[condezl]

I have an Ibanez Gio HH with floyd rose. I'm not willing to replace it.
I am wondering what pickup replacement should fit for a 5-way switch.
The stock pickups are powersounds (14K bridge / 12K neck) both ceramic. I like to play mostly heavy/power metal stuff but the split positions come handy as a matter of versatility.
Any thoughts on Dimarzio / Seymour Duncan?

[darkbluemurder]

What are you missing from your stock pickups? Do you want more treble/bite/attack or more midrange/warmth or more bass/punch? Otherwise it is a shot in the dark.

And what amp/cabinet/pedals do you use?

Cheers Stephan

[condezl]

I think it lacks personality. For me it should have more chime on lead and more heavy bottom on crunch mode. I miss harmonics on clean. I still haven't invested in a good amp though I MIGHT get a second-hand Crate Voodoo from a friend of mine. I think the most important factor for me is having good definition on cranked amp settings.

[darkbluemurder]

If you get the Crate Voodoo this is an amp with massive preamp gain. You could then get away with pickups that have a bit lower output than those you have, which would help to maintain definition overall. So I would look for a low output neck pickup and a medium output (or one of the lower output models in the high output range).  Models that I have had good results with are:

Neck: Duncan Full Shred neck (SH-10n), DiMarzio Bluesbucker (DP163)
Bridge: DiMarzio AT-1 (DP224), Duncan Custom 5 (SH/TB-14)

Note that the two bridge pickups are quite different, the AT-1 having more midrange. Norton could also be an option but I have no experience with that one.

Cheers Stephan

[DarthPhineas]

I think it lacks personality. For me it should have more chime on lead and more heavy bottom on crunch mode. I miss harmonics on clean. I still haven't invested in a good amp though I MIGHT get a second-hand Crate Voodoo from a friend of mine. I think the most important factor for me is having good definition on cranked amp settings.

The “cranked amp settings” is going to be a big consideration as well.

[greenlion]

Even a set of used Ibanez INF pickups out of an older RG would be an improvement over the Gio line pickups. You can get them for practically nothing on Ebay.