Okay, I guess I'm warming up to DiMarzios

[BlueParfait]

Usually I'm a Duncan guy, but I've been on a DiMarzio binge lately, and after swapping stuff around and trying out different sets... I like these, a lot.

Left: Fast Track 1 / Chopper / IGNO
Middle: Cruiser Bridge / Cruiser Neck / Tone Zone
Right: PAF Joe / Super 3

The Fast Track 1 and the Cruiser set, in particular, have become some of my favorite single-coil-sized pickups, up there with the EMG SA.

Especially the Fast Track 1. That's a desert island neck pickup for sure.

Tried a Chopper in the neck before that and I honestly didn't like it as much.

But wow, it's been a trip. Don't think I'm swapping pickups again soon.

 

[Rackman]

They have so many variations of "we took a PAF and stripped away all the highs" with like a million different wind levels. I guess I don't get it - maybe it's Vai and Stach's influence but not for me or the models I would like are so rare in the wild I've never heard them.

 

[BlueParfait]

They have so many variations of "we took a PAF and stripped away all the highs" with like a million different wind levels.

They really do

And then they make a new version and discontinue the old one, and so on and so forth lol

Yeah they have so many models with so little differences, but somehow some of those models work in some guitars, but not quite others.

 

[Uzi Nein Millimetah]

If you want to fully appreciate the Tone Zone, bypass the tone control, it helps....a lot.

That's true for a lot of DiMarzios, which tend to be thicc, but with subdued top end.

 

[BlueParfait]

If you want to fully appreciate the Tone Zone, bypass the tone control, it helps....a lot.

That's true for a lot of DiMarzios, which tend to be thicc, but with subdued top end.

Hahaha I did!

That's why I love it in this specific guitar so much, less so in some others

Actually all 3 of them have bridges disconnected from the tone pot

The Kramer doesn't have a tone pot at all even

 

[tallcoolone]

They have so many variations of "we took a PAF and stripped away all the highs" with like a million different wind levels. I guess I don't get it - maybe it's Vai and Stach's influence but not for me or the models I would like are so rare in the wild I've never heard them.

Try a Norton bridge in a dual humbucker guitar—it’s like a T-top on steroids—bright and KERRANG-y as hell.

I’m actually new to the Super D and I’m loving that in a superstrat. 36th anny is also a brighter pickup—I guess I’m saying I don’t agree w/the generalization

 

[BlueParfait]

Try a Norton bridge in a dual humbucker guitar—it’s like a T-top on steroids—bright and KERRANG-y as hell.

I’m actually new to the Super D and I’m loving that in a superstrat. 36th anny is also a brighter pickup—I guess I’m saying I don’t agree w/the generalization

I actually had to use 250ks with one of my Super D loaded guitar to tame the highs

The other, 500k.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

The problem with pickups is that every piece of wood sounds different so Alder is never created equally. One pickup sounds soo good in one guitar, tubby in another. A bit like a mattress. It has to suit the body and the issues a person has. Saying you have a bad back is not universal because of so many variables- disc? nerve? ligament? scoliosis? etc. I think where dimarzio shines is in their stacked singles. A lot of the humbuckers are too smooth for me and i like the rawness of duncan better. ( besides Dimarzio PAFs or 36 anni) I love the chopper in one of my guitars but find it too tubby in another. Maybe part of this can be addressed by bypassing tone knob as you guys pointed out. But overall, I can get to where i want to be quicker with duncan or pups from other makers. I think a Quarter Pounder with a JB2 will cover my needs in most guitars or a hot PAF in a LP guitar.

But then there is double cream... optics alone, I love me some double dimarzio cream and wish everyone was allowed to market that and put out product.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Try a Norton bridge in a dual humbucker guitar—it’s like a T-top on steroids—bright and KERRANG-y as hell.

I’m actually new to the Super D and I’m loving that in a superstrat. 36th anny is also a brighter pickup—I guess I’m saying I don’t agree w/the generalization

36 anni is the exception for dimarzio.. I just wish it had a tad more thickness in the highs for the bridge but it is indeed a crunchy pickup that cuts.

 

[Rackman]

Try a Norton bridge in a dual humbucker guitar—it’s like a T-top on steroids—bright and KERRANG-y as hell.

I’m actually new to the Super D and I’m loving that in a superstrat. 36th anny is also a brighter pickup—I guess I’m saying I don’t agree w/the generalization

I guess there may be quite a bit subjective about this, especially the guitar selected, but both those pickups show rolled off highs on the DiMarzio frequency response charts, and in my experience they're right.

 

[BlueParfait]

But overall, I can get to where i want to be quicker with duncan or pups from other makers

I've warmed up to DiMarzios, but I'll agree there.

I can put a JB, Pearly Gates or a Custom in any guitar and it would sound great.

 

[PBGas]

Love the Dimarzios!
I have a few different variations of the SD (Super Ceramic, Tele S, and Nutron) in all of my guitars. For me, it is the pickup that I enjoy using the most.

 

[TheBiggestJerk]

Usually I'm a Duncan guy, but I've been on a DiMarzio binge lately, and after swapping stuff around and trying out different sets... I like these, a lot.

View attachment 425069

Left: Fast Track 1 / Chopper / IGNO
Middle: Cruiser Bridge / Cruiser Neck / Tone Zone
Right: PAF Joe / Super 3

The Fast Track 1 and the Cruiser set, in particular, have become some of my favorite single-coil-sized pickups, up there with the EMG SA.

Especially the Fast Track 1. That's a desert island neck pickup for sure.

Tried a Chopper in the neck before that and I honestly didn't like it as much.

But wow, it's been a trip. Don't think I'm swapping pickups again soon.

DiMarzio just aren’t as mid heavy.

 

[tallcoolone]

The problem with pickups is that every piece of wood sounds different so Alder is never created equally. One pickup sounds soo good in one guitar, tubby in another. A bit like a mattress. It has to suit the body and the issues a person has. Saying you have a bad back is not universal because of so many variables- disc? nerve? ligament? scoliosis? etc. I think where dimarzio shines is in their stacked singles. A lot of the humbuckers are too smooth for me and i like the rawness of duncan better. ( besides Dimarzio PAFs or 36 anni) I love the chopper in one of my guitars but find it too tubby in another. Maybe part of this can be addressed by bypassing tone knob as you guys pointed out. But overall, I can get to where i want to be quicker with duncan or pups from other makers. I think a Quarter Pounder with a JB2 will cover my needs in most guitars or a hot PAF in a LP guitar.

But then there is double cream... optics alone, I love me some double dimarzio cream and wish everyone was allowed to market that and put out product.

Just about anyone will build you a double cream humbucker, they just can’t market it. I have several non Dimarzio c/c

I agree with what you are saying—a pickup is only one part of the chain. I’m just very sensitive to top end—I do not chug—and some pickups have more cut universally. Like the Norton, I’ve got one in a hss strat and one in a Kauer Banshee (Firebird) and they both can burn your eyebrows off from the amount of sizzle they have if you don’t watch out. I think the same about Pearly Gates, although I do feel the Norton is thicker and has more ‘grind’. I think I like the Custom Custom and custom hybrid better in lightweight alder Strats than the Norton, I may swap that one out. The Duncan’s both have more ‘honk’ to ‘em

I guess there may be quite a bit subjective about this, especially the guitar selected, but both those pickups show rolled off highs on the DiMarzio frequency response charts, and in my experience they're right.

You had a Norton bridge and you found it rolled off the top end? Hey, like you say it’s all subjective that’s just usually the first one I recommend for a dark guitar.

Can’t explain those ratings on the site—I think most people who have used Super Distortion pickups would agree that they are not a dark pickup at all but that’s what their chart says as well.

 

[tallcoolone]

I've warmed up to DiMarzios, but I'll agree there.

I can put a JB, Pearly Gates or a Custom in any guitar and it would sound great.

IME the Customs sound good in just about any guitar

 

[Rackman]

You had a Norton bridge and you found it rolled off the top end? Hey, like you say it’s all subjective that’s just usually the first one I recommend for a dark guitar.

I tried one in a MIJ Prestige RG1643830472945M or whatever it was. It was green. Nice guitar. Mahogany body, bolt maple laminate neck, ebony board.

It was pretty dark, but then a mahogany body could at least in part explain that.

 

[70 Mach 1]

You want a real neck pup stick a super D or JB in there. No mud no vol mismatch just pure rock and roll.

 

[SoooRad]

Dimarzio? Sorry, I’m not gay.


Just kidding, I am a littl. I have a FS-1 in the neck of my SoCal.