Swapping HB on my Ibanez FR2620 - Suggestions?

    Now it has the standard CCR1 and 2 from Ibanez. They are ok but they lack a bit of personality and they sound a bit too compressed to me.
    I have identified few options and I would like to stick to those unless somebody has some very good reasons to suggest something else.
    Keep in mind that I would use it primarily for electric jazz and fusion.


    Neck/Bridge combinations
    1- Classic: Duncans SH2n - SH4 (not sure how they would sound in a non-mahogani guitar)
    2- Hotter: DiMarzio AirZone/ToneZone (bit scared it's going to sound muddy, but being the body Ash it could work)
    3- Modern: DiMarzio Breed/Breed (supposed to sound good and warm, hotter PAF...too hot?)
    4- Alternative: DiMarzio Steve Morse's signature (quite particular, are they going to be ok on a completely different gutar?)


    As you can see I have a strong preference for DiMarzio (I litteraly LOVE the combo ProTrack/FastTrack1/FastTrack2 that I have on my Strat) and they must be split-coil (4-wire) HB.


    I'm sure a lot of you have used some if not all of them and I would really appreciate some in-context (kind of guitar, music played) feedback/suggestion.


    Thanks in advance for your time :)

    "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" Serghei Rachmaninoff


    Have a look at Häussel Pickups. I really love them because they have a tendency to have more clarity, less compression, and a wider dynamic range than other pickups i tried before.


    http://www.haeussel.com/index.php?lang=en


    Also, have a look a the website of ACY, which is also a KPA user here in the board. He is the man to ask about Häussel and has tons of information and soundfiles.


    http://www.acys-lounge.de/pickups-mixed.html


    Sorry, I stopped after electric Jazz... :D:D:D



    1.)Seriously, SH4 and SH2n is a special combo. Many like it, not me personally. I feel that the JB model sounds very unique (I don't get for the life of me, how SD became popular with that model) - all upper mids plus highs and no bass. I think that Ash might not be the best body wood for this pickup - but that's more a gut feeling I have.
    In any case, if you're considering the SH4, then forget about this one and get the DiMarzio AT-1 instead, which is like DiMarzio's version of it (they sound very different though - and I have tried both - but the AT-1 is a much better and more expressive pickup).


    2.)Air Zone/Tone Zone is a good combo for certain applications! Very warm, very big. Seeing that Ash has a kind of scooped midrange (not always) they could work. Especially for the *cough* music *cough* you want them for. The only prob is, the Tone Zone is very sensitive to pickup height (I cannot stress this enough!!!!). It could take you several days or even weeks to find the sweet spot of that pickup. In the wrong position, it will sound super boomy or just bad. But when you get it right, it can be tonal heaven!
    The bridge will be aggressive, middy and big and the neck will be super warm and fusiony.


    3.)Breed/Breed is also very good! Very warm as a pickup set. Very polite sounding pickups that somehow don't really have an "edge", soundwise speaking. They feel really smooth. But they also have a hint of a modern sort of Vai-ish voice in all that smoothness, but it might be cool for your application.


    4.)One word: thesesuck! :P


    I like Steve's sound, but his pickups are kind of bland... very bland... no personality whatsoever. One-dimensional (all that, of course, IMHO).
    Could not bond with them...


    Out of your four choices, I'd take the Tone Zone / Air Zone combo (instead of the Air Zone, you could also like the PAF Pro).
    IMHO, also consider taking a look at DiMarzio's Gravity Storm bridge and neck humbuckers and also the Bluesbucker for the neck.

    Thanks for the hints, guys. I've just spotted Air Zone and Tone Zone in ebay and I think I'll give them a try, can always change again later.... :D

    "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" Serghei Rachmaninoff


    well, you could just order a bunch of pickups (like 20 pickups) from a big store (you know!) and send those back that you didn't like. You have a 30 day money back guarantee.
    I always did it like that, so I have tested almost every pickup from SD and Dimarzio...