JamesPeters
New member
I got a Dimarzio D Activator bridge pickup recently and I'm quite impressed with it. How Dimarzio describes the pickup is quite accurate. My personal notes: take an EMG 81's attack, crunch, and smoothness (as well as its overall output level), blend in some more warmth (somewhat like an EMG 85), broaden the dynamic range (so that it just responds "more naturally"), remove the need for batteries or unusual value pot values, voila.
Of course if you're already an EMG fan you may still prefer EMGs, and so far there are only two D Activator pickups Dimarzio offers (neck/bridge). I know a lot of people are going to welcome these pickups with open arms though, particularly those who have asked on the forums "what passive pickup is closest to an EMG". The answers to that question have always been a mixed bag of presumptions of what aspect of an EMG a person wants in a passive pickup, because no pickups have come this close to getting that sort of overall sound/response. And arguably the D Activator can be seen as getting that sort of sound/response in a "better" way.
It's also quite a treat to put a pickup more suited to blues in the neck, alongside a D Activator in the bridge so that the middle and neck positions bring the guitar a more traditional flavor. Combining passive pickups alongside EMGs isn't impossible but it isn't simple or optimal with most guitar control sets. Combining other passive pickups with the D Activator is a no-brainer because the D Activator is a passive pickup which uses standard guitar control sets.
There exists a video of the D Activator pickups on Youtube, done by a columnist for a guitar magazine; keep in mind if you see that video, that it's only what that one person did to set up his sound that time. That's not what the pickup always sounds like with every guitar and every amp. I have to say this because it seems a lot of people on the forums automatically presume the D Activator sounds exactly how it did in that video. Also, some have heard the D Activator in guitars with rather loose lows (such as some newer Ibanez set-neck guitars, which can be notorious for loose lows) and presumed the pickup were to blame. Some have also said the D Activator is "lower output" than they expected since they don't know what an EMG 81 brings to the table in the first place (it's not a super-hot output pickup either, in reality). Like any other pickup, the D Activator won't cure problems that are outside the pickup's domain whether it's what amp is used, how it's recorded, what guitar it's in, etc., and it's not meant to automatically make your guitar endlessly shoot flames. That being said, if your guitar sounds good to you already and you want more of that EMG type of flavor in the way Dimarzio promises of the D Activator, I can confidently recommend it.
Of course if you're already an EMG fan you may still prefer EMGs, and so far there are only two D Activator pickups Dimarzio offers (neck/bridge). I know a lot of people are going to welcome these pickups with open arms though, particularly those who have asked on the forums "what passive pickup is closest to an EMG". The answers to that question have always been a mixed bag of presumptions of what aspect of an EMG a person wants in a passive pickup, because no pickups have come this close to getting that sort of overall sound/response. And arguably the D Activator can be seen as getting that sort of sound/response in a "better" way.
It's also quite a treat to put a pickup more suited to blues in the neck, alongside a D Activator in the bridge so that the middle and neck positions bring the guitar a more traditional flavor. Combining passive pickups alongside EMGs isn't impossible but it isn't simple or optimal with most guitar control sets. Combining other passive pickups with the D Activator is a no-brainer because the D Activator is a passive pickup which uses standard guitar control sets.
There exists a video of the D Activator pickups on Youtube, done by a columnist for a guitar magazine; keep in mind if you see that video, that it's only what that one person did to set up his sound that time. That's not what the pickup always sounds like with every guitar and every amp. I have to say this because it seems a lot of people on the forums automatically presume the D Activator sounds exactly how it did in that video. Also, some have heard the D Activator in guitars with rather loose lows (such as some newer Ibanez set-neck guitars, which can be notorious for loose lows) and presumed the pickup were to blame. Some have also said the D Activator is "lower output" than they expected since they don't know what an EMG 81 brings to the table in the first place (it's not a super-hot output pickup either, in reality). Like any other pickup, the D Activator won't cure problems that are outside the pickup's domain whether it's what amp is used, how it's recorded, what guitar it's in, etc., and it's not meant to automatically make your guitar endlessly shoot flames. That being said, if your guitar sounds good to you already and you want more of that EMG type of flavor in the way Dimarzio promises of the D Activator, I can confidently recommend it.
