new pickups

I'm going to change pickups.What would be better emg's or seymours?I have a Ibanez SZ520.

Hi mrscarey... welcome to GT :)

It's going to be a personal preference thing. I'm not a fan of EMG pickups, but loads of the other members are. EMGs are suited to hi-gain situations... Zakk Wylde being a famous user. You'll find the Duncans more versatile, and with a good dirty channel on your amp, or a distortion / overdrive pedal you can get a decent metal tone with them as well.

The best advice I can offer is to try out guitars already loaded with the pickups you're considering, and see what you think. Me? I'd go DiMarzio...

Try writing to both companies and tell them what sound you're after. They can recommend pickups for that.

Here's the EMG pickups I have in my guitar: http://www.guitar.com.au/pickups/emg/Pro_DG20.html

The pro series pickup sets are great in my opinion because they let you pick the style by guitarist rather than needing to know what each type of pickup does. Just on the emg pickups page alone (http://www.guitar.com.au/pickups/emg/index.htm) there are just too many to choose from. It certainly made my choice simpler, knowing that I would have a similar setup to David Gilmour as that is exactly the style I wanted with my new guitar.

This page (http://www.guitar.com.au/pickups/emg/SCoil.html) explains a little about the different type of EMG single coil pickups. I'm sure you can find other useful information at that site too.

It's all in Australian dollars of course.

Personally,I dont like Emg's...or any active guitar pickup...although I have never tried EMG Hz,maybe they're better. I'd go with Duncans, or, if you can find and afford it, BareKnuckle pickups from the Uk...They are simply awesome...a Nailbomb has made my Les paul the nices Les paul in the world...and that is a scientific fact.

Look into DiMarzios. X2Ns will turn any guitar into a screamer.

I've got Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro IIs in one of my guitars. Works great for me. It's definitely preference. I like both EMG and Seymour Duncan. You can always try and find a middle ground between the two. Maybe look at a higher gain Seymour Duncan.