Dimarzio Evo2/Breed neck review with D-sonic/Air Norton comparison

[no1spretty]

So i got the pickups and installed them on my rg550. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The breed neck is probably the best neck pickup ever made. Every note can be heard clearly, and it has such a sweet tone. Not too dark and very smooth.
The evo2 isnt a good match for a breed neck, i have to say. When i switch pickups, it sounds like im playing a different guitar. Im happy though. Enough versatility till i get a new guitar haha. It's bright and.. all over the place. Not that high of an output, very VERY articulate and perfect for vai/satriani stuff.

My friend left his rg2570, which is equipped with a D-Sonic and an Air Norton at my place, and i got to compare the two pickup combinations. I'll start with the bridge pickups.

The D-Sonic is more powerful than the evo2. A lot better for metal/progressive/more "refined" or "controlled" riffing. I can't explain it any other way but the D-sonic sounds organized and the Evo2 is all over the place. Evo2 kills the D-sonic when it comes to lead/solo playing tho.

Between the Breed neck and the Air Norton, the Breed wins, IMO hands down. On my setup, the Breed sounded more petrucci-ish than the Air Norton, too. It's more powerful, more precise and has a smoother tone than the Air Norton.

As for cleans, i found the Evo2 and Breed to be more to my liking. The D-Sonic and the Air Norton have excellent cleans, but too Dream Theater-ish for me. The versatility of the Evo2-Breed Neck combo makes the cleans absolutely beautiful.

EDIT: pics: http://www.jemsite.com/forums/showth...701#post806701

[southpaw_lefty]

Thanks for the review, but you could have posted the pics in this thread instead of starting another one.

Originally Posted by no1spretty

The evo2 isnt a good match for a breed neck, i have to say. When i switch pickups, it sounds like im playing a different guitar. Im happy though. Enough versatility till i get a new guitar haha. It's bright and.. all over the place. Not that high of an output, very VERY articulate and perfect for vai/satriani stuff.

I'm thinking of trying this combo. I like the idea that the pickups sound so much different.

[no1spretty]

2 smaller threads > 1 big thread. Less annoying, me thinks

The combo is great for home playing but it would probably sound very weird live. I don't play live at the moment so it isn't a problem for me. I just think it should be considered

[LuredMaul]

I find also that the Evo2 is a Better Seymour Duncan Distortion..if that makes any sense to ya.

[losgatosrg350dx]

a seymour duncan duncan distortion is very similar if not almost identical to a evo1 except it has more compression and carried pinch harmonics thicker....

the evo2 does not match up in comparison because it has the same characteristics as a duncan jb or jazz....then if you compare them to sd pups then they would be in the same catagory as the jb or jazz and yes they blow them away

but its hard to compare the evo2 to a sd ditortion

[LuredMaul]

I have directly compaired them. As well as every Dimarzio humbucker made.
to me the JB is a different beast altogether. as is the Evolution.

The JB does what I need better that anything but the Evo2 is a close second.