DiMarzios are better than Duncans...change my mind

Their singles and stacks are pretty good but they have too many misses in the humbucker department for me. As others mentioned, too much bass, too much compression, sometimes the cocked nasal wah mids. They sound processed. Duncans are more raw. But then there are also many other builders out there doing great stuff but whenever i come back to Dimarzio, if it isn't the super distortion or 36 anni in the bridge ( two good ones), it just doesn't work for me. I do love the double cream look though. Can't believe they patented that so that Duncan couldn't do it. I mean a black LP with double cream?? fuget aboud et'.
 
Anyone who likes a JB should give a real Gibson 498T a try as to my ears they accomplish a similar tonal pallet with the exception that the 498T just does everything better than the JB. I can’t stand a JB but I have a 498T in the bridge of this 1976 wine red custom. The neck is an A5 swapped 496R to warm it up but be hotter than the 498T.

IMG_1708.jpeg
 
I use both; I prefer DiMarzio. I recently put a set of DiMarzio D-Activator X in my Chibanez. My Jackson Rhoads have Duncan Blackouts which I like; my Ibanez PS10s and PS120 have Duncan '59/Custom, sound great to me; My BC Rich Chuck Schuldiner Stealth has a DiMarzio X2N.

I have a Jackson Warrior, same X series as my Rhoads, but the Warriors don't get the Blackouts, they get Jackson-branded pickups, which are ok, not great. I'm thinking about either DiMarzio SD in the bridge / S2 in the neck for a more traditional sound, or X2N/S2; or a Petrucci set...waiting for the next DiMarzio sale to decide.

wish there was an easier way to hear and compare pickups; a guitar with plug n play blocks with pickups mounted in the block, just held in the body magnetically,...so you can quickly swap pickups in and out,...reading and comparing the specs or watching comparison vids don't tell the whole story IMO.

I'm sure there are pickups by DiMarzio, Duncan and others that I'd love, but I'll never find them except by accident because "buy, install and try" isn't practical or efficient, and I still don't have a quick way to compare...so I stay with what I know, and like.


fricker-fu.jpg
 
glpg80 said:
Anyone who likes a JB should give a real Gibson 498T a try as to my ears they accomplish a similar tonal pallet with the exception that the 498T just does everything better than the JB. I can’t stand a JB but I have a 498T in the bridge of this 1976 wine red custom. The neck is an A5 swapped 496R to warm it up but be hotter than the 498T.
Click to expand...
I agree with this. It seemed like the 498t has a more biting, smoking top end. Not harsh, but more...present than a JB. Maybe a touch less compressed. The JB seems kinda stuffy by comparison in edge of breakup/light gain IME.
 
Whatever floats your boat. IF you like Dimarzios keep them in.

I dont like Dimarzios, took that thing out, put a SH5 in and never looked back. JB is good too, but the Custom was what I wanted.
 
BeZo said:
What guitar did you try it in? I love them in mahogany bodies with maple caps. I didn't like it sitting in a lot of other woods.
Click to expand...
Honestly the only time I’ve played them has been in super strats. Like my 84 Kramer… dark and muddy. Probably 3 or 4 different ones over the years. Now my mij dk2 had a Duncan designed one and it had an alder body and maple neck. Like I said cheap copy of the jb… I pulled that out and put a custom 5 in it and it’s like I had a blanket over my amp until I installed the custom 5…. Literally night and day difference. I love that custom 5….
 
I like DiMarzio & Duncan, both.

Recently bought my 3rd set of DiMarzio Dominion pickups (using in 2 Explorers and a Schecter Red Dawn). They work well with the style of music I play. I'm also a fan of the Evolution. I mostly lean towards DiMarzio since I like to mix up the color scheme on my guitars. Just about every guitar I have is black and I like to throw red or yellow pickups in for some contrast.

As far as SD goes, the Custom Custom is probably my favorite along with the Custom 5. I've never taken to the JB. I've pulled the JB from every guitar that's had one, with one exception, an Edwards Explorer. It worked really well in that guitar for whatever reason.
 
glpg80 said:
Anyone who likes a JB should give a real Gibson 498T a try as to my ears they accomplish a similar tonal pallet with the exception that the 498T just does everything better than the JB. I can’t stand a JB but I have a 498T in the bridge of this 1976 wine red custom. The neck is an A5 swapped 496R to warm it up but be hotter than the 498T.

View attachment 401197
Click to expand...
I think the key with these pickups is to roll the volume knob back a little sometimes, it really brings out sweetness.
 
JackBootedThug said:
Honestly the only time I’ve played them has been in super strats. Like my 84 Kramer… dark and muddy. Probably 3 or 4 different ones over the years. Now my mij dk2 had a Duncan designed one and it had an alder body and maple neck. Like I said cheap copy of the jb… I pulled that out and put a custom 5 in it and it’s like I had a blanket over my amp until I installed the custom 5…. Literally night and day difference. I love that custom 5….
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's like putting racing slicks on a monster truck. Sometimes you just gotta get the right pickups in the right guitar. I like both, but I've also had offerings I didn't like from both. I've even kicked a set of Bareknuckle Pickups out of a guitar because they weren't the right voicing. BKP makes great pickups, but they weren't the right ones for that guitar.
 
I've tried just about every Dimarzio that's worth trying out, PAF pro, 36th PAF, Steve's Special, Tone Zone, X2N.

The only one's I liked were my EBMM Axis pickups. Other than that Seymour Duncan's have been and are my jam. I've also tried quite a few boutiques and Duncan's are still my favorites. 78 model, WLH, SH-6N,, Seymourizer II, 59 N and 59 B Wes Hauch Jupiter, Holdsworth JB, Steckel Candy PAF, Duncan Distortion, Duncan Custom.

I just get great solid tones out of them that I prefer. I've heard great tones out of Dimarzio's from other people's axes I just don't care for them as to how they feel or sound in my guitars.

I do have a Bill and Becky Wilde L500XL I am about to install to compare to the Jupiter in my current KNE project Kramer that is in progress finally. Getting close to sealing and painting the body after I touch up a couple of routs.:2thumbsup:
 
Last edited:
When I saw this title I thought "oh sht, it's on, I strapped myself in ready to to watch a rumble" haha

I love Dimarzios, have tried a bunch of them. I think the Evolution is a great rock/metal pickup and sounds great in every guitar I've ever put them in. The Utopia is based on the Evolution and love that pickup too, have them in 2 guitars.
The Humbucker From Hell is one of the best neck pickups I ever tried.

I like SD too, but but fewer models than Dimarzio.

I also love Tom Anderson pickups, the H and HF series rip. I love them so much that when I had a custom Skervesen made that took over a year, I mailed them a set of Tom Anderson pickups to put in. But that's off topic, just mentioned since they were mentioned above.
 
I have a Super Distortion that I tried in a Mahogany Schecter that sounded awful, so I threw it in a drawer for a few years. I recently put it in a Basswood Ibanez and it sounds great in that guitar.

I have several of both brands. I like the Super Distortion, D Sonic, Crunch Lab, Tone Zone. There are others I would like to try. I have most of all the high gain Duncans also, but the Custom and Nazgul are probably my favorites.

I think Duncans tend to be chuggier, where Dimarzios tend to have more defined pick attack.
 
Geo said:
Never had luck with Duncan humbuckers, they were either to bright or too dull.
Click to expand...
Same, mostly too bright on the top end. I did have a Guild X-170 that had Duncan designed 'buckers in it. Those were a good sounding pickup. Smooth and balanced. Those were the best Duncans I've had.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Geo
I had a set of Eric Johnson Customs in an CMG Ashlee Les Paul copy and they were great. Very low output but were great. The only DiMarzios I've tried and didn't like is the X2Ns.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top