Which DiMarzio's to buy??

I've taken a good look at my set up and think it's in need of an overhaul.

Guitar: Ibanez Prestige
Pickups: Ibz/DiMarzio (two humbuckers - neck and bridge and one single coil in the middle)
Trem: floating Floyd Rose style Ibanez system

Type of sound I'm aiming for: expressive tone for very fast shredding and slower more expressive phrases, with a good crystal clear heavy crunch for rhythm parts. I don't want a setup that is too hot and picks up all sorts of extraneous noise and I certanily don't want pick ups that have no sustain or are too week.

Idea: Dimarzio Tone Zone at the bridge and an Air Norton at the neck. What about the middle single coil? A Chopper?

Any suggestions on combinations would be welcome.

Cheers

You sound like you have a pretty good idea of what you want, which is a good thing. I would look into getting the same set of pickups that would be in a high JEM. I can't remember if Vai uses DiMarzio or Seymour Duncan. His pickups set would probably translate well into what you want though. Those Ibanez Prestiges are sweet axes... Good luck

Originally Posted by: Superhuman... Idea: Dimarzio Tone Zone at the bridge and an Air Norton at the neck. What about the middle single coil? A Chopper? ...

[font=trebuchet ms]Both PonyOne and I use Tone Zone at the bridge. It's very expressive, though you will be made aware of any sloppiness in your playing because it's very sensitive. The two characteristics go hand-in-hand. My Yamaha SBG1000 generates lots of interesting harmonics, and the Tone Zone brings those out really well. I use a PAF Pro at the neck, and I find they blend well in-phase. Out-of-phase, they sound like a flanger, without that annoying sweeping sound in the background. :cool:

I've never played an Air Norton pickup, or any after-market single-coils, so I can't help you there.[/font]

Sounds like you would like the Dimarizio Evolution pup's that was suggested already. Just to let you know, the Air Norton pup's scoop the mid-range a bit which can keep the tone from cutting through a band mix.

Actually I was looking at the Paf Pro as my second comibination, one of my favourite guitarists at the moment (Theodore Ziras) uses this setup. No problems with having to clean up because of expressive pickups, at least it will help the ears to correct any previous technique mistakes. My only reason for considering the Air Norton was that it was the recommended setup with the Tone Zone on the DiMarzio website... although the Paf Pro was also metnioned. So which one goes where? Tone Zone at the bridge or neck?

Originally Posted by: Superhuman... So which one goes where? Tone Zone at the bridge or neck?[/QUOTE]Uh, did you actually read my post?[QUOTE=Lordathestrings][font=trebuchet ms]Both PonyOne and I use Tone Zone at the bridge. It's very expressive, though you will be made aware of any sloppiness in your playing because it's very sensitive. The two characteristics go hand-in-hand. My Yamaha SBG1000 generates lots of interesting harmonics, and the Tone Zone brings those out really well. I use a PAF Pro at the neck, and I find they blend well in-phase. Out-of-phase, they sound like a flanger, without that annoying sweeping sound in the background. :cool:

....[/font]