Dimarzio Megadrive Pickup?

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MetalThrasher

Well-known member
Anyone here have experience with the Dimarzio Megadrive (DP107) pickup? For some reason this looks like a pickup I might like. How would it be for 80's 90's thrash metal with a little bit of Death mixed in?
 
Pretty sure the later D-Sonic pickup was developed from the Mega Drive and I used the D-Sonic for a quite a while but have never heard a Mega Drive to have any idea how close they are.

For what it’s worth the D Sonic was a tight, articulate pickup. Worked very well with high gain tones like from a 5150 but otherwise (ie older school hard rock or crunch tones) maybe kind of “brittle” sounding and bland.
 
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How would you compare the Crunch Lab to the D Sonic? I have experience with a Crunch Lab. At the end of the day, which Dimarzio would be close to a Duncan SH-5 pickup?
 
MetalThrasher said:
How would you compare the Crunch Lab to the D Sonic? I have experience with a Crunch Lab. At the end of the day, which Dimarzio would be close to a Duncan SH-5 pickup?
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D Sonic is brighter and more mid-forward. Between the two I preferred the D Sonic at least in the guitars I used.

I don’t think there is a Dimarzio close to the SH5 just because Dimarzio has a different “trademark sound” than Duncan. Dimarzio seems to go for smoother/darker and low mid heavy sounds from their pickups. It’s not true in every case but certainly as a general contrast to Duncans. I generally prefer Duncans for this reason as I hate the chopped treble some Dimarzios have and how they can have this inherently soft attack.

Some might say the Super Distortion is similar to the SH5 because there are some similarities on paper but they’re very different tonally. This is one situation where I actually prefer the Dimarzio. Super Distortion is one of their pickups I’ve always really liked. It doesn’t have the dark/smooth/soft sound and neither do the D Sonic and Steve’s Special, all of which I’ve used and liked.
 
I think the Megadrive was first discontinued because of the air norton (or was it Steves Special?) which sounds very close. But because of demand, dimarzio kept the Megadrive in production.

I do have the megadrive in one of my guitars and I really like it. It‘s my goto pup for high gain. Articulate, clear and very 80ies. Some describe it as the passive version of an EMG 81.
 
BesaMoogie said:
I think the Megadrive was first discontinued because of the air norton (or was it Steves Special?) which sounds very close. But because of demand, dimarzio kept the Megadrive in production.

I do have the megadrive in one of my guitars and I really like it. It‘s my goto pup for high gain. Articulate, clear and very 80ies. Some describe it as the passive version of an EMG 81.
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Does the Megadrive really compare to an 81? If so, I might be interested! That's what the D-Activator was supposed to do, so I bought one and it wasn't even close to an 81!
 
MetalThrasher said:
Does the Megadrive really compare to an 81? If so, I might be interested! That's what the D-Activator was supposed to do, so I bought one and it wasn't even close to an 81!
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I have no real experience with the EMG81. I saw videos of a dude playing Slayer riffs, boosted with an OD808 and stating it was the passive version of an EMG81 for him. To me, it sounded accurate but less artificial than what I hear from active pups. Rumors say the MD was used on seasons in the abyss by King too.
Keep in mind you get a fatter sound with the blade towards neck. But this isn`t a bad thing when cutting lows with a boost.
 
BesaMoogie said:
I think the Megadrive was first discontinued because of the air norton (or was it Steves Special?) which sounds very close. But because of demand, dimarzio kept the Megadrive in production.

I do have the megadrive in one of my guitars and I really like it. It‘s my goto pup for high gain. Articulate, clear and very 80ies. Some describe it as the passive version of an EMG 81.
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I can’t imagine it sounds anything like an Air Norton or even a Norton, the latter of which to me always sounded and felt like a lower output JB or something - very “left a wah pedal on” sounding although not necessarily in a bad way.

Steve’s Special is one of those black sheep pickups that doesn’t have the typical Dimarzio sound, but that’s probably why I like it. Like the mega drive and d sonic the coils are different and it sound’s noticeably different depending on how you install it. It’s a hard one to explain other than that it’s fairly high output but super clear and articulate, balanced EQ wise with no “wah mids” and no chopped treble. A little bit of balls to it but could also be perceived as kinda boring depending.
 
Bardagh said:
I can’t imagine it sounds anything like an Air Norton or even a Norton, the latter of which to me always sounded and felt like a lower output JB or something - very “left a wah pedal on” sounding although not necessarily in a bad way.

Steve’s Special is one of those black sheep pickups that doesn’t have the typical Dimarzio sound, but that’s probably why I like it. Like the mega drive and d sonic the coils are different and it sound’s noticeably different depending on how you install it. It’s a hard one to explain other than that it’s fairly high output but super clear and articulate, balanced EQ wise with no “wah mids” and no chopped treble. A little bit of balls to it but could also be perceived as kinda boring depending.
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Think I was wrong with the Air Norton. I just had a saw a video on YT where the guy was saying it is the Steves Special it sounds similar to.
 
MetalThrasher said:
Does the Megadrive really compare to an 81? If so, I might be interested! That's what the D-Activator was supposed to do, so I bought one and it wasn't even close to an 81!
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Haven't tried the Megadrive, but I seriously doubt it does the 81 thing. No passive does. The 81's magic is in the preamp which rolls of a lot of bottom-end and clips.
The closest passive I've tried to the 81 is the DiMarzio Dominion or *maybe* the Duncan Black Winter... and they're not even close at all. I'm a big fan of all those pickups, though.
 
Dimarzio does or did have a pickup that claimed to sound like if you tried to make a passive pickup sound like an active- the D Activator. Never tried one personally.
 
Bardagh said:
Dimarzio does or did have a pickup that claimed to sound like if you tried to make a passive pickup sound like an active- the D Activator. Never tried one personally.
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The OP said he tried it, and didn't think it sounded like an 81. I agree. I mean, I like it. But it doesn't sound like an 81, like, at all.
 
Rex Rocker said:
The OP said he tried it, and didn't think it sounded like an 81. I agree. I mean, I like it. But it doesn't sound like an 81, like, at all.
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Oh yeah I forgot he already tried it. I never liked how it sounded in any clips of it I ever heard but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Still never felt compelled to try it myself.

I think the pickups being discussed - Mega Drive, Steve’s Special, D Sonic, Crunch Lab - sound different but with similar enough characteristics that if you like one you may like any of them. Between the ones I’ve used there’s definitely something similar in the feel of them, say the D Sonic and SS. The D Sonic is just more mid focused where the SS is more balanced, the Crunch Lab is darker, etc.

They’re versatile pickups and could certainly do what OP is asking. Sometimes you just have to satisfy your curiosity and give it a try.
 
I called DiMarzio tech support and had a few questions for Steve. I asked him why they discontinued the MegaDive. "Too woofy" was his answer.
 
BesaMoogie said:
I have no real experience with the EMG81. I saw videos of a dude playing Slayer riffs, boosted with an OD808 and stating it was the passive version of an EMG81 for him. To me, it sounded accurate but less artificial than what I hear from active pups. Rumors say the MD was used on seasons in the abyss by King too.
Keep in mind you get a fatter sound with the blade towards neck. But this isn`t a bad thing when cutting lows with a boost.
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Kerry King did use the Megadrive in his BC Rich V's before he switched to the ESP V's with EMG's in 1990-1991.
 
I have a couple of Megadrives. Some are vintage, but if you call and ask they'll make you a megadrive right now. I have one from 2020 in double cream.

It's not really a metal pickup despite the look. It is MUCH more tame than something like the D-sonic which I also have. It's very mids-forward and less output than something like a Duncan JB, but the mids are situated lower than the JB which is why it might sound woofy to some. It was really designed for super bright Marshalls and stuff, which it can help thicken things up a bit without going over the top on output, so it stays more clear... which is necessary because too much mid-low-mid is what most of us perceive as "mud."

It's not a bad pickup by any means, I think they look really cool which is why I ended up with a few, but I don't think it's anything super special either and I can see why it was discontinued. On the other hand while I don't want to play the D-sonic or Crunch Lab for everything, I think those have a bit more "character" and work better on modern amps where you have more control over the voicing (and modern amps are rarely lacking in low mids).
 
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