# DiMarzio Gravity Storm VS Evolution



## Black_Sheep (Nov 30, 2015)

Im thinking about changing the bridge pup on my Ibby prestige RG2610z. The guitar doesn't have a neck pickup at all. Stock was SD TB10 "full shred" ..it's okay, but not okay enough. 

My intrests goes towards the two mentioned above, as I've always liked Vai's sound, and the pickups are not too expensive for me at the moment (in these times of custom made pickups and whatever being the #1 thing for everyone) 


The Evolution seems like a "safe" choice since I pretty much know what it sounds like. Gravity Storm however intrests me a bit more, mostly out of curiosity, and the fact that it can't be too far from Evo, just a bit different (?). 

So... 

What do you think?


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Nov 30, 2015)

The Evo's geared more towards a crunchy rhythm sound, IMO. Not very organic sounding. Would probably have the same tonality as the Full Shred, but with more output and high end. 

The Breed and Gravity Storm would be better if you want something more buttery smooth, the Breed being somewheres in-between the GS and the Evo, and the GS being a very, very smooth pickup.


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## gay4ass (Nov 30, 2015)

Black_Sheep said:


> Im thinking about changing the bridge pup on my Ibby prestige RG2610z. The guitar doesn't have a neck pickup at all. Stock was SD TB10 "full shred" ..it's okay, but not okay enough.
> 
> My intrests goes towards the two mentioned above, as I've always liked Vai's sound, and the pickups are not too expensive for me at the moment (in these times of custom made pickups and whatever being the #1 thing for everyone)
> 
> ...



I have a RG2610Z too and I had issues with the pickup cavity being not routed deep enough. Mine is a 2008 model.

It is quite impossible to swap the stock pickups out for other pickups unless you do some routing. You will need to use the shorter height pickups to fit in the guitar. Normally the higher output pickups are taller and the Evo will not fit. The GS will fit but the polepiece screws extend far out from the base of the pickup and hence will need to be trimmed with a bolt cutter to fit.

I have also noted that Dimarzios have a slight spacing difference between the mounting tabs as compared to Duncans and if you swap them out, the exisiting direct mount screw holes will not allow your pickups to center properly. You polepieces might not align nicely with your strings unless you make new holes.

The FS was nice but slightly lacking in low end. I actually liked it alot but in the end I swaped them out for a Perpetual Burn with trimmed pole screws in my RG2610Z. The only real reason why I did that was because I wanted a white pickup in it and options for white pickups were limited at where I am at.

I tried the following pickups in it: Full Shred (Dimarzio sounding but no low end... really good for technical stuff/shred) , Illuminator (Did not fit as it was too tall, Dominion (Way too middy.... great for riffing but nothing else), Perpetual Burn (sounds like a more balanced JB... less modern sounding but definitely the most versatile of the lot tried...)


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## zilla (Nov 30, 2015)

I had a hamer diablo a long time ago with the Evolution bridge and neck pickups in it. i loved the evolution neck, but I hated the bridge pickups. it was so harsh and... unmusical for lack of a better description.

Later i got an RG550 that the previous owner had put an evolution in the bridge and my experience was the same. super harsh sounding. very shrill. didn't like it.

I put a Breed pickup in that one and it was amazing. warm, fat, and musical. Great for leads, but not that great for tight rhythms. later i put a dominion in, which was supposed to be a breed but with a ceramic magnet and i didn't like it for leads, but it was good for rhythms.

I have a crunch lab in there now and i'm undecided on it...


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## Wolfhorsky (Nov 30, 2015)

While i love Full shred i think that FS is better for darker sounding guitars like Jackson Soloist. For bright sounding guitars i love Breed.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Dec 1, 2015)

Despite both being Vai signatures, they're quite the polar opposites in terms of sound. 

The Evo has a fair amount of output and can slice through even the most dense mix situation. It can bite and roar with ease, there's a bit of an ice pick like overtone to it though, which doesn't matter too much if you're shredding at a million notes per second. Think of the most powerful strat bridge single coil sound but with a lot of body and mids... this pickup will eat that sound. Also note that this is an extremely unforgiving pickup that will accentuate even the most subtle mistakes, no biggie if your technique is in shape. 

The Gravity Storm on the other hand is a lot warmer and lower output. Definitely for the more rock tones with thick bottom end and smoother tone overall. Harmonics still jump out at you though. 

For a somewhat happy medium between the 2, check out the Evo2. Same characteristics as Evo but less shrill thus more smoother overall.


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## Black_Sheep (Dec 2, 2015)

gay4ass said:


> It is quite impossible to swap the stock pickups out for other pickups unless you do some routing. You will need to use the shorter height pickups to fit in the guitar. Normally the higher output pickups are taller and the Evo will not fit. The GS will fit but the polepiece screws extend far out from the base of the pickup and hence will need to be trimmed with a bolt cutter to fit.
> 
> I have also noted that Dimarzios have a slight spacing difference between the mounting tabs as compared to Duncans and if you swap them out, the exisiting direct mount screw holes will not allow your pickups to center properly. You polepieces might not align nicely with your strings unless you make new holes.



Thanks a lot for this information. Im gonna have to take the guitar to a shop and hope they can install the pup. At the moment looks like Evo 2 is my choice.

(there is a shorter model of the Evo 2, "f-spaced")


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## gay4ass (Dec 3, 2015)

Black_Sheep said:


> Thanks a lot for this information. Im gonna have to take the guitar to a shop and hope they can install the pup. At the moment looks like Evo 2 is my choice.
> 
> (there is a shorter model of the Evo 2, "f-spaced")



Is there really a shorter Evo 2? I contacted Dimarzio Tech Support before and they gave me a list of shorter pickups and Evo 2 is never one of them.

The Evo 2 F space version is approx 24mm tall. It will never fit. If it did, it would have been in my RG2610Z.


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## TheWarAgainstTime (Dec 3, 2015)

I had an Evo2 in an RG for a while and it was sick! Great for crunchy rhythm, but smooth enough for leads. Bright overall and plenty of mids, too. 

If the pickup is too tall and you don't want to route out the pickup cavity, you could also shim the neck to give you the extra range. Completely reversible


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## Hachetjoel (Dec 5, 2015)

I have both, gravity storms in a 770 and evos in a jem, and yea, they really couldnt be more opposite at all. i'd say the breeds are really good and way too often left out of the equation 

evo bridge, super harsh very aggressive, pretty wild lots of overtones and harmonic density, def extremely unforgiving.

breed bridge, fat and more paf like, but still very hot, this one has tons of harmonics and still isnt very forgiving, very fun bridge pickup to solo on though.

gravity storm bridge, steve described it as a thundering cloud of ice cream, and i'd say that pretty accurate. the warmest of the three imo its got a unique sound and i'm a huge fan of this pickup. very harmonically rich and sweet sounding


the evo neck is again the harshest of the three, but its great for cutting through, think of the legendary vai lead tone and this is pretty much it, has a gorgeous clean as well.

the breed neck is actually pretty similar to the bridge, really fat kind of round and harmonics are easy to get think hot paf for sure.

gravity storm neck has my second favorite cleans of the three and is actually really really good for low gain rhythms, it really is a humbucker that sounds like a single coil, great for low-medium gain leads, I think for high gain leads the evo is a little better . 

again all just imo but i love all of the vai pickups!


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## Bloody_Inferno (Dec 5, 2015)

No idea why I left out the Breed in my previous post considering it's my favorite pickup of all time. 

Yeah, it's basically a merge between a PAF Pro and Evo, ie a hotter PAF really. And it's got plenty of midrange like the Gravity Storm. That throaty midrange is why I love these best of Vai's pickups. The breed leaning on that classic sound and the GS being a more modern unique take.


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## tssb (Dec 7, 2015)

Black_Sheep said:


> Gravity Storm can't be too far from Evo, just a bit different (?).



Nope, very different.

As others mentioned, Evo is tight, ice-picky at times - i feel it's closesst to EMG 81, but obviously more natural and better harmonics too.

GS on the other hand is thick & crunchy. It does have great harmonics too, but definitely not suited to things like metal, so i guess it depends on what you like to play.


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