S1625 Pickup Query: Evo's in neck and Tone Zones in bridge

[Arivergandez]

Hey guys,
next week I'm going to order some evo's for the neck of my Ibanez S1625 model and some Tones Zones for the bridge. I just want to hear what you guys think of this combination.

Bear in mind that I play a lot of heavy stuff, but also like to blay blues and soft rock (as well as chords etc).

Will this pickup selection allow me that level of versitility?

[Shredcows]

The combination would balance, no issue with that... but perhaps you wanna take some time to think abt the tonal differences?

The Evo neck, while still smooth as a neck pup, has a gritty edge around it. You can hear it on Vai's recordings. Sure, it can scream and spews harmonics like no other neck pup, but because of that harmonically rich tone, you get this gritty/rough kind of colouring to it. In contrast, a Tonezone is smooth, just fat and smooth.

IMO, a more balanced option (tonally) would be the Air Norton in neck.

But of course, if you like a gritty neck and smooth bridge, why not? And yes, Evo neck/Air Norton with Tonezone, you can play a lot of things.

[Arivergandez]

Thank's for that reply Shredcows, makes a lot of sense. In the neck I'm looking for some real high output; is this what makes the Evo 'gritty'?

Does the Air Norton have as high an output as the Evo? It's mainly because I want that clean metal crunch with my distortion, but not too much of a tinny high end with the bridge.

Thanks dude. Anyone else got anything to contribute.


By the way this is my 2nd post but I've been visiting this forum for years, so I'm not a 100% n00B!!1

[buddroyce]

Interestingly enough, I've had the same combo but backwards. TZ in the neck and the EVO in the bridge. The TZ in the neck is by far the fattest sounding neck pickup around(you do need to play with the pickup height though). I tried it with the EVO in the neck and the TZ in the bridge before but didn't like the sound of the EVO there, but that was probably because it was the EVO bridge model going in the neck.

[Arivergandez]

Originally Posted by buddroyce

I tried it with the EVO in the neck and the TZ in the bridge before but didn't like the sound of the EVO there, but that was probably because it was the EVO bridge model going in the neck.

Yeah that could be the problem, but not really sure how much of a difference that would make. How do your evo's sound in the bridge? I've read that some guys find the high end too tinny of the evo bridge pickup.

Also what do you mean by play witht the pickup height? Did you raise your pickups to get that fat sound?

Thansk again for your input.

[Shredcows]

Well man, you don't need a very high output neck pup actually. And its not output that makes the Evo neck gritty, its the "more harmonic overtones than conventional humbuckers" thing... that makes Evos (neck and bridge) very sensitive to everything you do... like running a finger down a string, the Evo neck/bridge will pick it up very well.

The Evo neck has a 294mA output, Air Norton has 270mA. Not a big diff.... in fact, it should balance very very nicely with the TZ (AN + TZ).

I don;t understand you saying this:

"Does the Air Norton have as high an output as the Evo? It's mainly because I want that clean metal crunch with my distortion, but not too much of a tinny high end with the bridge."

The TZ in bridge will NOT sound tinny. I've used it in my S series before. Its not tinny at all, not even for high up single note soloing.

The AN in neck will give good beef. Its fat and dynamic, excellent excellent for blues.

You got to strike a difference somewhere... you cant have a heavy metal crunch with a searing neck tone, then expect to have a solid bluesy tone the next moment.

IMHO, heavy metal pup combination.
X2N in bridge
Super 2 in neck (searing, cutting, bright neck tone? HELL YEAH)

or

Versatile Configs (metal to blues to anything...)
TZ bridge
AN neck

and

Breeds (My first dimarzios... excellent stuff!)

[buddroyce]

I liked the way the EVO sounded in the bridge. Playing by youself does make it sound a bit on the shrill side of things, but when you play with a band I've have yet to find another pickup that can cut through the rest of the band that easy(without boosting). As for the tone zone height, I hated it when I had it closer to the strings, but when I started to put it down lower, the output dropped, but I gained a LOT more tone. (lowering the TZ is a common trick to make it sound better).

Try them in both positions and see which way you like it. I'm pretty much fine with two tone zones on a guitar. I know it sounds like a pretty whacko thing to do but I remember Akira Takasaki(Loudness) having that combo in his Killer signature guitar and I liked his tone. If you want something that's very articulate in the neck position you can also try a Dimarzio Humbucker from Hell with the Tone Zone in the bridge.

Originally Posted by Arivergandez

Yeah that could be the problem, but not really sure how much of a difference that would make. How do your evo's sound in the bridge? I've read that some guys find the high end too tinny of the evo bridge pickup.

Also what do you mean by play witht the pickup height? Did you raise your pickups to get that fat sound?

Thansk again for your input.

[lyconxero]

+1 for Tone Zone/Air Norton combo. That's probably one of the more versatile pickup combos that you can have in a guitar.