Dimarzio Evolution DP159 or Fred DP153 + Axe FX II anyone?

Piing

Axe-Master
I am thinking about upgrading the FRED DP153 at my RG550-LTD with something with more gain, and I have the Evolution DP159 on my mind.

Anyone is using the Evolution or the Fred with the AFX2? Do you find it easy to tweak lead tones?

On my other guitar: Strat American Deluxe with EMG SA and SPC Mid Booster I find it easier to tweak leads that sing and cut through the mix.

My favourite lead preset so far (for the Strat) is using the BRIT SILVER amp with the FACTORY 46 CAB. But I still have no favourite preset for the Ibanez.

In this video it is easy to hear that the Fred has a high frequency crispy thing that it is not present at the Evolution. I like to cut that crispy thing, and have more gain, that is the reason why I have the Evolution on my mind.
 
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I like the evo much better (And I have 2 ibanez JS's),Kind of a loud clean(no mud) pickup.But cleans up nicely when back off the guitar volume.There is a difference in magnets ,Alnico vs ceramic. Mo Joe Is cool too If you want a fatter tone ,Like the fred but fatter.The evo has more bite but in a good way.You have 30 days to like it if you buy from a dealer.If you don't like send it back for another.I use a evo, mo joe and a crunch lab. funny thing about the fred IMO , its really thin sounding and sounds like shit, of all my pick ups through a Satchurator. Just goes to show I don't have Joe's hands :D
 
the Evo is very hot and very bright

so I went for the Breed instead
it's plenty hot / fat, but a little less shrill
 
Thank you for your comments.

Unfortunately, the 30 days return policy does not apply to Thailand.

I am reading interesting things about the Breed. I am going to see if I can find some recordings to compare Evolution with Breed.
 
You may consider Evo 2 instead of Evo.
I liked The Breed in my RG2550. It would probably be too fat in a mahogany guitar like the one I have now, so I installed a Norton instead in bridge
 
You may consider Evo 2 instead of Evo.

+1

Although I say that with no personal experience of the Evo 2.

But I'm not much a fan of the original, except maybe in a darker sounding guitar. In something like a basswood RG, there's something weird in the higher freqs that to me just makes everything sound like Steve Vai. :lol

Back when I had my Mark III, I spent ages trying to dial the Vai out of the sound, until eventually I just gave it up. Never tried the Evo 2, but by description I think I'd like it more. I've also heard MANY great things about the Breed, but haven't had a chance to try one yet. Might try that myself in my RG560 one day.
 
I have been an avid evo user for many years.I like the clarity.Especially for hi gain.Plenty of harmonics available.I prefer them in basswood and mahogony only if the guitar sounds balanced in tone unplugged.If your 550 is already bright to begin with you may consider something else as it can be a bit shrill in the wrong guitar.
 
My current favorite to play at this time is an RG with basswood body with Tone Zone in the bridge, Fender Vintage Noiseless middle, PAF Joe neck.
I originally tried an Evo in the bridge, but as Clarky said very bright. The final setup I ended up with is very balanced and versatile.
 
I should have pointed out...
my Breed is in one of my RG's, and the neck pup that goes with it is a PAF Pro
I thought they worked pretty well together..

one of the things with the Breed is that it was optimised for drop tuning
my tuning is D standard - so it works a treat
 
Funny ,pickup tone must be as subjective as amp tone because I have the evo in a basswood Ibanez with a maple neck ,with a push pull treble bleed,can get bright with the treble bleed at times,but w/o the bleed on. What I hear is 80's roll and roll baby :D
 
If the RG550-LTD has a basswood body (it should) I would recommend an EVO2

But i've been using an Evolution set HSH with the Axe for a while now- it sounds great

In the wrong hands it can be a bad sounding pickup but I love it

To me its moldable- basically- if i want a metallica sound- with a mesa amp they do the metallica thing without EMGs same thing with Marshall stuff- I can make my few main RGs do any sound in the world well w/the axe (or real amps)
 
I've tried the Evo2 in a couple of Ibanez guitars. Great pickup for lead, but only with the right amp IMO. To my ears, it worked best with darker, more midrange-heavy amps. It sounded excellent with my old Mesa Triaxis/2.90.
For rhythm, it was just ok. Nothing special, but it did the job. Finding a pickup that sounds great for both lead and rhythm is not an easy task.

I didn't really care for the Evo2 once I got the Axe. With most amp models, it just seemed to have too much high end that I found difficult to tame. However, I tend to gravitate toward tones that are on the smooth/fat side.
 
Have you thought about the John Petrucci signature pickups? Their name is escaping me atm, but I have them in the EBMM JP6 and they sound AMAZING with the Axe Fx 2!
 
Have you thought about the John Petrucci signature pickups? Their name is escaping me atm, but I have them in the EBMM JP6 and they sound AMAZING with the Axe Fx 2!

Dimarzio Crunch Lab and Liquifire if there the same as the stock ones that came in my jpxi.
 
If you want to upgrade a Dimarzio FRED, then do yourself a favor and get a DIMARZIO MOJO in the bridge. I absolutely love this pickup. Great for Heavy rhythms and cleans up super sweet. Think of it as a slightly hotter FRED with more mids, and reduced "icepick" highs, so its not has harsh as the FRED. Best pickup ever through an Axe II that i have tried. Its hot enough but not so hot that it loses control. The EQ is even. Same amount of Lows Mids and Highs, so no matter where you solo, you can be heard clearly. I sometimes solo on the lowest strings below the 5th fret. Another good one is Lace Deathbucker/Deathbar. I use these in my 8 stringers. I use MOJOs in my 6 stringer Steinbergers. Awsome sound. If you want to hear the MOJO do metal then check out my clip on youtube. Dance With Death - YouTube All guitars were recorded with the Dimarzio MOJO. in the bridge position.

cheers,
Phantom.

PS, for a slightly hotter one, i would recommend the Dimarzio CrunchLab. That's my other fav besides the Mojo, but the Mojo is clearer and suited to more than just metal.
 
While I am waiting to receive the pickups, I've been thinking about the wiring and I have decided to use a similar configuration of the Ibanez EGEN18 but using a DPDT switch instead of the push/pull volume pot.

The original diagram from Ibanez is a little bit confusing, so I have drawn a new one:


H-S-H%20A1.jpg
 
Ive got a EVO2 in my cheap mahogany RG and a Air Norton in the neck. I love the bridge evo2, its clean and cuts through, but I also put a coil tap on it and it gives off an almost strat like tone.
 
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