New Steve Vai DiMarzio Set--Gravity Storm

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avianoguitarist
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I just got a package from DiMarzio with a set of Steve's new Gravity Storm bridge and neck humbuckers.
I got them for the purpose of reviewing them for jemsite.com
First of all--THANK YOU STEVE! I'm not sure what you had in mind when you sat down with Larry on these, but WOW!
I love the beefed up mids on the bridge model and the near flat EQ on the neck model. These are so thick, rich and organic that my review recordings sounded like I had actually double-tracked my guitar. I only double-tracked it for my song Circles, as there are two different guitar parts. The straight review recordings sound very thick. These are by far my favorite DiMarzio pickups ever! I've got about every model DiMarzio ever released and different combos in my 36 various Ibanez guitars--these babies scream!

For the review, I installed the DiMarzio Gravity Storm set in my Ibanez RG620x. First, I ran the guitar dry through my Dime Blacktooth 20 watt combo--just so fellow guitarists could hear how great these make even a small practice amp sound. After that--I ran the guitar straight and dry into my multitrack deck.
For the song Circles--I used a bit of processing and double tracked the rhythm parts.
By the time I got everything ready to go for the review--it was 2 am, so cranking a tube amp was out of the question.
I'll be running these through a cranked tube head next and will post the links to those clips.

Please do not use my picture or recordings without my permission! Unfortunately for a gentleman in Japan--I had his blog page shut down by Google for stealing my pic from Jemsite and not giving credit as to where he got it. If any of you have a blog and would like to use my pictures while letting your followers and readers know there is a new Steve Vai pickup set on the way--please ask me first. These are neither posted on the DiMarzio page yet, not Steve's site. I'm not sure when they will be available to the public--I'll ask Larry this week.

While the reviews are waiting to be published, and I'll post the link when they're live--here are a few teasers:

Image

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11766008" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11766009" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11765974" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://youtu.be/BSmZTxPIlGM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


ENJOY!
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avianoguitarist
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New clip of these pickups through a cranked tube amp:

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11769456" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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bkornaker1977
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So how do these sound in relationship to other Dimarzios?

In your clips, they sound vintage ballsy with a hint of that upper high end "chirpy spike". Almost like a PAF Pro...but the "vocal wah" sound got moved to higher frequencies to give it some brightness.

care to share your thoughts on how they compare to Dimarzio Evos, Evo2, Breeds, etc?
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avianoguitarist
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bkornaker1977 wrote:So how do these sound in relationship to other Dimarzios?

In your clips, they sound vintage ballsy with a hint of that upper high end "chirpy spike". Almost like a PAF Pro...but the "vocal wah" sound got moved to higher frequencies to give it some brightness.

care to share your thoughts on how they compare to Dimarzio Evos, Evo2, Breeds, etc?
Love to!

When I spoke with Larry D yesterday, I told him they sounded like a cross between a Super D on steroids and a No Joe...lol.

They certainly don't sound like the typical Vai pickups.
These are my favorites yet, and most versatile.
They are thicker than the others-they actually sound double tracked.
Not as bright as Evos, punchier than Evo2s, and beefier than Breeds.

My Legacy is currently dead--I really wanted to drive be them through that. But, they sound great through my Dime Black tooth, Epi Valve Jr, and B52 AT-100.

Did I mention these are my favorites?
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bkornaker1977
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WOW.......Im always "swapping pickups". Sounds like these might be a good set to try out.
Thanks for your review!
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avianoguitarist
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bkornaker1977 wrote:WOW.......Im always "swapping pickups". Sounds like these might be a good set to try out.
Thanks for your review!
You're welcome!

I'm not sure when they'll be available, though.
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avianoguitarist
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The word is--these should be available in the next 2 months...
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tommyd48
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I liked the tune gravity storm ,.do you know if vai used these actuall pick ups for that tune ?
I have a kramer that I like to play although it could do with better pups ,.these may be the ones from what you are sayin ,.

Cheers T
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Petie
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I have a set to review too. Here's some random noodling.

http://soundcloud.com/i-heart-guitar/di ... vity-storm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm working on a proper song so you can hear them in context. (i.e.: you can't hear the backing band I'm playing along with in my mind on the Soundcloud clip).
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