New Pickups for Ibanez AF55

**Mrniall** · 10-17-2024, 04:11 AM

Hi all

Hope you are well, apologies I've been lurking around here for a while but never posted. I've been debating upgrading/ replacing my Ibanez AF55 for a few weeks but I'm undecided what route to go down.

I love the guitar (playability wise) I just feel it sounds a bit cold, or maybe a bit thin or watery. As a result I'm mostly using a Gretsch solidbody with a P90 neck pickup as I prefer the sound but this feels a bit backward. I've played around with my Pre-amps and EQ but have convinced myself its not quite there (and it also feeds back at almost any volume which is annoying and I don't know if thats related to the pickups or something else!)

So I'm wondering if a pickup change would help? My AF55 has dual Infinity R humbuckers (which are the cheaper all purpose Ibanez pickups). Is there anything relatively inexpensive that I could drop more or less straight in to give my guitar a big upgrade or should I just be thinking about replacing the whole thing if I want a tone upgrade? I've built a couple of DIY kits so I'm not scared of simple wiring but I don't want to have to make any modifications to the body if possible.

Any advice appreciated

**dconeill** · 10-20-2024, 12:39 PM

Originally Posted by Mrniall

... my Ibanez AF55 ... sounds a bit cold, or maybe a bit thin or watery. ...
I've ... convinced myself its not quite there (and it also feeds back at almost any volume which is annoying ...
So I'm wondering if a pickup change would help? ...
Is there anything relatively inexpensive that I could drop more or less straight in to give my guitar a big upgrade ... ?

A pickup change probably wouldn't help much. I don't know what "relatively inexpensive" means to you, but any good pickups you could put into the guitar would cost nearly as much as the guitar itself cost - two Seymour Duncan Seth Lover pickups, for example, would cost around US$250. Not worth the cost or trouble, in my opinion.

My advice? Sell the guitar and find one you like. And consider that an archtop (particularly if you are financially constrained) might not be the right kind of guitar for you. Concentrate on the sound and not the appearance. For example, listen to Ed Bickert - he used a beat-up Telecaster with either a standard Tele neck or humbucker neck pickup and generated some of the nicest sounds you'll ever hear.