Tell me about the Evolution Bridge, please.

[Rex_Rocker]

REALLY loving the Evo Neck in my Gibson right now. It's birght, but it's not scratchy. It's not bassy, but it's not thin. It's all around better/more interesting than the Distortion Neck, IMO.

I'm starting to get curious about the Evo Bridge. The last new DiMarzio I tried was the D Activator, and I LOVE it. However, not sure how the Evolution would compare. If I go by the site, it would seem like it's overall fatter and less upper-mid focused, but not as hot... is that correct?

I don't find the D-Ac as upper-mid focused as the 500T, personally. I find it more trebly, honestly. I don't dislike that... but it would seem like the Evo has even more treble content, if I go by the site?

Other DiMarzios that I have more or less fresh on my mind are the X2N (hated it, as I found it dark and bloated), the Dominion (Pretty decent, just a bit too nasal at times), or the Super 2 (just all-around thin and ratty). So is the Evo comparable to any of those?

Thanks!

 

[Cynical]

I don't know if I've ever played anything that feels quite like the Evo. The closest I can describe it is that it almost feels like it has a Tube Screamer with the classic 0 drive/10 level/5 tone settings built into it. Midrange-heavy, in the mid-mids instead of the high-mids, extremely tight going into a Marshall SC20, really touch sensitive, and a lot hotter than I thought it would be (which is likely more a function of its EQ curve than its raw output). It is very much *not* a pickup I'd consider to be particularly trebly.

 

[Masta' C]

I would agree with most of what Cynical has said. Evo bridge is hot, tight, and very "present" with lots of midrange push and enough top end to get noticed. It's fairly compressed and doesn't respond particularly well to rolling off the volume in my experience, though it does offer a uniquely biting single coil tone when split.

I thought I would like the "Evo 2" more, since it was billed as being more versatile, but I think the original Evo is ultimately the better, more interesting pickup as long as all-around "versatility" isn't your main priority.

If you like pickups such as the D-Activator, EMG 81, Black Winter, etc, you'll probably enjoy the original Evo as well. Honestly, I think it's far too often overlooked due to its age and past association with Vai, but at the end of the day, it's an aggressive, revealing, high output pickup that actually works surprisingly well for many metal styles!

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Heavy in the mid-mids is kinda what I disliked about the Dominion. I kinda cutting upper mids. Chunky lower mids I tend to avoid because they usually lead to stuffiness or muddiness, but sometimes you need them to offset the harshness from emphatic high-mids (like the JB). But I thought the Dominion got nasal because it had an overabundance of maybe 700-900 Hz.

Do you guys think the Evolutin gets nasal?

 

[Masta' C]

Compressed, yes.
Nasal, no.

 

[dave74]

I never found them to be that compressed, but that is relative to most other "metal" pickups. Mids are more broad and even instead of spiked.
IMO it's much closer to a super-D than a super3 is, which isn't saying it's that close either.

 

[Juanhanglo]

I would agree with most of what Cynical has said. Evo bridge is hot, tight, and very "present" with lots of midrange push and enough top end to get noticed. It's fairly compressed and doesn't respond particularly well to rolling off the volume in my experience, though it does offer a uniquely biting single coil tone when split.

I thought I would like the "Evo 2" more, since it was billed as being more versatile, but I think the original Evo is ultimately the better, more interesting pickup as long as all-around "versatility" isn't your main priority.

If you like pickups such as the D-Activator, EMG 81, Black Winter, etc, you'll probably enjoy the original Evo as well. Honestly, I think it's far too often overlooked due to its age and past association with Vai, but at the end of the day, it's an aggressive, revealing, high output pickup that actually works surprisingly well for many metal styles!

This sums it up perfectly.

It's a very in your face pickup. It does what it does well, but is limited by its lack of cleaning up. It's s similar to the super d in that respect.

I also thought the dactivator was a pretty balanced pickup.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

OK, so comparing the Evo to other stuff... what I can gather is the Evo is more compressed, although it's not super compressed like, for example, a JB, right? It would be more mid-focused than the D-Ac, but not as upper-mid-focused as the 500T, correct? And it's not as not as either the D Ac or the 500T?

So, basically, what I can gather, it's sort of like a tightened-up Super Distortion in a sense?