Comparitive to Dimarzio Evolution

[mkh02]

Hey guys

So I have been playing with my new rig...Marshall AFD100 and a 1974 Marshall 4x12 cab which is sounding awesome!

Its amazing how much tonal variation I have suddenly discovered over the Carvin Legacy II amp I was using...rediscovered that the guitar actually has a volume control lol.....amazing how light and crunchy I can get the sound by backing the volume to 2 or 3!

Been experimenting with my different guitars which have developed their own very unique sound with this set up which is very satisfying!

I was playing my Gibson Les Paul with nailbombs in which are actually very classic rock orientated...clear and articulated which is helping me overcome the sloppyness I have gotten into the habit of!

One thing that has struck me though is how much more overdriven, saturated and well 'heavy metal', my Ibanez Jem with Dimarzio Evolutions is.... way more distorted than my Gibson and my Fender Custom with Coldsweats and trilogys (though the coldsweat is noticably more scooped and fluid than the nailbombs).

I was wondering if anyone knew what bareknuckle pickup sonically was equivalent to the Evolutions. One thing I have noticed is that although they are more saturated they are a lot more noisy than my other bareknuckles and far less tight...kinda mushy with the gain up which is good as I need one really heavy metal voiced guitar but I would like them a little more pronounced and defined...

Kind regards

mkh02

[darkbluemurder]

Low end tightness is not something I experienced with any of the high powered DiMarzios I tried so far (Super Distortion, Tone Zone, The Breed). They all were prone to mush under gain.

Another common feature of them was an artificial high end sizzle - is this what you are describing as "noise"?

I have never had an Evolution in my guitars but based on my experience with different (boutique) pickup winders is that they all have their signature tone somehow, i.e. even if the models are different they share a common DNA. The BKP's DNA seems to be clarity and tightness, even in the higher powered models which is quite different from the "DiMarzio DNA" for the higher output pickups which I described above. I would guess it will be very difficult to find a BKP that matches that.

This is in no way intended to knock DiMarzio pickups. I like the Area '58 and '61 set for what it does - do a decent strat tone without hum. I also like the Bluesbucker and the Air Norton.

Cheers Stephan

[ratspeak]

This question was asked a while back; Tim said the Painkiller is the most similar to the Evo in EQ and voicing, but the Miracle Man is his preference for Vai stuff.

[mkh02]

I agree with what you said regarding voicing/ DNA.

I have noted that a lot of the Bare Knuckle pickups are simlar in style with adjustments made depending on the music they are designed for.

In regard to the Evolutions there is more microphonic feedback that the Bareknuckles and yes it does mush and sound much more compressed under more gain which does have uses. One thing I have noticed is that you can fly up and down the fret board playing legato, sweeping and massive harmonic minor runs and the Evolutions are far more forgiving than the Bareknuckles due to that fizzle and mush sound. Whilst this is fun, I have noted that my playing has become more accurate since I switched to Bareknuckles and I am happier for it as when I go back to the JEM my playing is vastly better.

I do really like the sound of the Evolution, like you said it is just different to the Bareknuckle DNA it might be interesting to hear what the MM are like in the JEM.

One thing I have been surprised about is how classic sounding the Nailbombs are in the Les Paul no where close to heavy metal... they are very bright which compliments the Les Paul really well. The neck pick up for instance is notably very low output and very smooth and cruncy which suits the guitar well.

Gonna be building a Warmoth superstrat soon with a holydiver in which should be incredible!

[Telerocker]

I would certainly look at the Miracle Men.

[ShredHeadJHJ]

Eh, I have MM's and I don't find them to be like Evo's. I'm sure the PK is more in the Evo ball park even though I haven't tried them out yet.