HELP ME identify this pickup, and tell me about it.....

[rlord1974]

Hoping someone can tell me what type/brand/model of pickup this is give me an idea of what it sounds like.

Thx!

 

[mboogman]

Looks like a Dimarzio D Sonic or Crunch Lab. If that's what it is, then it's more of a high gain type pickup. The D Sonic had a touch too much upper mids for me. Very articulate though. Not had any direct experience with the Crunch Lab.

 

[rlord1974]

Thanks! Anybody else care to weigh in here?

 

[snowdog]

Appears to me it's either a DiMarzio Crunch Lab or D Sonic.

 

[rlord1974]

Are either of the D Sonic or Crunch Lab suited for just regular, rock, hard rock, classic rock? I'm thinking tones like STP, AIC, Soundgarden, The Cult, back to 70's hard rock as well. My metal days are in my rearview mirror at this point......

Typically, I like pickups like Seymour Duncan JB's, Custom Customs, etc. How do they compare tonally?

 

[snowdog]

Not much help on how they sound, Petrucci uses them and they both sound pretty good with his heavy Mesa sound. One thing I do know about them is that they sound quite a bit different depending on whether the bar is facing the neck or bridge, so if you have one in something I'd try it both ways before I ditched it.

 

[mboogman]

If you check out the dimarzio site, they give some tips on the positioning of the pickup. Apparently it makes a pretty big difference on which coil is toward the bridge. I've got a D Sonic 7 in my Ibanez RG7420 right now, and I have no problems getting milder tones out of it. When I had the JP6 that came with it, I ended up swapping for the steve's special. From what I recall, the D Sonic has a similar feel to the JB but maybe a little extra bite.

 

[rlord1974]

I've got a D Sonic 7 in my Ibanez RG7420 right now, and I have no problems getting milder tones out of it. ..... From what I recall, the D Sonic has a similar feel to the JB but maybe a little extra bite.

Hmmm. Interesting. I'm looking at a guitar that is loaded with one of these and figured I needed to factor in the cost of some SD replacement pickups to get it to where I would want it to be. You figure the D Sonic will get me in SD JB territory?

 

[mboogman]

Depending on other guitar specifics, it could. Depending on if you like it or not, I know a good place you could get a cream/black JB trembucker.

 

[rupe]

If thats an older Dimarzio it could be a Mega Drive

 

[dougiefresh]

If thats an older Dimarzio it could be a Mega Drive

What he said...

 

[rlord1974]

Wow, we're up to 3 potential models now. What is the consensus on the new guy to the party, the "Mega Drive"? Rock pickup? Metal pickup? Good, bad or ugly?

 

[just42dave]

could be a mega drive

 

[dougiefresh]

The Megadrive is a great sounding pickup.
I bought one when I was a kid just because I read that Tony Macalpine was using them.
A Dimarzio rep once told me that the Steve's Special they designed for Petrucci was based off of the Megadrive, pretty sure it's a different magnet and they scooped the mids out.

 

[rupe]

From Dimarzio:

The MegaDrive joins two different concepts to deliver one powerful pickup. Each coil of the MegaDrive senses the string differently. The solid-bar coil hears the lows while the coil with six adjustable poles picks up the highs.

With each coil optimized for a specific job, the sound is loud and clear, with minimum dirt. For players who like to "ride " the guitar's volume control the MegaDrive cleans up crisply when you back off. A solid range of sounds, dialed in from the guitar, lets you leave the amp's gain settings alone for most of the set.

Specifications: Wiring Standard four conductor Magnet Ceramic Output 350mV DC Resistance 15.03K. F-spaced for guitars with tremolos or wider nut and fixed bridges.

 

[Dave L]

I´ve used the Megadrive from time to time... pretty scooped, very clean and wide. Tight but powerful bass. I liked it for high gain chording, since it has great definition and zero schmear, but it was a little thin on leads. Definitely not a classic-sounding pickup, though.