RG550 pickup advice

[sirshredsalot]

What dimarzio pickups sound closest to the stock v7/v8 550 pickups? Any 550 owners recommend something similar or better? I like the general tone of the stock pickups, just looking for a little more kick without completely killing the stock 550 tone.

[here.choo]

Put Air Norton to the neck position and Tonezone on the bridge.

[sirshredsalot]

Seems to be a popular configuration. I had a Paf pro in the neck on another guitar, and i really wasn't that impressed. The stock neck pickup on the 550 seemed like more output. The air-norton is also slightly less output than the paf pro. I have also heard the tonezone is slightly muddy. That would make sense considering the high level of mids and bass rating on the dimarzio site. I want something that has great output and sustain in both the neck and the bridge.

[jazzedout]

Does your guitar have the V8/V7 pickups or the older V1/V2 ones? The older set had a nice neck pickup, but I don't really like the newer ones. I love the Tone Zone in my RG550, and the Air Norton in the neck doesn't sound like it is low output at all. I also like the Paf Pro both in the neck and bridge positions too, for a more balanced "do ti all" sound. For a couple of years I had a Fred in the neck position, which had a really thick nice middle range that sounded pretty good for a neck pickup, although it is thought mainly as a bridge pickup.

[sirshredsalot]

I was taking into account that Basswood is a darker wood. Considering the tonezone has more bass and mids, I'm wondering if an evolution 2 would cut through better?

[jazzedout]

I don't believe basswood to be dark sounding. It is a rather balanced sounding wood... Mahogany is dark sounding.

[sirshredsalot]

How much different is the airzone from the paf pro? I had a paf pro in the neck of my pgm as well as an alder body guitar. I wasn't to crazy about it. It was pretty low output. The airzone is slightly less output than the paf pro. Anyone play both to make a comparison?