Air Zone + Breed

[RG550BW]

I am planning to put Air Zone in the bridge and Breed in the neck of my Ibanez RG. I hope to get warm natural sound like Van Halen with nice distorsion while still being clean and refined like Vai/Satriani sound. My search on internet has brought me to this 2 pickups..has anyone tried this combination? what you think about it? Anyone has better idea for that kind of sound?

[nott^^]

maybe the opposite would do a better job - breed for the bridge and air norton (ok, it's not totally the opposite :P) for the neck.

my 2 cents

[IbanezGirl]

I'm also interested in hearing people's opinions on this combination.

[David McCarroll]

Originally Posted by RG550BW

I am planning to put Air Zone in the bridge and Breed in the neck of my Ibanez RG. I hope to get warm natural sound like Van Halen with nice distorsion while still being clean and refined like Vai/Satriani sound. My search on internet has brought me to this 2 pickups..has anyone tried this combination? what you think about it? Anyone has better idea for that kind of sound?

I have a niggling feeling you are trying to get two quite different things happening here - on the earliest VH albums (and I really hope you feel EVH sounded better then!!) Ed's guitars had Gibson PAF pickups scavenged from early 60's Gibsons - they are about as low output as humbucking pickups can get, so you get a ton of clarity, prescence and warmth - then run that straight into a 50watt Marshall with a variac dropping the mains voltage to abou 80-90 volts, so the power amp saturates very quickly, and you'd have to say that the tone on VH 1 and VH2 was about as good as it gets!

Breeds are pretty hot, and very middy, so they drive the front end of the amp much harder, which is why Stariani and Vai's tone tends to sound more "fizzy" and processed than EV's or say Angus Young from AC/DC (almost same setup as EVH).

Ibanezgirl may disagree, but I still think the ToneZone has a nicer "tone" than the Breeds - very round and fat compared to a slightly harsher, toppier tone from the Breeds, but hey, that's just my humble opinion!

Enjoy the quest for tone - it's a ton of fun!

Cheers

David

[Roadstar]

Originally Posted by RG550BW

I am planning to put Air Zone in the bridge and Breed in the neck of my Ibanez RG. I hope to get warm natural sound like Van Halen with nice distorsion while still being clean and refined like Vai/Satriani sound. My search on internet has brought me to this 2 pickups..has anyone tried this combination? what you think about it? Anyone has better idea for that kind of sound?

this combo is great for what you want
you can also use a air norton in the neck and a tone zone in the bridge which is closest to what EVH used in his EBMM sig guitar
if you really want the satch,VH tones put a regular norton in the bridge
and a breed neck model or air norton in the neck
the NORTON is the most underated dimarzio and very old and new EVH sounding
it also is cleaner than the zones are
I got one recently and i think it is great and shocked me since i did not expect it to be so EVH sounding

[IbanezGirl]

David, it's been awhile now since i've heard your Breeds. But i do recall liking them as soon as i heard them, i'm not sure what % impressed me the most, the pickups or that they were in your DNA It's funny, but i don't recall the Breeds as being harshier or toppier, but then again my ears are different to yours. Don't get me wrong, i loved your Tone Zone too!


RG550BW, i cannot comment on the Air Zone because i haven't heard one.
Why don't you buy 'em and try 'em and if you aren't happy with that combo, you'd have no trouble selling them here and then you could go onto the next experiment.
Wouldn't it be coo though, if they came up with a way that you could just clip in and out any pickup you wanted too hear in a store, then experiment too your heart's content. hehe!!!