[acetrouble]

Please note: The statements made refer to the Breed bridge model. I have no experience with the neck model.
Of course, feel free to post your own Breed-related thoughts, also about the Breed neck.

According to DiMarzio.com the Breed was designed for Steve Vai to contrast the hotter Evolution pickups in his other Ibanez JEM guitars.
While the Evo and Evo 2 pickups have screaming highs that cut through the mix and are considered ear-piercing by some (especially as for the original Evolution), the Breed is basically a hot-rodded PAF-type humbucker that gives you a fat punchy tone. Which, in my opinion, makes it a great choice if you're the only guitarist in the band.
It is centered on the mids, prominently low mids, rather than treble, but it still sounds brighter than let's say a Super Distortion.
When I first installed this in my mahogany Ibanez MFM2 I was astonished by how clear and articulate it remains even under high-gain settings.

The Breed is also quite sensitive to your pick attack and thus can go from mellow and creamy to full-throttle nastiness within a blink of an eye. It covers about any style, I can go from Police to Metallica with this pickup! For metal enthusiasts there's really no need to worry about the output being rated at 356 mV (well, ask our member City... and he'll assure you that measured output means virtually nothing in regard of aggressiveness / perceived output). It has plenty of chunk and thrown in some gain, it drives like one hell of a mofo.
While some might disagree, I find that the Breed has this very lovely singing quality for leads reminiscent of the Duncan JB, minus the ice-pick, though.

Like I said I got the Breed in my Ibanez MFM2 (Friedman signature), which is mahogany with a quilted maple top. And despite some initial doubts that the Breed's emphasized midrange would be a little overpowering in mahogany, it sounds absolutely stunning! Pure ear candy.
It is my favorite bridge humbucker so far, although my experience is limited to the following: Duncan JB, Duncan Invader, Duncan/Ibanez Marty Friedman signature pickup, DiMarzio X2N, Gibson Dirty Fingers, EMG 81 & 60, EMG-HZ.

For a list of players check DiMarzio.com

Here are a couple of clips / videos I've put together.

Full song I recorded (no vocals yet) with the Breed used for every guitar track:
http://www.palmstrokemusic.com/jetgrindradio.mp3

You might also wanna head over to http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Electric+Guitar+Pickup/product/DiMarzio/Breed/10/1 to read some reviews.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiCW006_b1M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4oFisXHOyo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne2dQjPgWBU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZprJk_qlu5s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsZOarBLOCk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vpzLctUFqc

[FeinMusic]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QKzOAOhRz8
[/youtube]

Me playing a Breed Neck in bridge position in my Les Paul Studio Lite with an HFH in the neck going through the relative motions.

I haven't done all of my fine tuning to it yet but so far I feel like this is the first pickup I've played where I said to myself the second I heard it clean "This sounds like Max" and it's a beautiful thing to find pickups that seem to understand your personality and playing vocabulary in a way that doesn't mistranslate it... I can't put it into words but for the most part it seems to work with my guitar and my mentality instead of just doing its own thing.  As of right now I'm trying to get a little more highs out of it and a bit more harmonic yield but that might just be me not being used to it or me using a fuzz pedal as my primary distortion at band practice last night but I'm sure adjustment to my rig and to the pup itself will give me what i want

In the vid I'm playing straight through a Peavey C50 4X10 going from the clean channel with if memory serves T:7 M:5 B:8 and little Presence maybe it's at about 2.  The Light gain had the Post Amp at about 8 with the Pre Amp at about 4 and the Heavy Gain had the Pre Amp boosted to 7 or 8.   

[damonstewart70]

man i just watched the video of the breed bridge with the ibanez rg350 and wow that shit sounds awesome.butsomebody tell me would a super distortion sing like that.the breed bridge is awesome

[bzzdog]

rockin track ace. good demo fein.

[acetrouble]

rockin track ace. good demo fein.

Thank you!

[azrael]

I liked the Super distortion in my Strat, but felt it needed a little more treble, and be a little brighter. The Breed sounds like it might work out.

[Speeddemon]

I liked the Super distortion in my Strat, but felt it needed a little more treble, and be a little brighter. The Breed sounds like it might work out.

I'm afraid you won't get more treble and brightness when replacing a Super Distortion with a Breed bridge in a Strat.
I did this in my Charvel So-Cal Pro Mod (basically a really good Strat, H-H pups) and the Breed sounded fuller, but rounder and mellower than the Super D. Not to say that the Breed is a dull pickup, but for me, I need more highs. I'm about to replace it back with the Super D, or I'm gonna put a Norton in there.

[acetrouble]

I liked the Super distortion in my Strat, but felt it needed a little more treble, and be a little brighter. The Breed sounds like it might work out.

You might wanna try the Evolution or Evo 2 in your Strat if you want more treble. I got the Evolution in my Schecter C-1 and it kicks ass! Screaming highs and a decent amount of mids, perfect for leads and suitable for rhythm (though it's the leads where it shines the most). It's a mahogany guitar, but Strat-style body. I assume your Strat is alder?

Anyway, in your case I suggest not going for the Breed. It's VERY mid-heavy, prominently low mids. I got it in a mahogany + quilted maple top Ibanez and it sounds ridiculously fat, which is exactly what I like, but it might not be for you.

[Commander Chaos]

This is my fav Dimarzio a the moment, the midrange is so crunchy its insane.
Mark Morton from Lamb of God uses Breeds in his live guitars so I figured I'd try them out.

I put the breed bridge in my mahogany superstrat 6 months ago and it added so much crunch to my tone.  The pickup is warm enough that i don't really need to switch to the neck pickup for cleans.
With pickups like the D Activator and Super D i find that no matter how clean or distorted they are they maintain their tonality, not the case with the Breed it almost feels like a different pickup depending on how much gain I use. It sounds just as awesome for classic rock as it does for death metal, which isn't the case for any other pickup I've tried. With medium gain its warm and crunchy, high gain makes the lows tighter and pinch harmonics are easy to get and sustain.

This is the only pickup Ive ever heard convincing AC/DC tones out of in a superstrat. Its also great for LOG style metal tones (not scooped), I don't scoop my mids since I like to be heard over the drums, the breed adds even more depth to the midrange and especially accents alternate picking.

If you play rock and metal and like midrangey tones more than scooped ones I recommend trying the breed.

[Marshall Law]

This is my fav Dimarzio a the moment, the midrange is so crunchy its insane.
Mark Morton from Lamb of God uses Breeds in his live guitars so I figured I'd try them out.

I put the breed bridge in my mahogany superstrat 6 months ago and it added so much crunch to my tone.  The pickup is warm enough that i don't really need to switch to the neck pickup for cleans.
With pickups like the D Activator and Super D i find that no matter how clean or distorted they are they maintain their tonality, not the case with the Breed it almost feels like a different pickup depending on how much gain I use. It sounds just as awesome for classic rock as it does for death metal, which isn't the case for any other pickup I've tried. With medium gain its warm and crunchy, high gain makes the lows tighter and pinch harmonics are easy to get and sustain.

This is the only pickup Ive ever heard convincing AC/DC tones out of in a superstrat. Its also great for LOG style metal tones (not scooped), I don't scoop my mids since I like to be heard over the drums, the breed adds even more depth to the midrange and especially accents alternate picking.

If you play rock and metal and like midrangey tones more than scooped ones I recommend trying the breed.

Reading this makes me even more stoked abot the BREED i have on the way! I have been wanted to try it for a really long time and finally ordered one. from youre review i doubt i will be disappointed!

[Marshall Law]

I got a breed set and put alncio 8 mags in them as a goof to shut up a bud of mine who swears by these A8's in his pu's.
Stock the breed is everything it is said to be but with the A8 magnet swap the breed is still a breed but tighter, more bite,more scream.
a breed plus if you will?

[MarvinMealer]

How versatile would a Breed set be in an SG.  I read earlier posts where the  Breed was great in a Les Paul.  We all know the LP and the SG are two totally different animals.

[Commander Chaos]

How versatile would a Breed set be in an SG.  I read earlier posts where the  Breed was great in a Les Paul.  We all know the LP and the SG are two totally different animals.

I love the breed, but the dominion is much better for metal, It sounds killer in my SG. As for versatility I'd take a dominion over the breed, breed is just a bit too dark. The dominion can cover the same ground as the breed but with more tightness and clarity. Roll back the tone knob and its practically a breed anyway.
I've got a 36th paf in the neck pos, for classic SG tones. I go from Lamb of God to Black Keys on this guitar, no problem.
I did a little review on the dominion around here somewhere if you want to get a better sense of it in an SG, you can probably find it.

[MarvinMealer]

so the Breed would be very good for Rock/Hard Rock.

[Commander Chaos]

so the Breed would be very good for Rock/Hard Rock.

Yeah, if you don't need much highs, or your guitar is excessively bright. The breed is very warm with lots of midrange cut, not a whole lot of treble.