Steve Vai's influence on the world of guitar is undeniable, both musically and in terms of guitar-related equipment. While we can't say that he created Ibanez, his impact on shaping the brand into what it is today is unquestionable. A similar positive influence can be said for DiMarzio as well. Of course, renowned names like Kiss or Al DiMeola, who popularized DiMarzio to large audiences, existed long before Vai. However, it can be confidently stated that this scope expanded with Vai. The release of the Evolution pickups in the early 1990s brought a significant boost to the sales of signature pickups. As far as I know, the Evolution is still one of the best-selling signature models. Maintaining that sales momentum for approximately 31 years is quite an achievement. Still, sometimes people crave something different, which led to the introduction of the Breed in the late '90s, and later the EVO2 in the early 2000s. My personal encounter with them happened last year :) And I'm certainly glad we met...
The Test Guitar
EVO2 still standing on my “Pink Tiger” for a while. That pink tiger is a superstrat has a Jackson Dinky body made of alder, one piece maple neck in modern C profile, German made Jackson Floyd Rose tremolo with Japanese made stainless steel saddles, 25,5” scale, nickel silver frets, Alpha 500K pots and elixir strings in E-std tuning. Guitar has Dimarzio Air Norton neck and No-name blade style middle pickups(~9K thou). Its primary (unplugged) tone is neutral to fairly bright.
Evaluation
Let’s read the desciption first, as always;
“The original Evolution Bridge Model did exactly what Steve Vai wanted it to do: kick butt and produce serious scream. Then he wanted something a little more complex — the same basic tone with increased headroom and dynamics, so that the sound kills on 10 and cleans up when the volume is rolled down. With a little less power than the original Evolution, Evo 2 balances perfectly with the Evolution Neck Model and performs equally well with high gain and vintage amps.
Although Steve was happy with the basic sound of the original Evolution bridge pickup, he felt that a pickup with similar tone and less output would be useful — particularly for live performances. He also requested the frequency response in the 4000Hz to 5000Hz range to be reduced slightly compared to the original Evolution Bridge Model. The Evo 2 accomplishes these tasks by using a less powerful magnet to reduce the pickup's power, and patented Virtual Vintage technology to alter the frequency response without drastically changing the overall tone. The Virtual Vintage technology also allows the Evo 2 to produce a very good single-coil sound when switched to split mode."
Actually, I got this pickup through a trade. I was curious about it, but not overly so. You see, I like the Evolution, but I'm not crazy about it. It's a pickup that serves its purpose and function perfectly, but I think its versatility is relatively weak. On the other hand, the Breed was a pickup I really liked, especially for guitars with a bright tone. I was expecting the EVO 2 to be somewhere between these two, roughly speaking...
Let’s read my measurements here;
Dimarzio EVO2 DP215
Magnet – Narrower Ceramic
Advertised DCR: 14,02 K Ohm (Series)
Measured DCR: 13,44 K Ohm (Series)
Measured DCR: 7,91 K Ohm (Screw Coil)
Measured DCR: 5,53 K Ohm (Slug Coil)
Inductance @100Hz: 7,18 H (Series)
Inductance @100Hz: 3,23 H (Screw Coil)
Inductance @100Hz: 3,08 H (Slug Coil)
Measured C: -21,2 nF (Series)/ -32,5nF (Screw Coil) / -52,3nF (Slug Coil)
Output: 375 Milivolts (advertised)
EQ (B/M/T) – 6,5/6,5/6,5/4,5 (official website)
Gauss: 420G screw, 400G slug (measured at top center of D&G pole pieces)
Patents: Dual Resonance & Virtual Vintage
Do you know how DiMarzio describes the Evolution? Fat, punchy, and loud! And it really is. The EVO 2 also shares the same origins as the Evolution. I could describe the EVO 2 as 'fat, punchy, and loud' as well. So, if you have an Evolution in the bridge position of your guitar, it will be quite easy to understand or predict what kind of tone the EVO 2 will bring, I can tell you that much. Like its predecessor, the Evolution, the EVO 2 also has bold low and mid frequencies. However, when it comes to the high-mids and high frequencies, things change a bit. On the official website, this is explained as follows: “Although Steve was happy with the basic sound of the original Evolution bridge pickup, he felt that a pickup with similar tone and less output would be useful—particularly for live performances. He also requested the frequency response in the 4000Hz to 5000Hz range to be reduced slightly compared to the original Evolution Bridge Model”. That’s the foundation of the EVO 2. Wanna know how Dimarzio achieve that? Well, look at that photo i had taken. EVO 2 has a narrower ceramic magnet. But ceramic bar supported by two steel rods that increases the inductance. So that EVO 2 has slightly higher inductance than the Evolution. We can compare those two in the manner of magnetic flux density: EVO2 has 420/400G while Evolution has 550/500G. That’s where decrease of power between them lies.
I can almost hear my readers asking, 'Hey, aren't you going to compare the EVO 2 with the familiar Evolution?' Of course. Now, I haven’t done an A-B test with the same guitar, but I have plenty of experience with the Evolution, so I believe I can make a fair comparison. First of all, both pickups are very close to each other. There's no day-and-night difference between them. If you already have an Evolution installed in your guitar and you're expecting a huge change by swapping to the EVO 2, don't expect it, in my opinion :) The low frequencies, as I said, are bold, and the mids are plenty; the only difference is in the high frequencies. The highs on the EVO 2 are a bit more tamed. This shifts the EVO 2 slightly towards a warmer or darker sound compared to the Evolution. If your guitar or setup isn't already too muffled or dark, I think this is a good thing because the Evolution can sometimes sound too 'screamy' on certain guitars. In such cases, the EVO 2 can be a better alternative.
In terms of tone, if we evaluate it subjectively, without going into details like 'this frequency is like this, that frequency is like that (which i’ve just done above),' the Evolution always feels very 'Vai-ish' to me. Typical Vai—screaming harmonics, punchy and fat lead tone. And it does that job perfectly. However, I feel that these qualities somewhat limit the pickup’s versatility, which is why I love medium-output humbuckers so much. When it comes to tonal palette, the EVO 2 could be considered a bit less 'Vai-ish,' even if just slightly, in comparison. In this sense, the EVO 2 seems like it could find a bit more room for different applications.
Another pickup that could be compared to the EVO2, in my opinion, is the Super Distortion. They are pickups with similar DC resistance, but their designs are different. The SD has symmetrical coils, while the EVO2 features 'Virtual Vintage' and 'Dual Resonance' structures and also has a narrower ceramic magnet. Very roughly speaking, the SD could be considered a bit brighter compared to the EVO2. Especially in the response of the unwound strings and in the higher registers, in my opinion, the EVO2 is a bit neatier & tidier, so to speak.
So, you could ask, how is this pickup in terms of dynamic range? After all, the official description said, ‘— the same basic tone with increased headroom and dynamics, so that the sound kills on 10 and cleans up when the volume is rolled down,’ right? Sorry to the good folks at DiMarzio, but that’s not the case. As expected, the Evolution had a significant amount of compression, and the EVO2 has at least as much compression. Yes, some experts are against using this term for pickups and claim that the effect in question is not compression. They might be right. However, the phenomenon we’re encountering is exactly the same as what we experience with compression. In this sense, I use and will continue to use the term ‘compression.’
Returning to the EVO2, you get about the same result with volume pot adjustments as you would with many high-output humbuckers. But it’s not nearly as rich as with medium-output humbuckers; these kinds of pickups don’t have as wide of a headroom. So, I can’t agree with the official description, and I don’t think it should mislead you.
I have never played any clean parts with EVO 2. Because generally speaking i never like high output pickups on clean parts. So never wondered how :) But split tones are, hmm, far more “ usable” with the rail humbucker in single coil form.
As i told you on my Air Norton review, i haven’t got experience with drop tunings with AN in the neck. I’m too lazy to tune the Floyd into drop tunings :)
As you may noticed on the test guitar section i am currently using EVO 2 with my Air Norton in the neck. It’s hell of a team, you know. So besides Air Norton, Evolution neck, PAF Pro or Al DiMeola neck could be a wise choice, too. From other brands Duncan Pearly Gates bridge or Ibanez V7 could also do fine.
Conclusion
The DiMarzio EVO2 is a high-output humbucker pickup, designed as an evolution of the original Evolution pickup, offering a slightly more versatile tonal profile while maintaining the characteristics that make it popular for lead guitarists, especially fans of Steve Vai's tone. Compared to the original Evolution, the EVO2 has some minor differencies that i have told you above. However, it still retains a focused and punchy lead tone, ideal for rock and metal genres, but offers a bit more flexibility and warmth.
If your style goes around power rock, progressive rock, heavy metal etc., i don’t believe you’ll regret on it. Need more variety and versatility, think twice.
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