[Angelectrico25]

Hi, I want to change the pickups of my Ibanez RG570, I want the classic sound of older Jem's that had Paf Pro's on bridge and neck, but I had never known what model of pickup is the single coil on the middle position? So, if I buy two Paf Pro's (or maybe a Fred for bridge position) what model of single coil pickup should I buy to pair well with the Paf's?

I also like the Paul Gilbert's sound with the Paf Pro's, but I also don't know what sigle coil he uses in the middle?

Another option I would like to try is: Norton for bridge, and Air Norton for neck. If I decide to go this road, what would be a good single coil match for this pickups in the middle postion?

Thanks in advance!

[buddroyce]

I'd just go with the True Velvet middle.

[greenlion]

Several of the Area pickups and others do a better job without the hum of the True Velvet. If you use 2 PAF Pros, the neck is going to overpower the bridge by quite a bit. The Fred works well with the Paf Pro and adds some contrast. Paul Gilbert also used the Tone Zone with his Paf Pro neck at one point. I like both those combos. The Area 61, Cruiser Neck, Virtual Vintage Blues, and Virtual Vintage 54 Pro all work well in the middle position without a big dip in output when you run the single by itself.

[Angelectrico25]

Thanks for the answear, so the old classic JEM's had that problem of the PAF Pro neck overpowering the PAF Pro bridge? I've never noticed that. But still I'm open to try another bridge pickup, maybe a Satur8?

But just out of curiosity, does someone knows if the single coil in the middle position on JEM's was a specific DiMarzio model? Or it was made by Ibanez?

That's why I want to know what DiMarzio single coil would be the closest to the JEM's?

[marcwormjim]

Apologies if this isn’t what you’re asking, but you can buy JEM single coils through any Dimarzio dealer, including eBay/Reverb. The pickup is the ISCV2. Unless I’m mistaken, it was also the stock middle pickup in the PGM guitars.

In my case, I found the pickup a bit lacking in output compared to the humbuckers unless it was set very close to the strings. Though rated as having the same mv-output, the FS-1 sounded a bit fuller in the particular guitar I tried both in. I haven’t auditioned the 200mv-rated SDS-1 or Dark Matter single as middle pickups, but I’m curious to.

[Angelectrico25]

Marcwormjim your comment does help me, at the end I just want a single coil pickup that matches well sonically and in levels, with the PAF Pro, obviosly I don't want a single coil that can sound less louder when I switch to it, I just don't know what specific models would be good

[marcwormjim]

I’m afraid personal experimentation is necessary. The compromise is that, the hotter the singlecoil you use to balance with the humbuckers, the less like a singlecoil it will sound like on its own. The strategy many use is to find a singlecoil that matches the DC resistance of the split humbucker coil they’re putting it in parallel with (within 1.5k or so), but this typically results in split sounds that are half the output of the humbucker switch positions.

I have three HSH guitars in which the middle pickups range from an FS-1 to an ISCV2 to a Seymour Duncan SSL4. None are “best”, so much as they’re each a compromise I arrived at.

[Angelectrico25]

Thanks for the help, I'm thinking: Fred bridge, PAF Pro neck, and Area 61 middle. Could that be a good set?

[greenlion]

I have had that set recently in an Ibanez RG. I liked it a lot, but ultimately changed the neck to a PAF Joe simply because I had a PAF Pro in another guitar. I think I like the Joe SLIGHTLY better overall with the Fred, but it is rounder, and does not have as much bite as the treble on the Paf Pro, which I miss sometimes.

[Angelectrico25]

Thanks greenlion for the help, but my main concern is the single coil in the middle, so the Área 61 works great for you?

[Angelectrico25]

I sended an email to Dimarzio asking for some advice, and they told me this about the hum cancelling single coils:

"Are you aware that positions 2 and 4 will not cancel hum with standard RG wiring unless the middle pickup is split along with the humbuckers, and that the standard Ibanez 5-way does not have the ability to do this?"
"If the middle pickup has to cancel hum, the 5-way wiring will need to be altered for all 5 positions to cancel hum, and the neck and bridge pickups will no longer split in positions 2 and 4"

So, Let me see if I get this right: if I put a hum cancelling middle pickup, only when that pickup is selected alone with the 5 way switch un the middle position (3 position) the sound will be noise free, but in 2 and 4 positions I will still have hum? Or in every position I will have hum? People from Dimarzio say I will be better with a True Velvet or Red Velvet. Anyone has some advice?

[darkbluemurder]

There are two easy set ups, depending on the attributes you want most.

1. If you use the middle pickup a lot by itself, use a humcancelling unit such as the Area 61. Without any specific wiring, any combination with a split humbucker will hum. The solution to that is either to not split the humbuckers or to split both the humbuckers and the Area 61. This may require a different pickup selector switch, in which case the question arises will it fit into the guitar?

2. If you don't use the middle pickup by itself but only in combination with the split humbuckers, a True Velvet would make these combinations humcancelling, depending on which coil of the humbucker is active. This wiring should be doable with the existing switch.

To get all combinations humcancellng is possible but the wiring is more complex.

Cheers Stephan

[Modis]

Thanks for the answear, so the old classic JEM's had that problem of the PAF Pro neck overpowering the PAF Pro bridge? I've never noticed that. But still I'm open to try another bridge pickup, maybe a Satur8?

But just out of curiosity, does someone knows if the single coil in the middle position on JEM's was a specific DiMarzio model? Or it was made by Ibanez?

That's why I want to know what DiMarzio single coil would be the closest to the JEM's?

Depends on the JEM model, most common is the Ibanez made S1 which is in your 570 others had the ISCV2 Dimarzio. They are all around 160mv output and similar spec to the Dimarzio FS-1.
The Ibanez HSH middle pup's are wound South CCW the same as a fender neck so make sure you have the correct wind sorted before purchasing a replacement such as a True Velvet.

[Angelectrico25]

Thanks to all for the help. At the end I went: Fred (Bridge), True Velvet (Middle), Paf Pro (Neck) and the result wasn't what I expected... Every pickup by itself has a sound that I love, but I feel they don't complement each other well, the Paf Pro sounds a lot louder than the Fred, I had to pull up the Fred too close to the strings, and lower the Paf Pro too low to try to get them at an even volume, but the sound is too different as well, the Paf Pro sounds really fat and bassy, but not a clear bass, the bass is too boomy and undefined, and the pickup sounds too loud, the Fred sounds weak, anemic, thin, skinny, without bass, no body, and less louder, with less gain, and the True Velvet sounds really nice on it's own, sounds beautiful, but maybe a little too bright. So I feel like any of the pickups complements each other in a good way, so now that I tried this set up I think I can make some changes to get a better balance. I was thinking: Paf Joe (Neck) a little less output, and a clearer more defined bass, Satchur8 (Bridge) more output, more bass and mids, more body, less highs, to see if they complement each other better, because now I have to much differences in tone and volume. And I don't know if it's a good idea to try another middle single coil with more output and less bright. I'm tired of thinking. Any suggestions?

[greenlion]

If you want to keep the Fred and have better balance, you could use a brighter, lower output pickup like the Humbucker from Hell. If you want to keep the Paf Pro, you could use a more powerful bridge pickup like the Air Zone or Tone Zone. I already posted my opinions of the single coils.