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Evo2 vs Steve's Special

3126 Views 2 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  bluealien
Ok, for my next guitar project, I want something a little different. Probably based on a RG570, basswood body. I am trying to decide between Evo 2™ Bridge DP215 or the Steve's Special™ DP161. This is what they have on the web site, but I wanted to hear other opinion. I like the original Evo, but would really like the cleaner chords out put, more sensitivity but still great for solos sustain when needed.

Evo 2™ Bridge DP215
The original Evolution® bridge model did exactly what Steve Vai wanted it to do: kick butt and produce serious scream. Now he wants something a little more complex-the same basic tone with increased headroom and dynamics, so that the sound kills on 10 and cleans up when the volume is rolled down. With a little less power than the original Evolution®, Evo 2™ balances perfectly with the Evolution® neck model and performs equally well with high gain and vintage amps.

Recommended For: Bridge position in solid-body guitars

Tech Talk: The overall tonality of the Evo 2™ is very similar to the sound of the Evolution® bridge model, but a couple of subtle changes give Evo 2™ a distinctive character of its own. Treble response is a little smoother, and pick attack is more focused. This translates out to a quicker, more dynamic response to soft or hard picking – the pickup has more “feel”, and can adapt to a wide range of musical styles. And you can still get the intense harmonics of the original Evolution®.

Steve's Special™ DP161
Steve's Special™ is a non-traditional approach to high-output bridge humbucking pickup design. Hot humbuckers usually concentrate most of the pickup's power in a narrow frequency bandwidth for maximum impact. Using our patented dual-resonance design, Steve's Special™ takes the opposite path, spreading the sound over a broad range. Bass and treble frequencies are boosted while the mids are pulled back, so the pickup's power doesn't kick a high-gain amp into overdrive as easily. This makes Steve's Special™ a good choice for both fast soloing and clean chords, because individual notes won't smear together with heavy overdrive, and clean sounds have an almost "hi-fi" quality.

Recommended For: Bridge position.

Tech Talk: Clean overdrive with high-gain amps. Very effective in Dual Sound® and coil splitting clean modes. For soloing, this is a very good pickup to play with a midrange-heavy amp: the mid-scoop in the pickup's sound keeps the initial pick attack clean, and the notes don't run together as much with legato playing, even with heavy overdrive.
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I've tried an Evo in Basswood and hated it. Don't know abou the Evo 2 though. I think maybe that a Steve's Special would be more suited to Baswood. My 2 sen.
Also looking at the difference of output & tone:

Evo 2 - Bridge DP215
Output: 375
Treble: 6
Mids: 7.5
Bass: 6

Steve's Special - Bridge DP161
Output: 390
Treble: 6.5
Mids: 4.5
Bass: 7.5

As compared to the orginal Evolution - Bridge DP159
Output: 404
Treble: 6.5
Mids: 7
Bass: 6

Also, I was looking to buy online, I can't find a Evo 2 in white with black poles. I guess its too new, and I would have to special order them. Grrr!
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