Dimarizo Tonezone

[Sephiroth000]

I was considering purchaseing one and installing it..I wondered if anybody had one installed on a mahogany bodied guitar?..I think a Evoulution would be too much for the tone i'm looking for..But, having such a "dark" sounding guitar, I'm worried the tonezone might make it too muddy. I aiming for something with a good PM sound and lead sound with easy pinch harmonics..My guitar is a RBM 10 Voyager...Thanks

[JESTER700]

Worked well in a mahogany sabre. It's a little bassy, but not real muddy IMO. The "low mids" aren't that prominent where you get that mush. I thought it was just...big.

[microdmitry]

It depends on the amp, probably. I had it in my RG3120 and it sounded really "nasal" with the amps I had at that time (Mesa Subway Rocket and Rocktron Piranha). Riffs sounded bloody good, though. Thick and juicy. But I like a little more treble in a bridge pickup.

[nuno]

yeah,
thick & juicy are the right words to describe the ToneZone.

dont hesitate Sephiroth, go for it!

[germX]

the tone zone- it's a love/ hate affair. i first hated it because the guitar i had it in didn't respond to the humbucker well enough. i ended up putting it in a lighter bodied guitar & it works fine now.

i had a pointless, juvenile, debate about the tone zone in the shops the other day. there's this chap who said that the TZ has more mids than any other dimarzio, but i pointed out that the more pronounced mids was due to his guitar body & amp rather than the humbucker per se. the TZ was conceived to be a reduced midrange guitar- the dimarzio tone chart confirms this. i ended up being labelled a tone purist who had a a snob idea with regards to 'midrange'...

seph- the TZ is a cool choice for a good 'chug' tone. do try other pickups too so that you'll have a good choice list before the actual acquisition.

[microdmitry]

If you buy tonezone and don't like it, try The Breed. My quest for good pickups ended half a year ago when I bought them.
Before them I tried the following pickups, with my IMHOs on them:
1. TZ - too nasal, but awesome rthythm tones, didn't work well with my amps.
2. Evo - too harsh in the upper end, no rhythm tones to talk about. For some reason I liked the Neck version in the bridge position more than Bridge version
3. Paf Pro - pretty good, but too smooth, no balls in the bridge position, almost requires processing, pinch harmonics sounded dull
4. EMG81 - sounds good, entertained me for a while, but I ended up liking passive pickups more because they're more "alive" and "warm"
5. Bill Lawrence L500XL - too much output, feedback problems (and it didn't fit into RG3120)

Breed Neck / Breed Bridge combination works fine for me with just about any amp I plug it into. It has some of this Evo-ish taste to it, but without harshness and with just the right amount of bottom end to do that fat-ass Taurus Bulba opening riff.

[The Dark Wolf]

Since you're looking for good palm-muting tones, a good lead sound, and nice pinch harmonics, well... the TZ maybe does those exact things better than anything. I'd say it's a good choice. It loves mahogany. I have the TZ in a mahogany guitar, and it is perfect for those exact things.

[EKG]

I have the TZ in basswood and mahogany. It is a bit warmer in the mahog. Not muddy at all. I find the evo too brassy for me.

[Soloist]

I have found the Tone Zone to be somewhat enigmatic, the reason I say this is because I have played it in many guitars, mainly Ibanez RG's, and it has sounded totally different every time. To be honest I never like the sound of it in my old RG3120 (way too much mids and bass, it tended to sound muddy) but after upgrading my RG2020X with EVO's and not getting the sound I was looking for I tried Tone zone and Air Norton, surprisingly the Tone Zone sounded incredible in the 2020, tight, warm, punchy, and the pinch harmonics were just everywhere (what's so strange is that they were both mohagany bodied guitars so I assumed they would sound very similar). Regardless, the good thing about DiMarzio is that if you try the Tone Zone and decide you dont like it you can just send it back and get a different pickup, so either way it's not too big of a risk. By the way, in case you are looking for any additional pickup recommendations I would strongly suggest the FRED (Satriani's pickup), that has got to be my most favorite pickup right now, you might want to give it a try.

[Sephiroth000]

Thanks for the help...

I had first considered the breed, all reviews and people had nothing but good things to say...But, since the tonezone is more popular(or so it seems) and is one of J.S.'s main pip's, I decided to investiagte that..I have a tendency to keep my pip's low, away from the strings..Right now, I'm using a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe(main) and a DS-1 and a Marshall MG50DFX(practice)..I plan to add a JCM2000 TSL602 in the future..My RBM also has a coil tap, which i use quite often..I prefer a lot of midrange on my amp-I think it brings out more "voice" of whatever guitar..

I'd like to hear more about the Breed if anyone owns one..Seems these two are often comparied in the Ibanez world..

[EKG]

I have the Breeds in my DBK. I like them. Running them through the same amp setup as my TZ's, I find the Breed's more mellow than the TZ's. The have less low end and not as chunky. The dirty sound is smoother, too.

[Roadstar]

Originally Posted by Soloist

I have found the Tone Zone to be somewhat enigmatic, the reason I say this is because I have played it in many guitars, mainly Ibanez RG's, and it has sounded totally different every time. .

I like the TZ best in the RG 550's or these


the maple fingerboard makes a world of difference with a tz

[Shredcows]

I used Breeds for a long time before i switch pups and had 2 tonezones in my guitar... a mahogany S520EX guitar.

Hmmmm... yeah, the TZ is really a love hate affair... but there's a couple of threads here in the pups section that can talk abt tweaking the TZ to make it sound more suited to your needs.

IMO, the TZ has slightly better harmonic response than the Breed (bridge) and more low end, really chuky. However, the Breed has a tighter low end and sounds more vintage.

[ScottB]

Someone dug pretty deep to ressurrect this thread...

The other "trick" to get the best of the Tone Zone in a RG550 is to keep the pickup about 1/4" from the strings. You get much better harmonics and dump all of the muddiness or floppy strings sound when using drop tunings. My best metal rhythm tones come from my RG550 with TZ/AN combo, through the crunch chanel of the JSX.

[red5]

Originally Posted by germX

the tone zone- it's a love/ hate affair. i first hated it because the guitar i had it in didn't respond to the humbucker well enough. i ended up putting it in a lighter bodied guitar & it works fine now.

i had a pointless, juvenile, debate about the tone zone in the shops the other day. there's this chap who said that the TZ has more mids than any other dimarzio, but i pointed out that the more pronounced mids was due to his guitar body & amp rather than the humbucker per se. the TZ was conceived to be a reduced midrange guitar- the dimarzio tone chart confirms this. i ended up being labelled a tone purist who had a a snob idea with regards to 'midrange'...

seph- the TZ is a cool choice for a good 'chug' tone. do try other pickups too so that you'll have a good choice list before the actual acquisition.

Hmm I know they do have a lot of mids... the most of any Dimarzio? It's all lower mids, so right there that makes it hard for that to be true! But they are not reduced midrange pups by any means. But they really have a lot more mids in a basswood or alder guitar too. I have not tried them in a mahogany body, but the mids would probably balance out.