DiMarzio DP165 BK

Guitar; Ibanez JEM 7DBK
Body; Basswood
Neck; maple with rosewood fingerboard
Bridge LoPro Edge
Position; Neck
Pickups; EVO II (bridge), ISCV2 (middle)

Having bought the JEM 7DBK without any pickups, electronics or pickguard, I had original bought a Tone Zone for the bridge, Tone Zone S for the middle and an Air Norton for the neck. Upon buying a Japanese Ibanez PGM30 with upgraded LoPro Edge bridge, I needed some white pickups and I decided to remove those aforementioned pickups from the JEM 7DBK.

I soldered the black Dimarzio EVOII, ISCV2 and Breed Neck into the JEM 7DBK, mounting them on a gold mirror pickguard, aesthetically it looks stunning however I was soon to get a surprise by the sound. Normally heavily routed bodies can sound very thin, if you are experiencing this problem, I would suggest trying an EVO II and Breed neck pickup or perhaps both Breed pickups as the tone is huge. The Breed neck has lots of gain with a warmth and fatness yet retains definition, it was originally a factory fitted pickup in the JEM 7DBK and there's a good reason if you have bought a stock JEM 7DBK.

The Breed is silky smooth in terms of tone, lots of sustain too, I didn't think it would be possible to achieve a warm, fat tone from my JEM 7DBK due to the front routed body, not to mention the wood that's taken from the lions claw and monkey grip. The balance of the Breed neck works well with the EVO II and the ISCV2 middle pickup, all three 'play together' in a nice way. The volume and tone pots are highly useable with the Breed neck pickup, changes in both volume and tone affect the pickup in a very musical fashion, subtly is the key with the pickups and volume/tone pots.

The Breed neck is probably one of the best kept secrets in terms of neck pickups, I would seriously think about installing one in my other JEM 505 Prestige, coupled with an original EVO and another ISCV2 possibly. If you want a full tone, lots of sustain, definition and a big sound, I can highly recommend this pickup!

As always, Thomann's service is second to none, shipping is always super fast and a hassle free service with top customer service, you can't ask for anymore.