need pickup advice for an rg550

[woodros]

hi im a new member and i would appreciate it if you could recommend either dimarzio or duncans for my rg550 i have considered a breed in the bridge with a paf pro or air norton in the neck with a blue velvet in the middle can you give me any advice to help my choosing

[trouble311]

Bridge - Breed or Tone Zone
Middle - Blue Velvet, definitely
Neck - Air Norton or Breed Neck

There's my two cents

[vwall]

i actually recommend the same (almost) but also inverted. I would put a PAF pro (1st choice) or Tone Zone in the neck,
A blue Velvet in the mid and a Steves special(they sound great there) or Air Norton in the neck


Scott

[trouble311]

Scott, you mean a SS or an AN in the bridge? I didn't even think of the Steve's....I say Steve's if you're looking for a metal sound, Tone Zone or Breed for more versatile sounds, and the AN in the bridge if you use a LOT of effects.

[vwall]

My fav is the Paf pro.. end of line on that... but thats what i like best. i have so many guitars and keep a variety of p/ups in them, but my main ones all have the PP in the bridge,
I was suggesting the combo of it like this:

Bridge: PP or TZ

Mid: B velvet

Neck: Steve's Special (unorthodox but its a great sound there) or an Air Norton in the neck...

[woodros]

im looking for something i can use all round for virtually all styles what about the evo's would they work i have a zoom 3030 jackhammer guvnor and a crybaby
i want to get a zoom gfx4 because my 3030 is crap

[bammbamm]

I have 4 RG's and I have 1 ea. of the following:
Duncan Screamin Demon
Dimarzio Tone Zone
Dimarzio Super Distortion all in the bridge position.
For the neck position I'm using the original P/ups on 2 550's and a hotrails on the 565.

I'm actually content with the stockers in the neck slot because all I need them to do is sound "womany" and they do with the tones I have dialed in.

The Super distortion is a hot output pickup that really sounds ballsy when distorted and has a bit of an edge when clean, you have to lighten your attack when playing clean. The demon is a good all purpose pickup that has a high range to it with more mids and highs than a paf to me. and hen the tone zone which is my newest, I have to say is a really good pickup all around, each has a noticable difference so I would try the brands you like. I'm pretty sure with each brand there is a 30 day exchange policy to swap if one doesn't suit your tastes.

Hope this helps.

Bamm

[woodros]

so are the breeds and evos no good for what i want
how about either a breed or evo in the bridge
blue velvet mid
and paf pro in neck
i mean im coming from stocks so anything will sound better right?

[jono]

In truth I think the Evo is not particularly well suited as "something i can use all round for virtually all styles" it really pretty much is the definitive "Vai sound in a box" as far as pickups go. I love that sound and am happy to Vai-ify nearly everything I play.

But for a more generic sound I'd put something less "signature" in there. If you like a bit more output and play heavier styles the Tone Zone is hard to beat.

If you like less gain from the pickup, a PAF Pro works wonders at the bridge. I get my best "early VH brown sound" tones from a bridge PAF Pro with the volume rolled down. They work extremely well with processors imho too.

For the neck I don't think you can go wrong with the PAF Pro.

In the middle I personally like the HS-3 I like the output drop between positions and use this as a feature wheras some folks find it a limitation. Many folks love the Blue Velvet.

[woodros]

would a paf por in the neck and a paf pro in the bridge work i like high output but i play all styles but mainly rock, and not really much metal but know and again i like to play the odd metal riff

[woodros]

right paf pro neck breed bridge and blue velvet middle hows that?

[woodros]

this is too hard are there any sites (not putting you guys down) where i can ask a professional or someone ive been on the seymour tone wizard thing which advises you but i dont want duncans

[vwall]

ha...!!
too hard.

the question you asked cant be answered any better by a 'professional' since the pick ups are all about one personal prefrences.

We are merely suggesting cobinations that we like or have used.

[jono]

I hate to say it Woodros, but aside from mailing DiMarzio themselves (which might not be a bad idea) we pretty much ARE the professionals on this matter. Afterall, who else is going to have as much experience putting different DiMarzio pickups into Ibanez guitars as us guys

The PAF Pro, Blue Velvet, Breed Bridge combo will work very well in my opinion. and you'll have a good range of sounds across the selector switch.

The Breed has a less obvious character to it than the Evo but still retains the Vai connection that you seem keen on, and on paper at least the Breed balances better with the PAF Pro than the ToneZone does.

Remember that inthe USA DiMarzio has an exchange policy! Our site sponsor "Universal Jems" is a DiMarzio dealer so maybe you could get in touch with Brian from there (forum member becalvert) and see what he has to say about it.

[woodros]

thanks very much, no need to grill me i just want whats best. i live in the uk so im not sure whether i could send the pu's back