Tone difference between Breed and Norton ?

[SonicExplorer]

Hello,

Am trying to narrow down a choice of bridge pickup and noticed the Dimarzio specs on the Breed and Norton are almost identical, with the Breed having more pronounced mids and low. I'm a little concerned the Norton may may sound a bit too PAF'ish. (I had a PAF Pro in a guitar long ago and dislked it, realy vanilla all around)

Anybody have experience to share regarding the Breed and Norton (preferably having tried them in the same guitar) ??

Thanks,

Sonic

[Roadstar]

both are pafish
the norton is brighter and the breed is smoother and darker
the norton is a lot like a fred/tone zone sound
if you meshed those two pups in one thats the norton
the breed is more ultra fat paf pro sounding and very smooth
i find the norton to be more aggressive sounding and really reminds me of the bridge pup in the EVH axis music man guitar
the breed reminds me of a JB with way more beef

[dragsternj]

You didn't say what guitar it is for, but i stuck a pair of breeds on a 550 and it quickly became one of my fave pickup sets. Nice and fat, smooth as roadstar said.

I played evos, and nortons,freds and super d's but the breeds are my personal fave.

[erikm5150]

they are both kinda PAF-ish.
the norton is the more "modern sounding" of the two, more aggressive, and has more complex mids.
the breed is warmer, smoother, and darker, you could say it is the more "traditional" sounding of the two.

[SonicExplorer]

Sorry, my oversight.... The guitar is an Ibaneze S470 (plain, no maple top). The problem is, that guitar is damn near impossible to guage as to what pickups are appropriate. Strats, RG's, Les Pauls, we all know the basics of how those sound, but S470 is a unique animal...

I play melodic metal (not really nu-metal, but still agressive). Think Van Halen's early tones but the next level of gain. Semi-busy rythms, kind of like Maiden or Priest maybe. Think of type of guitar tones that were the hot-rodded Marshall's of the mid 80's with a touch of modern sound. Thick, aggressive and cutting - but still retaining tone.

Will the Breed be too smooth and not edgy or cutting enough for what I'm looking for??

These are the selections I've narrowed things down to so far....
Bridge: Breed, Norton or Tone Zone (but afraid of flabby low end on TZ)
Neck: Breed or Air Norton

Sonic

(BTW, Amp is a JSX if that matters any)

[dragsternj]

For maiden and Priest tones i don't think the breed is the ideal pickup in my opinion.

For the S470 my fave config for metal is a Super Distortion in the bridge and a Tone Zone in the neck position. Period. I have tried all sorts of configs and for the mahogany body that just does it for me. I already suggested this to someone before just to figure out they buy used, but dimarzio lets you exchange pickups if you don't like them.

Also always tell people to have a look at other pickup manufacturers. If you have enough money Bare Knuckles are awesome. The Miracle Man just smokes. There are PRS HFS's and also Gibson Burstbuckers.

For a mahogany body a popular combination is a SD 59 and a JB and that's nice Priest/Maiden Sound, also the SD Jazz for the neck is nice.

All great Pubs.

[sleepyone]

I have an S470 with a set on Evo's on it and it is perfect for lead work, it can get away with busy rythm work ala metalcore but hard rock power chords never sound good enough; this pickups scream...a lot...so they don't have that rythm quality to them; but you can try Evo2 for the bridge, it is supposed to be more versatile than Evo and maybe it can manage rythm work better since it has less midrange boost. Evo neck is a GREAT choice, legato runs and arpeggios sound perfect, tight bass frequencies and lots of harmonics for a neck pickup; again I must say it works better for lead work...

[LuredMaul]

Norton/Air Norton and your Golden
The Breed has a Fat mid low that works better for rythmn or slack tuning ie "Bad Horsie"
Evo2/Evo is my favorite of all (very smooth yet complex)
X2N sounds great in an S also
If you want mids for lead go Norton (little more complex Upper mid) or Evo (Upper mid loud and Proud without oppologies)
Rythmn; Breed or X2n

[Jaden]

there are a million threads on this already... try searching

[SonicExplorer]

I did search, extensively. On Breed, Norton, Tone Zone, S470 and a variety of other keywords in titles, and spent hours reading posts.

If you don't have anything constructive to contribute, kindly keep your comments to yourself.

[Roadstar]

Originally Posted by whatisshredding

there are a million threads on this already... try searching

I dont mind him asking even if it has been asked before
we can always learn something new.

[Roadstar]

Originally Posted by SonicExplorer

I did search, extensively. On Breed, Norton, Tone Zone, S470 and a variety of other keywords in titles, and spent hours reading posts.

If you don't have anything constructive to contribute, kindly keep your comments to yourself.

searching is not always the answer anyway
your situation is not thiers
so you need to ask new questions and i for one am cool with it