Which Pickup - Tone Zone. Evolution, other??

[Melballs]

Does anyone have any suggestions for my Ibanez PL1770? *

My main guitar is a PRS CE22 with a mahogony body and a maple top. *It has Dragon pickups in it. *I would like my Ibanez to be my backup but since I started using the PRS, the bridge humbucker on the Ibanez(stock) seems really weak. *I would like to emulate the PRS tone as much as possible and while I understand that it will never sound the same, I would like to hear some suggestions.

The Ibanez has a basswood body and my setup is gtr --> boss stompbox tuner --> crybaby wah --> digitech whammy (when I'm not being lazy, I put this in the fx loop) --> Rivera K100. *I play mostly high gain stuff with the occasional clean part. *

The reasons for wanting a similar sound as the PRS is because of the highly sensitive knobs on the Rivera (If you own one you know what I'm talking about!!!). *This is a good thing, but when you switch guitars and need to dial in a new sound, it can take a while because of how flexible the Rivera is.

I've been considering Dimarzio and specifically the Tone Zone or Evolution. *I have a Duncan JB Jr, in my strat and do NOT like it much. *It seems too muddy in high gain settings. *I aslo want to stay with a passive pickup.

I appreciate any feedback from the gear junkies out there. *Thanks in advance.

[strat110]

Why not just get a PRS pickup the same as in your CE22?? Any good PRS dealer can get them for you.

As for DiMarzio then the Tone Zone is a great pickup with a med - high output but as the name implies has TONE. *The Evolution is a fair but hotter and a little brighter too, prob quite a bit hotter than the pickup in the PRS.

I personally dislike SD rail pickups for exactly the reason you mention but try the JB humbucker, its a million miles better than the strat version and quite authentic sounding [classic] but with a high output, it is SD version of the Tone Zone. *

The SD Screamin Demon is another good humbucker, a cross between a Duncan Distortion and a Duncan 59 [superb neck pickup], the low end is musical and quite vintage in nature whilst the top end adds a little sizzle to your tone, certainly a good hybrid of classic and modern humbuckers.

Try both the SD forum at their website :
http://www.seymourduncan.com

Or email DiMarzio as there customer service is very good. *The email is somwhere at:

http://www.dimarzio.com

[Mike R]

having used both the tone zone and evolution i can say that the tone zone is alot smoother and more versatile. even though its got a huge bottom end it doesnt seem to mud up much. *all in all the evo has much better single note definition for leads but can make you sound like korn in a flash where the tone zone is what i would call a high end "all rounder" that needs gain to be used to its full potential.

mike

[Melballs]

Thanks MikeR and Strat110. *I appreciate the advice. *I had considered ordering the PRS Dragon bridge pickup but I was concerned about the differences in the guitars. *My main concern being the wood types:

Ibanez has a basswood body and ebony fretboard
PRS has mahogony w/ maple top and rosewood fretboard.

Also the Ibanez has a pickguard (yuck).

I guess I won't really know until I try but I was thinking because of these differences, I should compensate by getting a hotter and 'darker' sounding pickup.

If anyone else has advice, please feel free to share your wisdom.

Melballs

[tommy west]

The Tone zone may work especially well for what you describe. Good luck!