Follow-Up on Dimarzio HS-4 & Squier Body

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So I was discussing Malmsteen's tone in another thread and drewiv told me his signature Dimarzio sounded pretty horrible. He then was nice enough :rock: to send me the actual pickup for me to try out. Meanwhile, I also bought 2 HS-3; installed all 3 in a Vintage Modified 70's Squier Strat, which I was discussing with Kapo in another thread. 1 active volume, no tone control.

The pickups are definitely low output. Being single coils, they are also very bright. Bright + trying to boost low output pickups = total mess. The HS-3 actually sounds pretty decent as a bridge pickup, but I had all the trouble in the world taming the spank/natural harmonic when hitting a string on the HS-4 (neck). Lowering the pickup helps, but that makes them even less hot.
Using them in a boosted JCM 800 was horrible; even with treble/presence at 0 and bass at 10
Best I could do was in a Bogner XTC's Blue Channel (very dark amp), with TS808 boost, level and gain around 1-2 o'clock and tone around 4 o'clock. I'll definately keep the pickups around, but would choose Dimarzio Injectors any day over them for that type of sound.

As for the Squier, it's pretty nice. The vintage white finish looks really good and the body doesn't ring dead like some Squier Affinity's I've tried. You can tell it's made in Asia, but for the money, I'd buy it again. I also have a GFS bridge on the way, and will probably order a Warmoth neck. Obvisouly I have also messed with the headstock already

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Good review... those HS3's can be icepick city. I had one as well and it got the boot the same day. As you mentioned, they are already low output, lower them away from the strings and you gotta fight it!

So would you say the guitar tonally is spankier and more bright? That always worries me as i am in the process of getting a neck built to my specs to replace a maple neck which i thought was way too spanky and bright on the body i had it on. I'm hoping the neck was more the culprit. Going rosewood this time around.
 
Kapo_Polenton":1jv8iv84 said:
So would you say the guitar tonally is spankier and more bright? That always worries me as i am in the process of getting a neck built to my specs to replace a maple neck which i thought was way too spanky and bright on the body i had it on. I'm hoping the neck was more the culprit. Going rosewood this time around.
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Some would argue that fingerboard wood doesn't affect tone, but that's another story...

When I tried the guitar with the original pickups (Duncan Designed single coils), it wasn't too bright, and the pickups didn't sound bad at all actually. Contrary to "usual" strats, this body is basswood, so it's more balanced than alder. I've played some basswood bodies that sounded like presswood before, but this one resonates nicely
 
Well, that's pretty much my findings as well. I was using it as a middle pickup on an RG550 and it was only in there for a day. Many amps, many height changes, just couldn't get it to work anywhere near the way I wanted it to. You put it into words much better than I could, the only word I could use was "horrible." :D
 
Kapo_Polenton":8j9uuu4c said:
Another axe which really interests me is that budget 499$ JAckson Adriam Smith model.
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They look interesting, but I figure you would have to change the trem if you use it a lot. Also keep in mind that Fender replacement necks are a bit narrower than Jackson/Charvel ones at the pocket.

As for the pickup, all the demos I see on youtube are of Malmsteen fanboys making the pickup sound like Malmsteen, so I guess it can be good for that kind of playing at the least. Too bad I don't have the chops for that :LOL: :LOL:
 
racerevlon":34iq3hsv said:
I'd forget the Injector and get a Solo Pro.
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I think those are discontinued
The Virtual Solo is still around though
 
Well I tried my Fulltone OCD with the pickups, knowing that it had a LP mode.
I can honestly say the OCD saved the day.
Volume at 12 o'clock, Drive at 3 o'clock, Tone all the way down and LP mode on top of dark distorted amp with a good deal or Presence
The HS-3 bridge sounds warm, the HS-4 neck sounds creamy and 95% of the spank is gone
And the pickups can do some nice spanky cleans of course.
At last I got something decent out of these things :rock:
 
The old Malmsteen Strats I've played sound killer.

I've had HS-3's in Strats and I always take them out. I like my pickups a little hotter than that.
 
Thanks for the link Business! These covers would be perfect for an Injector or Virtual Solo as they are stacked and the two pickups I've narrowed my decision down to. They look like a near-perfect match to the Fender aged parts as well.

I did contact Dimarzio and they said their aged parts are "based" on Fender's but may vary slightly. Users on other forums have said that they can see no difference between the two whereas others have said Dimarzio's to be a touch lighter in shade.

It's a tough one especially as I am such a perfectionist! I have seen cream Dimarzio covers that have looked to be a good match but then other cream Dimarzio's look very dark in comparison.

Thanks again
 
Someone made a good point about Malmsteen's older tone.. it used to be smoother and less harsh in the highs. I think he used to use fender pups. Knowing also that he double boosted a lot of times with those dods which unlike the YJM 308 pedal, were looser in the bass (flubby with humbuckers) made for a killer tone that was not as harsh in the highs. When I listen to his live tone now, every vid seems like compressed harsh highs. Plexis are also a slightly warmer circuit than jcm800's are when you balance the inputs.

Still though, I have no idea how the hell he made these HS-3's sound remotely good. Just a spanky low output pickup in my opinion and it is hard to play. I really dig the dimarzio chopper right now. Fantastic pup. Good blend of detail with smoothness. I'd also be interested in their heavy blues pup as well as the SDS-1 (Jake E lee) but no hum cancelling is always a pain in the ass.
 
Stokley":15l6nb6y said:
Thanks for the link Business! These covers would be perfect for an Injector or Virtual Solo as they are stacked and the two pickups I've narrowed my decision down to. They look like a near-perfect match to the Fender aged parts as well.

I did contact Dimarzio and they said their aged parts are "based" on Fender's but may vary slightly. Users on other forums have said that they can see no difference between the two whereas others have said Dimarzio's to be a touch lighter in shade.

It's a tough one especially as I am such a perfectionist! I have seen cream Dimarzio covers that have looked to be a good match but then other cream Dimarzio's look very dark in comparison.

Thanks again
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Pleasure

On another note, I just stained pickup covers myself last week using hot coffee. Works really well, a bit too well actually as they're pretty dark. I'm sure a couple of minutes in boiling water would tone it down though. It's worth trying if you have some white covers around and cheap coffee.

About Malmsteen's tone, he used to play a Dimarzio FS-1 pickup, which is hotter. Turning down the tone knob on a boost pedal almost all the way down was the only way I could get a decent tone with ths HS-3 or HS-4
 
More info on Norum here which I found interesting.. I think he also used HS-3 for the neck on a lot of stuff but he goosed the shit out of it with two overdrives (The DS-1 + SD-1 surprised me though) :

Below is part of a October 2000 interview in which he was asked about equipment:

"Which pickup's do you use and in which guitars (if custum made, which ones are the closest to the customs)?

JOHN NORUM:

On Final Countdown I used a rait pedal with a JCM 800 for rhythms + for solos I used Boss Distortion SD-1 + a a Super Boss Overdrive mixed together. On Total Control I used my 65 strat with DiMarzio HS3 pickups + the Boss Overdrive OD-1 - the old one with 2 knobs, and the amp was 73 50-watt Marshall Stock which I still have & use sometimes.

Total control Boss OD-1 setting: Level on full and Drive on 9 o'clock. Final Countdown: I can't really remember but about half way on each level + distortion, not too much.

Michael Jessen: Which pickups/amps did you use back when you recorded Final Countdown and Total Control?

JOHN NORUM: Same as above about the amps. Final Countdown and Total Control pickups: DiMarzio HS 3 + FS 1.
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Kapo_Polenton":3l6ls012 said:
Ahhh FS-1... I think Norum went to those as well. Loved his strat tones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZiLfxe01iw or maybe it is just his playing which is the cat's ass here. Either way, thumbs down to HS3! I think the new duncan signature line are hotter.
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I don't know why anybody would want to use single coils for medium or high gain
For cleans or mild overdrive, that's another story

Stacking OD and distortion pedals is done often, both ways too (OD before or after the drive)
 
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