Forgot how unforgiving Dimarzio Evolutions are

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MadAsAHatter

MadAsAHatter

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I used to play near exclusively on Evolution pickups, but haven't really been playing them lately. I've been gravitating toward my guitars with a Super 3 or Breed for a while now. I played my Iceman that has an Evolution in the bridge yesterday evening. They sound just as great as I remember, but holy shit I forgot how unforgiving they can be. Every tiny mistake stuck out like a sore thumb. You really have to be on point and play with a purpose with these things. I think I may go back to using them more again if anything to better tighten up my playing.
 
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I gigged with an Ibby RG with an Evolution for years. Used it for songs in Eb. It was a pretty clear pickup from what I remember.

Other guitars were a strat and a LP. My playing was better back then but I can't say I remember it being unforgiving. Probably was using too much gain back then though.
 
Fuck all that unforgiving bullshit, my playing is on point and the last thing I want is a pickup or amp fighting with me
 
What's the neck pickup like? I just ordered an Evo Neck for my Les Paul. It has right now an X2N/Super 2 combo, but I'm not digging the Super 2. What can I expect of the Evo in the neck?
 
Been a while but I thought the evo neck was a pretty damn good neck bucker....it is good for some neck pup shred tones.
 
I'm all about an unforgiving rig. Makes me play tighter...
Which makes me smile...
Which makes me dig in harder and faster...
Which makes me laugh...
Repeat cycle.
 
RaceU4her said:
Fuck all that unforgiving bullshit, my playing is on point and the last thing I want is a pickup or amp fighting with me
Click to expand...
I never found myself fighting the Evolution pickup, not like fighting something with too much mud and flub trying to tighten it up. To me it's more articulate & focused which pushed me to be intentional with my playing and technique. It wouldn't let me get away with sloppy playing like some pickups will, even at higher gain.

Honestly, I probably need to start using the Evo pickup (or another articulate one) a bit more. I hadn't been playing as much as I did over the last few years and I've probably gotten a little sloppy. This may be the kick in the ass to get my shit back together.
 
I remember not getting on with the Evolutions and swapping back in some JBs. Ive never had luck with DiMarzio for some reason. Always seem to end up replacing the,
 
I've never had an issue with the Evolution. I consider myself a pretty poor guitar player and my technique is limited, but I find it's easier for me to play when I can actually hear what I'm doing thanks to that articulation. The pickup also has a liquid quality that makes it flow more easily if that makes any sense. The opposite of that for me would be a Duncan '59, which felt thin and less responsive, and that was in the neck position. I also think that every time you pick up the guitar you should be "playing with purpose", otherwise what's the point? I'd rather play something more simple with clarity than slop my way through something I can't play pretending I sound good.
 
RaceU4her said:
Fuck all that unforgiving bullshit, my playing is on point and the last thing I want is a pickup or amp fighting with me
Click to expand...
I need all the help i can get, last thing I want is to fight the rig lol
 
I’ve had them in my JEM for 25 years now and I’m changing them out. GREAT pickups for leads or 80’s thrash/Marshall heavy stuff that works well with mids. The mids drive me fucking insane, though. There’s no chill to those pickups. Output is higher than I prefer and they just don’t warm up the way I prefer a pickup to.

I loved the PAF Pros in my older JEMs and am going to try those first. As it stands now, I’m only using my JEM for leads because I end up EQ’ing the shit out of rhythm tracks if I use it for any rhythm stuff. Cleans aren’t bad in the 4th position, but again, the forceful mids and high output on the neck pickup just turns into this bland clean tone.
 
Warning: braintheory style post forthcoming!

The brand new Evolutions I bought about 4 years ago didn't sound as good as the (at the time) new one I bought in the late 90's. Same basic voicing but the old one was more organic, growly, and more touch responsive. The new ones sounded, for lack of a better term, plasticy and didn't feel as alive as I remembered the old one had. Maybe because they may have been over-waxed, if that is even possible. Excess wax residue seemed to be everywhere on the newer ones.
 
I've never gotten along with the evolution - or any DiMarzio pickups besides the x2n for that matter. Which is obviously a completely different sort of design.

The eq reminds me of a JB, only with the "honk" in a slightly different place.

Other people seem to make them sound good, but I can't.

To piggyback Gary's comment, I thought the older ones sound slightly different to the new ones as well.
 
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