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10K views 41 replies 28 participants last post by  rty13ibz98 
#1 ·
I was considering purchaseing one and installing it..I wondered if anybody had one installed on a mahogany bodied guitar?..I think a Evoulution would be too much for the tone i'm looking for..But, having such a "dark" sounding guitar, I'm worried the tonezone might make it too muddy. I aiming for something with a good PM sound and lead sound with easy pinch harmonics..My guitar is a RBM 10 Voyager...Thanks
 
#5 ·
the tone zone- it's a love/ hate affair. i first hated it because the guitar i had it in didn't respond to the humbucker well enough. i ended up putting it in a lighter bodied guitar & it works fine now.

i had a pointless, juvenile, debate about the tone zone in the shops the other day. there's this chap who said that the TZ has more mids than any other dimarzio, but i pointed out that the more pronounced mids was due to his guitar body & amp rather than the humbucker per se. the TZ was conceived to be a reduced midrange guitar- the dimarzio tone chart confirms this. i ended up being labelled a tone purist who had a a snob idea with regards to 'midrange'... :roll:

seph- the TZ is a cool choice for a good 'chug' tone. do try other pickups too so that you'll have a good choice list before the actual acquisition.
 
#6 ·
If you buy tonezone and don't like it, try The Breed. My quest for good pickups ended half a year ago when I bought them.
Before them I tried the following pickups, with my IMHOs on them:
1. TZ - too nasal, but awesome rthythm tones, didn't work well with my amps.
2. Evo - too harsh in the upper end, no rhythm tones to talk about. For some reason I liked the Neck version in the bridge position more than Bridge version
3. Paf Pro - pretty good, but too smooth, no balls in the bridge position, almost requires processing, pinch harmonics sounded dull
4. EMG81 - sounds good, entertained me for a while, but I ended up liking passive pickups more because they're more "alive" and "warm"
5. Bill Lawrence L500XL - too much output, feedback problems (and it didn't fit into RG3120)

Breed Neck / Breed Bridge combination works fine for me with just about any amp I plug it into. It has some of this Evo-ish taste to it, but without harshness and with just the right amount of bottom end to do that fat-ass Taurus Bulba opening riff. :D
 
#7 ·
Since you're looking for good palm-muting tones, a good lead sound, and nice pinch harmonics, well... the TZ maybe does those exact things better than anything. I'd say it's a good choice. It loves mahogany. I have the TZ in a mahogany guitar, and it is perfect for those exact things.
 
#9 ·
I have found the Tone Zone to be somewhat enigmatic, the reason I say this is because I have played it in many guitars, mainly Ibanez RG's, and it has sounded totally different every time. To be honest I never like the sound of it in my old RG3120 (way too much mids and bass, it tended to sound muddy) but after upgrading my RG2020X with EVO's and not getting the sound I was looking for I tried Tone zone and Air Norton, surprisingly the Tone Zone sounded incredible in the 2020, tight, warm, punchy, and the pinch harmonics were just everywhere (what's so strange is that they were both mohagany bodied guitars so I assumed they would sound very similar). Regardless, the good thing about DiMarzio is that if you try the Tone Zone and decide you dont like it you can just send it back and get a different pickup, so either way it's not too big of a risk. By the way, in case you are looking for any additional pickup recommendations I would strongly suggest the FRED (Satriani's pickup), that has got to be my most favorite pickup right now, you might want to give it a try.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for the help...

I had first considered the breed, all reviews and people had nothing but good things to say...But, since the tonezone is more popular(or so it seems) and is one of J.S.'s main pip's, I decided to investiagte that..I have a tendency to keep my pip's low, away from the strings..Right now, I'm using a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe(main) and a DS-1 and a Marshall MG50DFX(practice)..I plan to add a JCM2000 TSL602 in the future..My RBM also has a coil tap, which i use quite often..I prefer a lot of midrange on my amp-I think it brings out more "voice" of whatever guitar..

I'd like to hear more about the Breed if anyone owns one..Seems these two are often comparied in the Ibanez world..
 
#13 ·
I used Breeds for a long time before i switch pups and had 2 tonezones in my guitar... a mahogany S520EX guitar.

Hmmmm... yeah, the TZ is really a love hate affair... but there's a couple of threads here in the pups section that can talk abt tweaking the TZ to make it sound more suited to your needs.

IMO, the TZ has slightly better harmonic response than the Breed (bridge) and more low end, really chuky. However, the Breed has a tighter low end and sounds more vintage.
 
#14 ·
Someone dug pretty deep to ressurrect this thread...

The other "trick" to get the best of the Tone Zone in a RG550 is to keep the pickup about 1/4" from the strings. You get much better harmonics and dump all of the muddiness or floppy strings sound when using drop tunings. My best metal rhythm tones come from my RG550 with TZ/AN combo, through the crunch chanel of the JSX.
 
#15 ·
germX said:
the tone zone- it's a love/ hate affair. i first hated it because the guitar i had it in didn't respond to the humbucker well enough. i ended up putting it in a lighter bodied guitar & it works fine now.

i had a pointless, juvenile, debate about the tone zone in the shops the other day. there's this chap who said that the TZ has more mids than any other dimarzio, but i pointed out that the more pronounced mids was due to his guitar body & amp rather than the humbucker per se. the TZ was conceived to be a reduced midrange guitar- the dimarzio tone chart confirms this. i ended up being labelled a tone purist who had a a snob idea with regards to 'midrange'... :roll:

seph- the TZ is a cool choice for a good 'chug' tone. do try other pickups too so that you'll have a good choice list before the actual acquisition.
Hmm I know they do have a lot of mids... the most of any Dimarzio? It's all lower mids, so right there that makes it hard for that to be true! :) But they are not reduced midrange pups by any means. But they really have a lot more mids in a basswood or alder guitar too. I have not tried them in a mahogany body, but the mids would probably balance out.
 
#16 ·
I have just replaced the TZ in my RG3120 I thought it sounded muddy and lifeless no amount of amp tweaking got it sounding right to my ears, Im sure it would sound better in a basswood guitar but I think its a poor choice by Ibanez for a mahogony guitar, I put a EVO2 in the guitar today and it came to life a lot better and made me apreciate the paf pro a little more on the split settings.
 
#19 ·
sheesh...I need to find a way to get enough money to buy all these pups. The Evo neck is my fav in the neck but bridge I'm not so certain. Listen to Shredcows' clips in the pickups & wiring section where he used a Breed neck in the bridge position. Really great sound. What would you guys say for a basswood RG550 with a maple neck? It's a rather bright guitar so PAF Pros sounded weak and thin in it and the Evo it has now makes it scream too much...like previously said, too harsh. I've thought about Fred, Breed neck or bridge, even Steve's Special and TZ, I just don't have the time or money to try out ever pup out there.
 
#20 ·
Praetorian said:
I just don't have the time or money to try out ever pup out there.
DiMarzio is FANTASTIC when it comes to taking pickups back...unconditionally. If you don't like it, send it back within 30 or 60 days and they'll send you something else or refund your money.

I understand that install-time is an issue.

If you like the breed neck in the bridge position, then try it out. You may even like the breed bridge in the bridge position. I found it to be right between the PAF & the Evo, soncially. I guess that's why they called it The Breed.

~K
 
#22 ·
I was interested in the tonezone because I mostly play with a solid state amp and a podxt, so a was looking for something less harsh sounding with more low end.

But the thing is that appears to sound WAY different from the evos, (wich I like), so..

How good are TZ for pinch harmonics?
Can TZ "scream" something like a Evo?
Can I get a Vai-esque tone with it?

So what do you think? I was looking for a high gain pickup with a bassy sound good for leads and with little less gain thant the evos, but I'm starting to think that the compromise and sound difference maybe will be too much..
 
#23 ·
I haven't used an Evo bridge yet but the Tone Zone is working out well in my RG2550E - in fact it pairs really well with my Evo neck. I'd been looking for a used Evo bridge to test but I've dropped the idea because the more I play with the Tone Zone, the more I like it.
 
#25 ·
I had a Tone Zone in a mahogany guitar and I didn't like it much. I found myself dialing more treble in my amp to make up for the darkness of the pickup. It all depends on what gear you're using and the tone you think your guitar needs. Perhaps it was because I already have a dark amp, so having a dark sounding guitar AND pickups was overkill. I like using pickups to dial in the final sound to my liking. However, if you want a dark Dimarzio, I'd suggest the Breed over the Tone Zone. Much better pickup IMO.
 
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