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I recently bought this Ibanez SZ520qm guitar and want to upgrade the pickups to something better and from the seymour duncan range.
I want it primarily to play heavy metal but i want some pickups that are diverse enough to sound good enough for other styles as i tend to play other styles besides metal from time to time.
Here are the guitar's spec's and a picture of the guitar layout. if you need any more information let me know i'd appreciate any help i could get towards knowing what to buy.

SPECIFICATION
3pc Mahogany SZ set-in neck
Quilted Maple top on Maple/Mahogany body
Large frets
Gibraltar III bridge
Duncan/Ibanez (H) neck pu
Duncan/Ibanez (H) bridge pu Thanks In Advance

Nice guitar! I've had my eye on that model myself. As far as pickups go, the Custom might do the trick for the bridge. It's a fairly aggressive pickup and works great for metal, yet retains the classic PAF vibe. Another great metal pickup is the Distortion, although I wouldn't consider it quite as versatile.

For the neck, the Jazz would be a good choice. It's very clear and articulate and doesn't get muddy under high gain.

By the custom i gather you mean the SH5 Duncan Custom?

and the jazz is the sh2?


Originally Posted by Nevermore86By the custom i gather you mean the SH5 Duncan Custom?

and the jazz is the sh2?

yeah that's what he means, and I second that suggestion!

Rock ON


Originally Posted by koolkatNice guitar! I've had my eye on that model myself. As far as pickups go, the Custom might do the trick for the bridge. It's a fairly aggressive pickup and works great for metal, yet retains the classic PAF vibe. Another great metal pickup is the Distortion, although I wouldn't consider it quite as versatile.

For the neck, the Jazz would be a good choice. It's very clear and articulate and doesn't get muddy under high gain.

i have that combo in my PRS Custom22 and it kills! the custom is very tight for speed riffs and solo's. very clear and crunches like hell. it also has got a lot of punch to it. although the pinch harmonics scream, i still prefer the JB on that department.
the jazz retains its clarity without going too bassy, even on very high gain. the jazz is very nice on the clean channel too... it almost feels like the chorus pedal is turned on. the jazz is a bright pup which is a great compliment to the also bright custom. GREAT for mahogany bodied guitars.

FULL SHRED SET DUDE! the thick mahogany body will do great with these. they sound killer in my ibanez and it has the tapered/ thin body. quite a bit more versatile then the name would suggest. But, if you really need a good clean tone go for the jazz in the neck like Destructone and others suggested.

85/89 set.

Very nice handle, I'm a HUGE Nevermore fan.

theres always distortion/distortion

the SZ520 comes default with Duncan Ibanez pickups- what do you dislike about them?

Well they sound good on clean channel but when you kick the distortion its rather muddy sounding its not just really that tho... its the fact that i want better quality better sounding ones than i already have. Also i find it hard to believe that a guitar the price of a sz520 would have fullblown quot;GOODquot; seymour duncans.

I have to say that I am digging the stock PU's in the SZ520... but I do more of a Robben Ford Blues/Rock/Fusion kinda' thing. I have no problem with a muddy sound. In the past I have used JB/59 and PG/PG in my other guitars. I play a JTM45 on about 7 to 8 and use an Fulltone OCD and Keeley BD-2 for my distortion. It is working great with this Ibanez SZ520. I am changing the wiring to the PRS McCarty style setup however.