Ibanez Super 58 Pickups

[Juha T]

Hm, I guess I'll give up my thought replacing Customs on my AS103 with real Super 58s. Then perhaps my AGS83 will get them, real Super 58s. I have heard/read SD 59s are good PAF clones.

Edit:
Darryl, what strings do you have on your AM?

Juha

[wildfield]

Juha,

I have Thomastik-Infeld BePop (roundwound) .012-.050 strings on my AM70.

Btw, I do like the SD 59's...I still have them in my AG195.  They are very nice PAF's.  Truth be told, I like them just a tad more that the stock Super 58's that came in the AG195.

I want to spend sometime playing the AM70 in a band setting to get a better feel how these pickups sound...but so far, I think they sound wonderful.

Darryl

[KD]

Hm, I guess I'll give up my thought replacing Customs on my AS103 with real Super 58s. Then perhaps my AGS83 will get them, real Super 58s. I have heard/read SD 59s are good PAF clones.

Juha, did you ever consider Dimarzio Vintage Output? I have the PAF 36th Anniversary and the Virtual PAF Bridge in my Tele. Very pleased with the performance and when split to single coil, very little loss in volume. They are also less than S-D 59's ($104 for both off eBay). I'm thinking of putting them or Air Classics in my AF125. They can be bought open or covered.

http://www.dimarzio.com/site/#/pickups/.

[Juha T]

There are a lot of good and interesting pickups. I have Super 58s on my FG100 and I would like to try how they sound on a semihollow. No, I will not take them off the FG100. I am afraid new Super58s cost around 200 EUR a pair and I am looking for used ones.

What Darryl told made this a more interesting guitar though it is rather expensive. Well 800 EUR (1024 USD) shipped is only money ...

http://www.musik-schmidt.de/products/de/E-Gitarren/Semi-Akustik-Gitarren/Ibanez-AM-103-BM-ABR-Artcore-CST-African-Brown.html

Juha

[wildfield]

Ooo, nice looking axe Juha.  I've not seen that one...I guess they do not offer it in the U.S.  Fortunately, I'm completely happy with the way my AM70 plays and sounds although I have spent more than EUR800 messing around with modifications.  But, if my AM70 were to ever spontaneously combust    that AM103 looks like a pretty good starting point for a new project guitar...even comes with the pickups that I love so well.

[Juha T]

Musik Schmidt is the only store in which I have seen it. It is not in catalogs. It has been tempting me since somebody posted the link to ICW for the first time. Its price has been the only reason I have not purchased it yet. AS103 (NT and AMB) costs 200 EUR less, and AM103 is expensive compared to it.

BTW, ABR means Antique BRown, not African Brown as Musik Schmidt's ad says. BM = Burled Maple.

Juha

[acetan]

I've replaced the IBZ's on my AM70 with a pair of S58's from an 81 AS100.  Totally changed the character of the guitar from a rocker to a poor man's AM50; ...until the AM70's get expensive I guess.

[ChuckE99]

Since my AS103 came to me with replacement pups in it already (GFS retrotrons) I first put a pair of old Greco humbuckers into it (equivalents to Super 60's) and now have a set of Super 80's in it. I love the sound now.

[wildfield]

I had a chance to play my AM70 refitted with Super 58 Customs this weekend, in a rock band setting.  It sounded wonderful...honestly, I couldn't be happier.  I know tone is subjective, so I acknowledge my uncontained enthusiasm is mostly meaningful to me.

One huge contributing factor is a new amp I recently acquired.  It is the Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight with 1 x 12 2ohm cab.  Wow, what a setup.  Sounds excellent for rock and for jazz.  Reminds me a tad of the Deluxe Reverb (except that the solid state reverb sounds...like it's solid state) - has a nice grumble when you lay into it while remaining clear and warm at any almost any level.  Connected to my Redstone Audio, it sounds as warm and clear and jazzy as I could ever imagine.  This amp tops my previously all-time-favorite amp, the AI Clarus 2R Series III.

Anyways, sorry to wax on...just wanted to share my uncontainable happiness.

[michaelkaufman]

Tell me more about the Clarus - I've been wanting one for a while.  Nice small SolidState package with tons of power.

mk

[wildfield]

Tell me more about the Clarus - I've been wanting one for a while.  Nice small SolidState package with tons of power.

mk

I've owned 3 Clarus amps - the Clarus 1A, Clarus 1R Series II and finally a Clarus 2R Series III.  All very nice amps...as you have mentioned, tons of [clean] power.

Each generation seems warmer than the previous.  The Clarus produces a dark, warm, solid state tone with plenty of clean head room.  In some respects (or in my opinion) the Clarus can be overly dark.  I usually back of the mids and bass considerably, and boost the treble.  Clarus amps can work with speaker loads down to 2ohms and has protection ciruitry that that shuts down the amp if the load should be less than 2ohms (before frying the amp).  Super small and super light.  Great tone, if you're into solid state.  Of course, one key point is, you have to match it to a nice speaker cab...Raezer's Edge and Redstone Audio are two popular brands that match up nicely with the Clarus.  The notch filter is a big plus (wish my Fender had one) especially with archtops.