Dimarzios to pair with Paf Pro for prog

[Choop]

+1 for the Evo! It's tight and clear, and has a lot of mids for singing leads that cut.

 

[Drew]

Im not sure what you're really looking for with your descriptions, as that's a LOT of different sounds and vibes there.

But, I'd say the traditional "prog" pairings with a PAF Pro in the neck are probably going to be another PAF Pro, a Tone Zone, or a Steve's Special.

 

[syzygy]

Evo (bridge) + PAF Pro (neck) is my recommendation.

+1 for the Evo! It's tight and clear, and has a lot of mids for singing leads that cut.

I think this will be what I end up going with! I will probably email Dimarzio's techs as well to see what they would recommend but I'm feeling that the Evo/Paf Pro combo will do what I'm looking for.

I think it's gonna be a case of try pickups and stop when you find the sound you like

This is really good advice. I live in the US so I can take advantage of Dimarzio's return policy; if it turns out that the Evo isn't my thing, I'll swap it for either another Paf Pro, a Fred, or maybe a Steve's Special.

Thanks for the input, all! Greatly appreciate it.

 

[lost_horizon]

About a year ago, I swapped some Titans into an RGD and was super surprised at how much of a difference the swap made (I actually liked the way the guitar sounded, for starters), and so I'd like to upgrade the pickups in my 6 string, an Ibanez RGA42FM. While I love the Titans in my 7 stringer, I want to try something a little different for this guitar, primarily because I tune it to E standard and Drop D. I'm looking for a pickup that's bright, splits well, has solid mid presence and can cover a variety of sonic ground,

Good at drop tuning:
Crunchlab (obvs)
D Sonic (obvs)
Al Di Meola Bridge
Transition Bridge
Fortitude Bridge
Double Whammy DP 150 (you can still order them and find them on eBay)

I play mostly prog metal in the line of Periphery, Plini, or The Contortionist, but I also enjoy the 80's lead/shred guitar sound as well and am trying to incorporate more synthwave-style sections into the stuff I write. So far, I've been intrigued by the Illuminators and the D-Activators, but I'm also drawn to the idea of the Paf Pro, because it sounds like it checks all the boxes for me (bright, articulate and has a vocal quality to leads). However, I'm stumped as to what bridge pickup I could match with it to cover my bases.

PAF Pro
PAF Jo
Mo Joe
Al Di Meola
Steve Morse
All shreddy all the time

The two that jumped out to me in Dimarzio's catalog were the Fortitude and the Igno, but I'm not sure if either would match up well (the Fortitude is purportedly lower output, and the Igno doesn't have much info on it at all). Any advice on bridge pickups that would make a good pairing?

Igno loses the dynamics but has great vocal quality, string separation and sustain. I bought one full whack to try on my pickup mule and took a massive bath on it but now want to try it again.

Lots to choose from with Dimarzio!

Good luck!!

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

tbh just try a PAF Pro in the bridge lol. It's honestly super underrated. It's a bit too low output to my taste but I really dug it tonally.

I also had a baritone guitar with a Ibanez F4 which is a slightly overwound PAF Pro (also see: FRED) and I was shocked at how tight, clear, and brutal that guitar was.

 

[Marked Man]

I'm facing the same question for my upcoming RG550 JEM 777 DY tribute project.

If you use mega amp gain, the Evo may be overkill and the PAF Pro just right at the bridge. I use only medium high gain (by modern standards, that is!) at most and the Evo would be no problem for me, although I also love the pure sound of moderate output pickups through my Marks, where you can really hear the character.

I have no doubt the PAF Pro is one of the all time greats at the neck. A PAF Pro Plus (say 380 mV) would be perfect for the bridge, if such a model existed. And the Evo2 is great, I have it paired with an Air Norton in my BCR Eagle.

Who knows, maybe I'll do one 550 with a pink PAF Pro set and one with a green Evo set. Both will have the Evo single. Wait.....did I just talk myself into TWO guitars?

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I'm facing the same question for my upcoming RG550 JEM 777 DY tribute project.

If you use mega amp gain, the Evo may be overkill and the PAF Pro just right at the bridge. I use only medium high gain (by modern standards, that is!) at most and the Evo would be no problem for me, although I also love the pure sound of moderate output pickups through my Marks, where you can really hear the character.

I have no doubt the PAF Pro is one of the all time greats at the neck. A PAF Pro Plus (say 380 mV) would be perfect for the bridge, if such a model existed. And the Evo2 is great, I have it paired with an Air Norton in my BCR Eagle.

Who knows, maybe I'll do one 550 with a pink PAF Pro set and one with a green Evo set. Both will have the Evo single. Wait.....did I just talk myself into TWO guitars?

DiMarzio gives PAF Pro and Super 2 identical EQ ratings, so in theoriy the Super 2 is the closest thing DiMarzio makes to a "PAF Pro Plus".

 

[Marked Man]

DiMarzio gives PAF Pro and Super 2 identical EQ ratings, so in theoriy the Super 2 is the closest thing DiMarzio makes to a "PAF Pro Plus".

Very interesting, hadn't noticed that before. I definitely favor the brighter Dimarzios, so that has potential.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Very interesting, hadn't noticed that before. I definitely favor the brighter Dimarzios, so that has potential.

I've never tried the Super 2 in the bridge position, but it's far from unheard of (used to be routinely recommended as a fix for a dark guitar, much like Tone Zone is recommended for a bright guitar).
As a neck pickup, it's one of my favourites along with the PAF Pro and D Activator neck (another bright neck pickup that is sometimes used in the bridge).

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

You can also use the Seymour Duncan Blackouts Preamp pots to bring these up to Active Output levels, trust me, this is a seriously underrated setup if you love the passive voicings but want more output.