Dimarzio's in alder?

BFH · #1 06-11-2008, 06:32 AM

Well i've recently acquired this alder H-H soloist that came stock with EMG 81 and 85 and they're really starting to get on my nerves. Always that little gain boost, the compression and subtle lack of note deffinition is so annoying. And cleans are just a joke on these things. So I guess what im looking for is a pickup combo that will be good for shred leads, Metal rhythm, and give me decent to good cleans with the passive warmth that these battery powered demons have been withholding from me. Some bridge pickups i've been looking at are the X2N, Evo and D sonic. And I don't really have that clear of an Idea what is suitable for me in the neck, thinking about the air norton and evo neck. Any advice from you dimarzio masters? Thanks in advance for any help.

mi2tom · #2 06-11-2008, 06:38 AM

Evo and Evo2 are great in the alder.

Crazy_Guitar · #3 06-11-2008, 01:07 PM

Won't they sound a bit too thinny?

I'd say a Tone Zone in an alder body would be better.

barbarelaxe · #4 06-11-2008, 01:16 PM

I have PAF PRO in alder and it has significantly more body and bite then on my basswood Ibanez.

Scali · #5 06-11-2008, 01:43 PM

Steve Vai's Evo is alder.
He got a few prototype guitars from Ibanez with new DiMarzio pickups. Evo is the one with the Evolutions, and it has been his favourite guitar for over a decade... so yea, apparently Evo's work great in alder... they're made for it.

I have an alder RG570CT, tried PAF Pro and ToneZone in it... The PAF Pro was quite bright in the neck, almost single-coil-like. The ToneZone was very dark in the bridge, almost like a Les Paul. I didn't really like it... the TZ sounded more like a neck pickup, and the PP sounded almost like a bridge pickup, so there wasn't enough variation in the tone, in my opinion.
So I put the stock V7 and V8 back in, they fit alder very well imho.

BFH · #6 06-11-2008, 05:58 PM

Thanks for the advice so far. I figured the Evo would be good in alder but I don't know how well it would work for metal rhythms. Anyone have experience with the X2N in alder? I want to coil tap to get some strattier sounds as well and i've heard the X2N is great for that and I have also heard the D sonic almost has an acoustic sound to it when coil tapped in neck. Anyone know about this?

Crazy_Guitar · #7 06-11-2008, 07:47 PM

Caution! Evo on JEM-7VWH is pickguard-mounted. That kinda "rolls off highs". Are you going to pickguard- or direct-mount it?

A Tone Zone on a basswood body is very dark sounding. Almost muddy, IMHO.
Since alder has a brighter tone, the TZ should go better. I guess the TZ would be perfect on an ash body!

axemanrio · #8 06-11-2008, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy_Guitar

A Tone Zone on a basswood body is very dark sounding. Almost muddy, IMHO.

I've tested the Evo2, Breed and Tone Zone in my basswood RG2550, so guard-mounted, and I love the Tone Zone - it isn't muddy at all, I found the Breed muddy and Evo2 too thin.

Crazy_Guitar · #9 06-11-2008, 08:37 PM

I have a Tone Zone on a basswood (direct-mounted) and I don't like it that much: too dark.
I also have an Evo2 on a basswood (mounting-ring) and I am in love with it (finally found *my tone*).

I guess it's all a matter of taste!!!

Ok, let's sum this all up:
I have never played X2N nor D-Activator X. I'm sure they are awsome pickups, but I'm afraid they might have too much output. Do they sound good on clean sound?

The Tone Zone, the PAF Pro, the Evo and Evo2 and the Steve's Special are among the favourite choices between forum members.
The Evo and Evo2 are very similar, with the Evo2 having more dynamics (more responsive to picking changes) and the Evo having more output. Evo is a bit more trebly then Evo2, that is more mid-range.
The PAF Pro is a fantastic all-round pickup. It sounds great in both neck and bridge positions. It has a very clear PAF sound, with notched EQ so that the tone won't get lost through a high-gain amp and lot of processing. (It was the pickup choice for early JEMs.)
The Tone Zone is a bit more bassy. (I personally find it too bassy; PG loves it; it's all a matter of taste.) It is a very versatile pickup and it is very responsive too.
The Steve's Special has a different approach to a high output pickup, since it is both bassy and trebly, but the mids are scooped (weird approach to a Rock pickup?) However, direct-mounting Steve's Special on a basswood body compensates for this "lack" of midrange, thus, becoming a very flat pickup. (Some say it's even sterile!)

Among other popular choices are the Breed and the Fred. I have very little experience with these pickups.
The Breed is warm sounding (a bit too muddy for me and several other forum members). The Fred (as far as I can recall), is very dynamic and has a more vintage sound to it (almost a PAF Pro tweaked for bridge position).

I hope this clears you up a bit.

mozfan98 · #10 06-11-2008, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy_Guitar

Caution! Evo on JEM-7VWH is pickguard-mounted. That kinda "rolls off highs". Are you going to pickguard- or direct-mount it?

A Tone Zone on a basswood body is very dark sounding. Almost muddy, IMHO.
Since alder has a brighter tone, the TZ should go better. I guess the TZ would be perfect on an ash body!

+1 I had a TZ in an ash body and that thing just screams. The Ash gave it a totally different EQ.

mi2tom · #11 06-12-2008, 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy_Guitar

Won't they sound a bit too thinny?

I'd say a Tone Zone in an alder body would be better.

Nope, they are thick as hell Evo2 and evo neck.

BFH · #12 06-13-2008, 01:41 AM

Im gonna be mounting via mounting ring (H-H, alder body, maple neck, ebony fb, OFR). So there aren't any petrucci fans on here using the D sonic, air norton combo? And noone uses the X2N either? :]

So I guess the overall vote from you guys is evo 2, evo neck right?

mi2tom · #13 06-13-2008, 01:51 AM

Definitely man Evo2 rulez

Crazy_Guitar · #14 06-13-2008, 08:02 AM

I vote 10 times for Evo2!

And it's a great match with either Air Norton or PAF Pro.

nickcoumbe · #15 06-27-2008, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barbarelaxe

I have PAF PRO in alder and it has significantly more body and bite then on my basswood Ibanez.

Agreed.

I have used Evos in Basswood, and I think that they are great but not my first choice for metal.

Paf pro is fine for metal.

Not dimarzio, but I am using a Dimebucker and that is impressing me with it's versatility. Haven't tried it in Alder, or coil tapped though.