Which pickups do you recommend me?

[sv_heavymetal]

Hi! I've got an Ibanez SR506 with pre Aguilar OBP-3, and ADX6 pups, I want to change these because I want more quality in the sound, I'm looking for an agressive sound, to play Metal and Funk... Which pups do you recommend? EMG, Bartolini, DiMarzio? Which one?

Thanks, SV

[SGD Lutherie]

What size are those pickups?

EMG and DiMarzio don't make pickups in that shape. DiMarzio doesn't make any soapbars anymore.

They look like Bartolini shaped pickups. There's a few makers who make them in that shape besides Bartolini.

Get a ruler and measure them.

[tubby.twins]

My old Ibanez SR1206 used to have ADX6 soapbars as well. Here's a picture of the same model:
http://www.ibanezregister.com/images...r1206tk-96.jpg

If I remember correctly, they were just about the same size as the EMG "40" series, at 4.0" by 1.5". (In fact, I ended up replacing these with an EMG 40P and 40DC.) So any of these pickups should work, as well as Bartolini "M46" or SGD.

The big concern is string spacing. Make sure your replacement pickups have coils that go just about all the way to the edges of the pickup shell. Otherwise you'll notice that the outer strings are quieter.

I've never liked using this shape of pickups on a 6-string. The new MK1-6 pickups are wider, so they should track the low B and high C strings better.

[LaklandBass]

Bart makes a real replacement for the MK1 pups

[sv_heavymetal]

Originally Posted by tubby.twins

My old Ibanez SR1206 used to have ADX6 soapbars as well. Here's a picture of the same model:
http://www.ibanezregister.com/images...r1206tk-96.jpg

If I remember correctly, they were just about the same size as the EMG "40" series, at 4.0" by 1.5". (In fact, I ended up replacing these with an EMG 40P and 40DC.) So any of these pickups should work, as well as Bartolini "M46" or SGD.

The big concern is string spacing. Make sure your replacement pickups have coils that go just about all the way to the edges of the pickup shell. Otherwise you'll notice that the outer strings are quieter.

I've never liked using this shape of pickups on a 6-string. The new MK1-6 pickups are wider, so they should track the low B and high C strings better.

So I'm thinking in replace the ADX6 that my Ibanez brings for EMG, but, are they useful for playing heavy metal? I want a punchy sound, and to play Funk too. Are the Bartolini pickups worse than the EMGs?

[tubby.twins]

EMGs should work okay for metal. It's hard to generalize, but the models I've tried sounded crisp (lots of treble punch) and had powerful lower-mids. I guess it depends on what you like.

For funk you should probably consider a single pickup in the "sweet spot" between the other two locations. I think this would give you a better upper-midrange punch than the original pickup locations.

In my case, the Ibanez bridge pickup location was just too close to the bridge for me, so it sounded pretty "clacky". I never liked the blended sound that I got, with the stock or EMG pickups. So I usually solo'd the neck pickup.