okay well im kind of confused on what to do... i think that im ready for some better equipment. i have an ibanez rg120 and its a decent guitar, but pretty cheap and i want something that sounds a little better. i was considering buying a schecter c1 plus, and im set on it because of its cheap price and awesome tone, but i dont know if it would sound better if i replaced my pickups on my ibanez. im also on a tight budget, so i was wondering if i should just buy the schecter or replace the pickups on my ibanez, and if so, which pickups would be a good choice (i play a lot of thrice/killswitch engage style stuff).

thanks for your help

I'm pretty sure those guys play EMG-81's. Who doesn't these days...christ...anyhow. I wouldnt know at all...I've been playing stock forever. Let me tell you something tho man...if u can make a decent guitar sound awesome...then you can make a high end guitar sound killer. At this point...worry about your practicing...if you have the best gear ever and still can't even play then it will be a waste. Kirk Hammett played gutiar through a 4 inch speaker when he started and he's awesome now...or was anyhow. Won't get into that tho. I'm just saying...you know...work on your chops. Gear can come later. You want to be a guy who plays guitar...well...not just owns one. With all that said...I'd go for a new guitar, but thats just me.

He never actually said that he was a beginner.

What it comes down to is whether you are happy with the feel of the Ibanez. Try out the Schecter, and if you like the feel of that better, then go for it. If you don't, then consider a pickup swap.

The pickups on the C-1 Plus aren't amazing (Duncan Designed), so I would recommend you look at the C-1 Blackjack (real Duncans) or a similar ESP Ltd

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BOL

Yeah, I agree, if you love your ibanez and just want it to have a better sound then get the pickups. If you arent really very fond of your ibanez, and it just doesnt have what you want then yes get a new guitar. I wouold preferably go for the pick ups first being that like oyu, I am always on a tight budget. You never know it could come out sounding badass and you would wanna keep it.
New guitars under 500$ usually dont have great pick ups anyway so you wont have a real "WOW" sound.

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We've been dancin' with Mr. Brownstone...

I would put pickups in the ibanez and save your cash for something better than a guitar with duncan design pickups. I like the c-1 but not the pickups that come with it. I think you would end up changing them too.

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I am a constant evolving music machine. Oh Man, I just forgot what I was playing. Oh well, on to the next song.

Yeah, if you're comfortable with your guitar... just spend the 150 dollars to get a new set of pickups. It will sound a ton better and give you time to save up for a new axe. The EMG's are the most popular metal pickup for a reason... they sound amazing. The Schecter C-1's come with Seymour Duncan JB/59 sets. They're more versatile than the EMG's but they lack the hard edge that the EMG's have because they are passive pickups and EMG's are active.

No one can say for sure - it's your decision but probably should upgrade your pickups in the Ibanez for now. The Schecters are not bad quality guitars (highly detailed and build quality is supposed to be pretty good - one model is about $550 and even comes with an original Floyd rose trem), but one of the main reasons many of those models are the prices they are is because they do not have top of the line pickups - so as someone above said - you would probably end up wanting to change the ones on the Schecter as well. If you buy the Schecter you may have a little better guitar but you're still going to have average pickups - which probably means you will still be disappointed by your tone and sound. Have the work done by someone you trust - a pro. If you go with active EMGs - you'll need to replace the 9-volt every so often. Your playing will sound very muddy and you'll know it's time for a new 9-volt.