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Thanks for the input. The Duncan Jazz does indeed look tempting, and it seems popular enough that one of my gearhead friends might have one I could check out. The clips on the SD website aren't really that helpful. At least they have clips, but I wish they were longer. It's tough to hear much of a difference between many of the pickups. As far as the DiMarzios go, I see your point with the Air Norton. After all, it is based on the Noton, which is supposedly PAF-like. The Super 2 looks good, but I'm a little wary of really high output humbuckers. I like the Tone Zone for what is is, but I don't need two of 'em . I'm still thinking about the Evolution, and the Air Classic and Bluesbucker both look like they might work. I heard some clips of a semi-hollow with an Air Classic, and it was pretty smooth. The Bluesbucker is DiMarzio's version of a humbucking P-90, so I'd like to give that a try, too.

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. Bluetic & AnthemBassMan, I'll be sure to check out those Carvins. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to do it before. I liked the Carvin Stingray pickup I had in my old bass, though it was slightly microphonic. Any idea if the Carvins would match my Tone Zone for output? I know a guy that's got a pretty sweet Carvin. I'll ask him what kind of pickups he has. Marzocchi705, I have researched what these guys use, but, as GodBlessTexas illustrates, it can get pretty specific. I'm not looking to copy anyone's tone. I'm trying to find a pickup that will work better in my rig, and I'm using examples to help illustrate what I'm going for. GodBlessTexas, that was illuminating. I have to admit, I felt a little foolish referencing them when I knew Billy Corgan played a strat. But as you said, their sound probably has a lot to do with the amplification. I think a more balanced sounding pickup and a little amp tweaking would let me capture the essence of what I'm looking for here. I have thought about a P-90, but not for this project. I'd like to stick with two humbuckers for my main axe. I'd like to try a P-90 for my backup, though. I'll probably put the PAF in the bridge of my backup, and see if that cleans it up any. I've heard a few people who thought the PAF was a muddy neck pickup say that it's much better in the bridge. You guys didn't have much to say about the DiMarzios. Are they at all in line with what I'm looking for, or is it just marketing hype? btw, if anyone's interested, I use a Line 6 Spider II (on loan from a friend... I sold all my guitar amps) through a DIY 4x12" open back cabinet. EDIT: More thoughts on P90's: I think you were pretty much right on with the P90 suggestion. That's the overall tonality I'm going for, but humbuckers impart a certain character that I like. It has to do with the comb filtering effect of sensing the string's vibration at two different locations. So here is, perhaps, a better explanation of what I'm going for: a P90-ish humbucker tone, but with more "lushness" (ugh... so subjective) in the treble, and a strat-like single coil sound.

Hello all, I'm looking for some suggestions to replace my neck pickup. I know that everyone's ideal is different, and tone is subjective, but I'm just looking for some ideas to get me pointed in the right direction. Right now, I have a DiMarzio PAF Pro in the neck position of my Ibanez RG520 (mahogany bolt-on). I find it lacking in several areas. For clean tones, it's just too dark for me, and has too much midrange. With distortion, I find it to be muddy and without definition. One of the things I like to do is fret power chords in drop-d while I play leads on top. With the PAF, the leads get lost in the muck, and I have to attack them really hard vs. the chords to bring them out. Also, I find the single coil sound lacking in "punch" (too much midrange, again), and the bass is flabby while the treble is muted. With those complaints in mind, I'm looking for a pickup that can do the following things. I realize there is some give and take here where improving the pickup in one area will detract from another, but hopefully you can at least see what I'm going for. 1. A nice, thick distortion tone. Enough mids to cut, but not to overpower the sound, and tighter bass. Think "grindy" like "Siamese Dream" era Smashing Pumpkins and "cutty" like Chris Haskett with Rollins Band. 2. A more even clean tone. Less mids, more treble. Something that would be good for chord comping and could be rolled off to get a decent jazz tone. I'm struggling to find an example here... Freddie Stone nails it on a couple tracks ("Stand" sticks in my head the most.) 3. A more strat-like single coil sound. You know, tight bass, sparkling treble, kind of on the bright side. Anyway, if you've read this far, and it actually made sense, I'd really appreciate some ideas. I know gear and technique and all sorts of things figure into the final sound, but I'm pretty happy with the rest of my rig, and I really think it's the pickup that's holding my sound back. Right now I'm leaning towards a DiMarzio Air Norton, and thinking about an Evolution. I have no real reason to stick with DiMarzio (I know as well as anyone that there's nothing special about their pickups over other manufacturers), but I still feel an urge to stick with them. It must be marketing... Actually, it's probably because I know DiMarzio's product line better than anyone else's (which, again, is probably due to marketing ) Also, I'm using a Tone Zone at the bridge. I think of it as a one-trick-pony. It's too raunchy and peaky in the upper mids for clean tones, but cuts really well and has good definition with my distortion setup. I doubt I'll be getting rid of it anytime soon because I like the distortion sound too much.

http://www.alsacorp.com/paints.htm Never tried any of their stuff, but it does appear to be the "real thing." Expensive, though.

Oops... Well, at least I was half right. I seem to remember some big Ibanez endorser using the tone zone, though. Was it Paul Gilbert?

AFAIK, he used a DiMarzio Air Norton in the neck and a Tone Zone in the bridge. Seems to be a good combination. I have a PAF Pro + Tone Zone right now, but am thinking about trying the Air Norton in place of the PAF pro.

Hello all. I'm still a bit new around here, so I hope my question is appropriate. I could really use some advice. I'm considering buying a mahogany guitar body on ebay. The guitar shipped from the factory with an oil finish, and the seller tells me that the previous owner stained it to a darker color. This raises a number of questions for me. What would be the proper way to do a refinish like this? I'm assuming one would need to remove the factory finish somehow, stain it, then re-oil it. Is it possible that the owner stained it without removing the oil finish? If so, would that prevent the stain from penetrating the wood, and allow me to remove it? Also, if the owner stained over the factory finish, then did not apply another layer of finish, should I re-oil it? Could I use any oil, or do I need to be concerned about incompatibilities between the factory oil and the one I choose (I think I'd use tru oil if I had my choice).

Wow, lots of great advice here. I think some reinforcement is in order no matter who builds the neck. If I get Warmoth to do it, I might see if I can get them to do a 5-piece wenge/bubinga or wenge/purpleheart neck. I'm a little surprised they don't offer carbon fiber on their guitar necks... they seem so proud of the steel reinforcement in their bass necks. Falbo, thanks for the heads up on different wizard shapes. I haven't really played many others besides mine, but now that I think about it, mine does seem to feel thinner than most. It does have a bubinga strip, but I always thought that was just for the trussrod rout. You're right that the vintage fret wire will make the neck feel slimmer. I played a bass that had been refretted with mandolin wire, and it made a huge difference. RGGR, I always wondered if a device like the copy carver existed. Now that I know, I wonder why every woodworker in the world doesn't have one! Makes me want to go in a different direction with this project, since a good luthier could probably make a neck-through with an exact copy of my neck pretty easily. After I priced this stuff out at Warmoth, I realized it's going to be a little more expensive than I first thought. It's not a problem per se, but the Warmoth is pushing full custom territory as far as price goes. I may spend a little time looking for local luthiers. Anyway, now that I'm starting to realize how many options there are, I think I'm actually further away from beginning this project than when I started this topic. I would really like to start building my own instruments, but with little time and a move coming in January, now isn't the best time to start putting my shop together.

The more I think about it, the more I think no one will be able to make an exact wizard except Ibanez. Not to bash anybody's work (I know Warmoth and USACG both have excellent reputations)... but after all, it is Ibanez's neck. They have all the tooling to make the real thing, whereas everyone else is trying to make a copy. I may give USACG a ring when the time comes, but unless they think they can do a very exact copy, I'll probably go with the Warmoth. Not that I don't like USACG, but I was hoping to have a matching headstock veneer, so it makes sense to get the neck and body finished together. I would try to sand the neck down if I was going to do my own finishing, but I wouldn't feel comfortable attempting to do the finish on the headstock veneer. Anyway, I finally dug up some pictures on the internet, and it looks like the strings do pull stright through the nut with the Warmoth headstock. I'll have to check when I order, but if they don't I have a backup plan in the reverse Jackson (I don't know why I like shredder guitars so much... I don't even play metal).

That's a little disappointing to hear. eddiewarlock's comments got me thinking, though, that maybe I should try something different. I've always liked wide/thin necks (like the wizard), so I bet I'd like a wider/slightly thicker neck, too. Plus, the only other alternative for me is to ebay a wizard, then replace the locking nut with a normal one and refret it with vintage wire (and I still wouldn't have the ebony board I've been wanting). Anyway, thanks for the opinions so far. I'll have to give a bit of thought to the nut width, but I think I'm going to try the warmoth/wizard combo. Now, about that headstock... does anyone know if the strings pull straight though or not? Thanks again.

Hello All, I am pretty new to the forums, so please excuse me if my question is inappropriate. I am getting ready to order a neck and body from Warmoth, and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with their "wizard" neck profile. I have an Ibanez RG520 with a wizard neck, and it's by far my favorite guitar neck shape. With the Warmoth, I'm hoping to build a guitar that has everything the 520 lacks, but retains the same feel. I'm very picky about necks, and if the Warmoth is much different, I'm afraid that I'll be disappointed. So, does anyone know how close the Warmoth is to the real Ibanez wizard? Also, does anyone know if the standard Warmoth headstock is set up so the strings pull straight through the nut (as opposed to coming off the nut at an angle ala Les Pauls)? Note, I'm talking about the side-to-side angle, not that "tilt-back" that many guitars feature. I really think it's better for tuning stability to have no angle at the nut, but if that's not achievable, I'll just order a reverse Jackson headstock because I've always though they looked cool. Anyway, thanks in advance for your opinions.