# Replacement pickups for Ibanez RGMS7 Multiscale?



## hand amputation (Feb 5, 2019)

Just picked up an Ibanez RGMS7 Multiscale. It's a really great guitar (nice neck, solid hardware, great fit & finish) but the pickups are a bit... lacking. I'm wanting to replace the pickups, and I am wondering if there's any options out there that won't break the bank. I did a search on Google as well as SSO and came up short, so I wanted to ask here.

Thanks in advance for any guidance or suggestions!


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## Hendog (Feb 5, 2019)

I went through a phase where I swapped out pickups constantly. I ended up putting the stock pickups back in 90% of the time. I realized that pickup height can be very important so now days I just adjust the height and stick with the stock pups.

That being said, I have been really wanting to try the Fishman Fluence pickups in a 7 string.


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## hand amputation (Feb 5, 2019)

Hendog said:


> I went through a phase where I swapped out pickups constantly. I ended up putting the stock pickups back in 90% of the time. I realized that pickup height can be very important so now days I just adjust the height and stick with the stock pups.
> 
> That being said, I have been really wanting to try the Fishman Fluence pickups in a 7 string.



I did the same with a 6 string guitar not long ago. Ordered pickups, swapped them out, then reswapped them for the originals. Sounded better that way.

I guess my main concern is that the pickups in the RGMS7 are tilted, so I'm gonna need special pickups.


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 5, 2019)

your options are more limited, as you either need to rip the current pickups off their baseplates and swap something else on em, or get a custom slanted set from a boutique company. Elysian/Instrumental both do custom slants if need be. BKP/Guitarmory only go up to 15 degree slants iirc. There's other small companies that could prob do it as well but I can't personally recommend any of them.


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## odibrom (Feb 5, 2019)

^^ All this

Going boutique could be interesting 'cause you may "design" the sound you're after...

I experimented this boutique pickup thing with a local builder about a year and a half ago for a pair of 7 string pickups. One year later I got 3 pairs from him and these cost me less than the equivalent DiMarzios or Duncans, so you may have some nice surprises, obviously get some quotes first... The only bad thing in my case was that he couldn't do all i asked due to lack of means, but the essence have been accomplished extraordinarily well. Just to point out, he couldn't do covers on 7 strings nor go crazy with colors, then white they ended and they look gorgeous and sound perrrrfect to my ears, which is what is needed.

As for specs, well, that's up to you...


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## movingpictures (Feb 6, 2019)

Try Adam at Elysian. We spoke about the same guitar.


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## penguin_316 (Feb 7, 2019)

All I can offer up is I did a baseplate swap for a BKP aftermath I had lying around and it was much wider than a standard 7 pickup. Possibly a Floyd spaced BKP could work. Over all, the pole pieces don’t line up exactly. However, still sounds miles better than it did...so maybe try some Floyd spaced 7 string pickups and swap the base plates.

It’s very simple, don’t let it intimidate you. Unscrew this baseplate from each pickup and swap them.


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## penguin_316 (Feb 7, 2019)

same guitar^^^


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## hand amputation (Feb 9, 2019)

penguin_316 said:


> All I can offer up is I did a baseplate swap for a BKP aftermath I had lying around and it was much wider than a standard 7 pickup. Possibly a Floyd spaced BKP could work. Over all, the pole pieces don’t line up exactly. However, still sounds miles better than it did...so maybe try some Floyd spaced 7 string pickups and swap the base plates.
> 
> It’s very simple, don’t let it intimidate you. Unscrew this baseplate from each pickup and swap them.



Interesting. Never given much thought to modifying a pickup to work. I’m very interested in a couple of the BKP offerings from their site. I’m going to shoot them an email and see what’s up.

Related - Does anyone know the angle of the pickups in the RGMS7? I swore I saw the info floating around on this site, but now I am unable to track it down.

Thanks for the helpful reply, Penguin!


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## hand amputation (Feb 9, 2019)

movingpictures said:


> Try Adam at Elysian. We spoke about the same guitar.



Thanks! I’ll give them a shout and see if they can help me out.


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## penguin_316 (Feb 9, 2019)

It’s not just the angle that’s the problem, it has wide ass string spacing at the bridge. Make sure to discuss that with a builder if you’re having a pickup made.


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## odibrom (Feb 9, 2019)

Since it is a 7 stringer, you can measure the angle with the D string, since it is at the neck's axis...


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 9, 2019)

they're a direct drop in according to adam


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## hand amputation (Feb 9, 2019)

KnightBrolaire said:


> they're a direct drop in according to adam



DAMN. Now that's IT. How much they run you? And do you like them? Which ones, etc??


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 9, 2019)

hand amputation said:


> DAMN. Now that's IT. How much they run you? And do you like them? Which ones, etc??


i don't own them, adam just wanted me to post em here, you'd have to ask him for details.


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## hand amputation (Feb 9, 2019)

KnightBrolaire said:


> i don't own them, adam just wanted me to post em here, you'd have to ask him for details.



Sorry for being naive, but Adam?


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 9, 2019)

hand amputation said:


> Sorry for being naive, but Adam?


the owner of elysian pickups.


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## hand amputation (Feb 9, 2019)

KnightBrolaire said:


> the owner of elysian pickups.



Thank you for clarifying. I will definitely shoot him a message. Appreciate it!


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## Marv Attaxx (Feb 10, 2019)

Option 1: go custom
Option 2: re-wind the stock pickups according to specs of another pickup. Severel pickup manufacturers offer this, can get quite expensve tho
Option 3: Seymour Duncan offers a Blackout pre-amp which turns your stock pickups into (about 70-80%) active Blackouts. Might be the easiest and least expensive option to kick it up a notch


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## movingpictures (Feb 10, 2019)

KnightBrolaire said:


> they're a direct drop in according to adam



Are these the OEM pups? Look like it with the flat pole pieces. Adam did say he would rewind the original pups to whatever you preferred for $100 each.


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 10, 2019)

movingpictures said:


> Are these the OEM pups? Look like it with the flat pole pieces. Adam did say he would rewind the original pups to whatever you preferred for $100 each.


no idea, you'd have to talk to adam


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## Arthur McCay (Apr 14, 2019)

​


hand amputation said:


> Related - Does anyone know the angle of the pickups in the RGMS7? I swore I saw the info floating around on this site, but now I am unable to track it down.



The angle's 15 degrees


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## Arthur McCay (Apr 14, 2019)

I've been looking online and boutique is pretty much the only option. I ordered a bridge pup from Fokin (fokinpickups.com), the Undercut model which seems to be a fair alternative to BKP Aftermath. Even better from what I heard. Cost me around $70. Can't wait to put it on my rgms7! Will do a comparison video once I get my hands on the pup


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## Chabo (Jul 10, 2021)

This is still a very interesting topic, updates are welcome.
I'll say, there's a lot going on here, and slanting pickups is easy (but risky), it's getting the pole pieces lined up that'll often be the problem, the bridge is indeed widely spaced.
I have a (slanted) DiMarzio Liquifire 7 in the neck, no problemo, Seymour Duncan Sentient in the bridge, but no two coils have pole pieces lined up w/ the string.

Remember, Ibanez usually uses pickups for a guitar w/ +1 string for multi-scale setups (e.g. my 8 string ms Ibanez has EMG909s, for 9 strings, as stock).

But this weirdo has passives, and that's no problem in theory but unless you have the same dimensions on a pup w/ pole pieces like these, I think a possible solution for some might be to use an 8 string, passive pickup w/ rails for the bridge.
Also, for bridge or neck, slanting a 7 string passive pup may be easier w/out changing baseplates. Finding matching holes in the stock, slanted baseplates may prove difficult b/c of the stock pickup specs, but they're also plastic so modding them isn't too tough, and almost all congruent baseplates fit multi-scale Ibanez in bridge and neck (7 string passive mount baseplate will fit a multiscale 7 string, 8 string passive fits 8, any brand close to Duncan/Dimarzio specs etc.). The holes for the screws won't align, but you can at least move the pickup any direction after mounting the baseplate & choose where to screw it in.

Keep in mind grounding issues, pickups are usually soldered to a metal baseplate but the stock ones are plastic as mentioned (what's the name of the metal clip thing inside the pickup cavity on setups like these?)

I have a couple stacked humbuckers w/ rails (SD Hot Rails, Dmz Fast Track), I could use one with a single coil, slanted pickup ring, it might be just long enough for the bridge).


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