talk radio.

All the best.

Bill