"Steve Vai needs no introduction". *States introduction of Steve Vai*

Recently got this bridge pup for my LTD Eclipse. Odd combo perhaps. I was a little worried it might make the low end too muddled, but I am loving it. Such a rich tone for a pickup with such a high output.

Love the clarity of these pickups. Chords even shine through all the distortion. Picking up a set of these to put in my jim root tele. Hate EMG's!

Gunna get me a pair of these for my Ibanez Jem JR... Yeah man this guy did great, thanks for the preview of these pups!!

I like vintage sounding shit for heavy metal more than Active EMG's nowadays. To me, they just have much more beef that active pickups.

@milotin2755

4 жыл бұрын

Active pickups sound too computerised and not organic

So what if he uses a scarf? That doesn't make him a poser. And he still plays great

Good job Paul killer amp tone,as well as pickups!!!

your playing here is very good paul. keep it up! :)

"Shows off Vai pickups -most of the demo consists of Cowboy chords

For the wood to modify the sound it would have to change the frequencies of the waves (or the energies, or whatever characteristic) Which would change the intonation. The waves would need to oscillate through something metallic to trigger the pickups to pick up the waves, which would mean they would be going back to the string or bridge and will have just lost volume, not changed in any way

'Eat em and smile' with Roth had some amazing tones and playing, my favorite!

Bridge sounds a lot like Duncan JB to me but with more clarity. This bridge is going in my Warmoth build I think, with a Cruiser in the neck.

Great tone Great Paul.

Vai's pickups are odd beasts and not always immediately appreciated. I've got a set of Evos in my old Fujigen S540. They really highlight the flaws in my cheap practice amp and old valvestate marshall, but they're great in a decent tube amp. They do tend to cut through a mix so they aren't for subtle rhythm parts but leads really jump out and they respond really well to pinch harmonics. They also highlight every mistake. The dark matters and gravity storms I've tried are warmer but still very much in the same style and they will show you up if you can't play and fizz horribly with transistor or digital modeling amps. Very much an acquired taste, try with similar kit before you buy. The way they jump out of a mix is really useful for recording though, but I wouldn't have a Vai set on my only guitar.

@birdsteak9267

Жыл бұрын

If you want better sound in your Amp, get better speakers, when a lot of people think the Amp makes the sound, they ignore the most important part, the elements that transfer frequencies into Sound waves, and the better the elements is to produce these waves, the better it will sound. All Amps, almost can be dialed in, Amp just being the filter between the Guitar and the speakers, if the pickups and speakers are good, you are set to go. If you buy 4 different speakers for your 4x4 cabinet, you will get something unique, it will not sound the same with the Amp as it did with previous speakers. Trust me, Vai know this, the sound behind the Van Halen was more the speakers then the Amp. 5150 will sound like shit on bad speakers.

I need these pickups in my life

Hello! I'm to buy a bridge pickup to improve the harmonics in my guitar and I'm between this one and the previous Evolution series, can you say if there's any difference between these two? Thanks a lot! :)

those sound REALLY good

Aslo, you have to remember that the coils in pickups vibrate. Any vibration will cause current in a pickup with creates the sound we hear. Thats why if you tap on a pickup you hear a sound. If a pickup was completely isolated then you statement would be true, but they just are not. Think of the vibration translating from the body to the pickup rings to the screws to the pickup, it creates sound, and in unpoted pickups it creates feedback, even with the strings off the guitar!

Any idea how Gravity Storm would pair with The Cruiser DP187 on the neck? TIA.

I like to much that guitar.. Actually I have the baritone version mmm1..but im looking for standard scale like that one paul.. Greetings from Chile..

Were the strings hitting the pickups or perhaps too close to them? There seemed to be a lot more picking noise than I'd normally expect. Perhaps playing slower or just clean tone for a few minutes. Hard for me to tell.

Forget the pickups. I want that guitar!!!!

Personally I would have switched off the boost when soloing. Sounds like it just added compression. Could be wrong though.

What insanely good guitar player. As soon as I see these videos are posted, I'm stoked to see Paul melt the guitar.

wait... looking a little bit closer, doesnt look like a regular SZ 320... I need help now.

Please make a video about "Synyster Gates Special" guitar!

I own this guitar the stock pups in the guitar almost sound identical too these its a beautiful guitar i've had it for 9 years and it stills plays like a dream however I dont think ibanez makes them anymore

That looks like the Ibanez SZ series guitars they came out with a few years back. Hope this helps.

Hey Paul, why don't you write a book on how you guitar solo. You're mad man!

you sure? Because dimarzio doesn't sell the evolution middle but the two humbucker. But I'm glad they sound good because i'll be getting these

Whats the signal chain for this setup?

Thanks! I looked for the SZ series... affordable line of Ibanez guitars, but not produced anymore..

@bradhargis2261

3 жыл бұрын

You can find them super cheap used online nowadays. I had 3 at one point. Haha paid less than $200 for each of em. I upgraded the pickups in each and flipped after my band was done. I kept my favorite of the 3 though.

Actually wood has a lot to do with the tone of an electric guitar. Talk to any guitar builder and ask them why they are using the woods they use. Go play an ash telecaster and then play one made out of alder or a pine bod, they all sound different. Pickups pickup the vibration of the string, but the resonance of the body comes though as well. Turn you gain up on you amp and bang the body of your guitar sometime with no strings on it, you will hear your thumps come through. Now you know!

That statment is not true, I have two of my guitars with the same nuts saddles and pots (I installed all of them) and pickups sound different in each. You have to remember that the pickup picks up the vibration of the string. But just as the nit and saddle affect the vibration of the string, so does the mass of the wood. Thats why a heavy les paul sustains forever and a thinner guitar does not. Thats also why you get an airy sound in some guitars (semiholo's), and a deeper tone in others.

I just don't know if it would sound as good with an evolution?

What model Ibanez is that?

I understand your logic, it should work like that, but the guitar pickup is not isolated form influence outside of the string and the vibtration of the string is affected by the nut, saddle, and the body of the guitar as the energy of the string is not simply transmitted into the body and lost but that energy goes back to the string as well as energy cannot be destroyed and last I knew my guitar did not get hot or light up when I played it.

How about Dynamics?

which Ibanez guitar is that?

I wish they made a middle pickup to go with the JEM guitars

also played live with zappa ;)

what kinda amp is this

cool guitar what model is?

Is that the SZR 320 or 520?

ibanez sz320mh... luv that guitar.

Should be a better review, if Paul compare the Ibanez Jem and the same guitar with those pickups... Keith Merrow Seymour Duncan review is a good point to start!

The neck pickup sounds are exactly where Paul said they would be

Nice sound but tell us more about the guitar and amp

What kind of Ibanez guitar is this?

If Guitar World can make them sound good they are probably pretty damn good.

The sound is way different than the previous video's, I bet they used another mic or amp.

what model is that guitar?

I agree with you. I think Steve is definitely a top notch player, no doubt. But I wish he had restraint with the whammy. The ending solo/melody kinda screws it up for me. I think Warren DiMartini said it best, "Never show all you cards in one hand". I would say that many guitarists are guilty of playing too many notes and not focusing on the melody. Why invoke something with 12 notes when you can do the same with one. Just My opinion though.

Damn you! where is the neck pickups sound!????

Must be REALLY good pickups.

nice

epic

Hi, my name is Paul and I put every pickup I test in the wrong kind of guitar it was designed for

@jayz6008

9 жыл бұрын

How is It a wrong guitar ? Pickups can work on almost any guitar as long as it's what you want .. Besides he used an ibanez ..

@TrueLink1

9 жыл бұрын

Sure, the pickup will install in practically any guitar, but the pickup was made for Steve Vai to be used in the JEM models, which would be cause for them to work very similarly in typical Ibanez S and RG models. While still being Ibanez, that line of Ibanez guitars (he doesn't say what it is, but I believe that's an RGA) are built more specifically to get more expansive tones and to have lots of tone sculpting abilities using the pickups and aren't built like the RG or S series. (Hence the string-thru body to the tune-a-matic style bridge instead of a hardtail bridge) Those pickups were designed for an Alder body with 24 frets and a tremolo and that's where it really shines. I have the Gravity Storm neck pickup in my Ibanez RG and it was a really good choice, but not from watching this video. A good representation of the neck pickup is in Ben Eller Guitars video of Brother John by Joe Satriani. That is an awesome example/

@FirstNameLastName-kt3zn

9 жыл бұрын

There is no right or wrong guitar for a particular pickup. Sound is a completely subjective matter.

@TrueLink1

9 жыл бұрын

+Fake Name I'd argue otherwise. You can make a guitar sound like absolute garbage with the wrong pickups. Pickups are sort of like microphones. Instead of changing what frequencies it listens to, like our ears, it listens to a set frequency range. If you don't know what you're doing you can end up pulling out the worst imbalances of your instrument, instead of its strengths. Put a weak single coil in a Les Paul and it will sound like a tin can.

@richardg5301

8 жыл бұрын

+Truelink1 Chances are Dimarzio sent him that guitar loaded with them too, lol.

DiMarzio Evolution?

is he cold in there?

I think that his sound is pretty decent all the time.

Who ever mic'd this up needs a kick in the balls...

@M4Y0_

8 жыл бұрын

+John Inglis Shame! Shame! Shame! Seriously, I mean it's a guitar magazine !?

@electricritual4197

7 жыл бұрын

Ti Hammlet Well I'm listening to it through studio monitor head phones. And it sounds good. Maybe what you're listening to it through is garbage. KZread doesn't lend itself to good sounding recordings.

Now i know what these pickups sound like in a korean glued neck.

I like how he played the Attitude Song backwards hahah

He's playing "The Attitude Song" and he begins by playing the riff reverse XD

"Steve Vai needs no Introduction" - gives him an Introduction

i kinda dig paul's special groove

enjoy............................

how it would sound in a strat? Alder body

@lentil5176

8 жыл бұрын

Wood makes no difference in tone on solid body guitars

@ReneeNme

7 жыл бұрын

@Golden: Bullshit. That's like saying taking the plate off of the back of a guitar that's equipped with a tremolo system has no effect on the guitars tone.

ENCORE, ENCORE!!!!!!!!!

Shouldn't the intonation on the g-string be set back a little further? Somebody please comment if you have an answer as to why it's set like that

These sound Much more beefier and PAF sounding than the Evos

0:10 the atitude song goes the other way but we will give him a break

1 thing i know when i tried it back then, this SZ type is surely heavy. all mahogany is nice really, ibanez just stopped it, dunno why... marty friedman is the last endorsee...

Then you can compare the different products.

wow, paul did a decent job lol

Erm i bought an Evo single coil on its own..in pink....

Has anybody tried this on a Les Paul?

@DiedrichKnickerbocker1783

8 жыл бұрын

Could work in mahogany body with a 25.5" scale length.

@nightrider6976

8 жыл бұрын

try the humbucker from hell in the neck and the evo2 in the bridge

enjoy ::::)))))))))))))

yes.......................

These pickups make even Paul sound allright - I MUST HAVE THEM!

I have one, my Ibanez SZ320 is a much much better guitar than my PRS SE Singlecut 245 which cost $400 more.. very underrated guitar

I see Paul took his amp off of Potato mode. Nice.

Paul's sound is pretty decent this time

Explaining in a video about Steve Vai signature pickups who's Steve Vai... Do you really think anyone who's watching this video doesn't know who he is?

wow....................

lol I am aware of that.

I recently purchased A Jem. It was the Blue Floral Pattern with Gravity Storm pickups for 1699.00. I was extremely disappointed. There was dust under the pick guard. Lots of noticeable dust. The bridge pickup buzzed since the day I got it and the neck pickup was crooked in the slot. So disappointed in Ibanez and that Steve’s name would be on it. Terd of a guitar.

I must say though, upgrading pickups does have a huge impact on sound, so I have no idea what JYZProductions is going on about.

hello..................

if the bridge , nut, saddle, electronics, and pickups are the exact same the guitars will sound the same, the pickup only picks up the movement of the string, tone wood for electric guitars is a myth, it's the hardware and electronics that affect the tone

hi................................

What an odd video. Generally I dislike his tone but respect his playing. Somehow on this video the tone was not as harsh as usal. (Makes me think they're really good pickups XD) However, as if to offset this and maintain some type of cosmic balance his playing is a bit more sloppy than I'm used to hearing from him. It must be a yin yang thing I just cant quite bring into focus fully but I can see the edges of it.

thanks to steve fricken vai that man can make shitty guitar world tones with his own pickup sound holy

Which get me worried though. Maybe these pickups sound bad in real life. Paul's tone might be masking the truth as always

I feel like that really ought to be the selling point of these things. Fuck the Steve Vai endorsement--"New Gravity Storm pickups can even make someone like PAUL sound alright!" Gravity Storm: Even Paul(TM)

Yes, he really has no idea how the body effect the sound. If it wernt true, there would be no reason to have so many guitars, or bodys at all for that matter. I do think that he and I miss read you commet. I took your comment as only 20% of the sound was affected by the pickup, rather than 20% of the effect being from the wood. I wrote an exhaustingly long explanation but I doubt hell get it, probably just waisting my time.

all i can tell from these vids is how his pick sounds hitting the frets .. seriously ? showing pickups with these channels? "Sure , next time ill do the zakk wyld sig pickups on a fender frontman 25 !"

I found Evolution pickups to be harsh and nasal. Seemed to produce the same tone on all settings, and didn't produce an attractive clean tone. These don't sound so different.

@JgHaverty

9 жыл бұрын

These are definitely more "Breed" than "Evo". they are more beefy and less "vowelly" than the evos.

Alnico 5 and ceramic magnets, HOLY SHIT, NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN! I'm just waiting for the day when one of these guys wants to fuck with us and say "refrigerator magnets" or some stupid shit