parhelia_0000's Metal Music Gear Setup

When it comes to guitar tones, midrange is always extremely important to my guitar tone. The heart of a perfect guitar tone lies in the perfect amount of midrange with balanced low's and high's, along with a perfect amount of gain that will cut through the mix for high-gain tones, but retain clarity and character for clean tones as well.

Enter the Seymour Duncan JB. Before I had the trembucker version, I was originally using the SH-4 on my Ibanez S521 MOL, and even that did the job pretty damn well for a while. The trembucker version, however, fixes a lot of issues in terms of string spacing for superstrat guitars from brands such as Ibanez, ESP, Strandberg, and others.

So what makes the JB stand out from others? It has a tight low-end, which allows for palm-mute chugs to sound tight AF. The low-mid "growl" adds the extra attack to your pick attack, but it doesn't go over-the-top to the point where your ears become tortured. The Alnico V magnets help to tame the harsh frequencies while retaining the mids that are crucial to my high-gain tone. The treble frequencies also add a nice presence to my guitar tone, giving it a nice sparkle for clean tones. Oh, and did I mention that this pickup is 4-conductor as well? You can do split coils with this pickup, which sounds very close to a strat for mid-gain tones. Pretty neat.

If you're looking for the ultimate versatility and you don't know where to start, take a serious look at the JB. After upgrading my S521 MOL, I'm making serious considerations to phase out the DiMarzio's on my RG Prestige for the JB/59 combo as well.

So, for quite a while I've been an avid fan of the ibanez S Series guitars. The body was light, the neck felt pretty good, and the sound that came out of the guitar was quite brutal after I've had some modifications done onto it. However, with the demand for a backup guitar on the rise, I needed something that is reliable without having to nickel and dime about repairs and/or modifications.

So, what did I do? I managed to get myself an Ibanez Prestige RG652FX, one of my first high-end guitars I've ever purchased in my entire lifetime. And the difference in quality was astounding - the pickups were very nice (to the point where I didn't have to change them out!), the neck was extremely stable, and the body didn't feel too heavy at all. The truss rod adjustments were minimal at best when I restrung the guitar with 10-46 strings. The 5-piece neck feels rock solid yet very comfortable, and the Gotoh staggered locking tuners were a very nice addition - you no longer have to hassle with string winding when you're changing strings. You just need to get one or maybe two winding on the posts and presto, you can move onto stretching the strings.

The sound of the guitar was very interesting. Compared to my modded S521 which had a crunchy sound with well-defined mids, the DiMarzio pickups (Tone Zone and Air Norton) had a slightly flatter midrange, yet the output of the pickups were still powerful enough to do the job. I'd say that this guitar even makes a perfect studio guitar, especially when it comes to rhythm tracking.

The only mod I had to do on the guitar was changing out the stock strap pins for Schaller strap locks, but other than that, the overall build quality was perfect. The Gibraltar hardtail bridge keeps the intonation rock solid, the strings stay in tune very well and the feel is astounding. A floating tremolo bridge variant (RG655) could potentially bring some possibilities to do dive bombs and surf music, but I personally don't miss it.

All in all, in my honest opinion I think this guitar is potentially the Gold Standard when it comes to superstrats. You do not need to modify anything, you can just pull it right out of the box and do a simple restring and setup, and the guitar will do the job well.

Well done, Ibanez.

Ever since I've trashed the Jazz pickup and went with the 59 in the neck with my S521 MOL, I've always been waiting for that one opportunity to swap out the DiMarzio's in my RG652FX with Duncan pickups. I needed something that'll really help the clean tones shine with mid-gain and high-gain leads sounding clear AF without compromising clarity.

Enter the Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates SH-PG1N. Don't be fooled by its marketing that claims it was designed based on a Les Paul pickup, 'cause hiding within this pickup is a 4-conductor wire, which allows for split coil positions that really allow the clean tones to sparkle and shine through. The split coil positions remind me of positions 2 and 4 in a Fender strat, and truthfully speaking, I couldn't be much happier. The lead tones are fluid and sing very well, and the Alnico II magnet really helps to clean up the mid-gain tones with the volume knob rolled back.

If you want a neck pickup that truly sings clarity in its gold standard, combining the best technologies of the 59 neck pickup and a Fender strat single-coil pickup, take a serious look at the Pearly Gates in the neck position. I did, and I'm glad I made the jump for the upgrade.

When it comes to guitar strings, I am always picky about the string lifespan. If there's one thing I've always had to deal with back in my university years, it's the fact that regular brand guitar strings always rusted a lot faster, and lacked harmonic response. This was a major problem for me as a lead guitarist, as I need my strings to be able to sing very well and respond to harmonics instantly.

Enter the D'addario NYXL series. These strings are professionally designed to have better tuning stability with instant response to bends and harmonics. These strings brought life to my guitar sound, and I really love how they last a lot longer than regular brand guitar strings. I've even done A-B testing with these strings against generic brand strings, and the NYXL's won every single time. They sound brighter, last longer, and respond better. And I can honestly see the reasons why other guitarists like Leda and Tosin Abasi would vouch for D'addario NYXL's.

If you want the best strings for your guitar tone, take a serious look at the NYXL guitar strings. I did, and I never looked back ever since.

This pick is by far one of the most comfortable picks I've ever played. The gel surface of the pick makes it comfortable to play on, while the heavy thickness helps me pick individual strings more accurately. The price is dirt cheap too - I've tried various brands of picks out there, and by far based on comfort and playability, Jim Dunlop gel picks beats all. The only disadvantage I would see from this pick is the fact that it won't last too long - the pick tends to wear out easier when you do more aggressive shredding or if you do pick scrapes more often. Despite this disadvantage, I would always opt to go with the disposable picks over uncomfortable picks any day of the week.