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My Dimarzio Journey


The Rossness

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I want to throw a dimarzio into the bridge one of my Charvel's, but am having trouble deciding which one.

 

My favorite pup is the Tone zone, but it feels like it doesn't cut through in the mix enough. I'm looking for a similar PU, but one that cuts a little better.

 

I've looked at the Vai PU's. The Evo doesn't seem tone-full, but it cuts through. The Evo 2 is just plain weird it has a little too much of a high mid response and sounds like a whining baby. The Breed has too many low mids, and almost sounds cool, but it's a little bland.

 

The Crunch Lab has cut and is dynamic, but for some reason it doesn't feel special. (I have one sitting in my parts bin)

 

The SuperD sounds nice, but I feel like it dampens my amp and is a little fuzzy. The Super 3 is too dark.

 

I'm interested in maybe the Norton, Air Zone and AT1, but I'm not sure which one cuts better and is dynamic like the TZ? or am I missing a PU that I haven't looked at?

 

Can anyone help guide me on my DiMarzio Journey?What has your experience been?

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SuperD is one of my fave pups, I have not found it it particularly fuzzy or amp dampening. I also have a Super 3 in my Epi LP and I haven't found it too dark. On the other hand I do tend to prefer darker voiced pups. I HATED the JB I had in my Jackson, found it unbearably shrill. On the other, other hand, I'm a bedroom player, so there's no mix for me to have to cut through.

This is the end of my Dimarzio "wisdom" ... :idk:

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I've had two martinis tonight, so excuse me if I'm a'bit confuzed with the OP, but you're looking for a pickup that cuts through the mix like the pickup that doesn't cut through the mix. :confused:

 

I also like the TZ. Nice p'up with good organic vibey sounding EQ with plenty of lows and highs, but indeed, it's not a "cut through the mix pickup" because it doesn't emphasize the mids.

 

How about something like a Fred? Nobody could ever accuse Satriani of not cutting through the mix.

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^^ Yeah, first time here (many many moons ago) that someone said the SD had good cleans, I thought "bull{censored}". But they really do. The Super Distortion as the DiMarzio site will tell you, was only a high gain p'up in its day. Today they would be considered more of a moderate level output p'up. I think they are indeed one of the better sounding ceramic magnet p'ups out there.

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if you can't cut thru from the lack of mids on a Tone Zone, you're setting it up wrong in your guitar !! I have these in 3 of my guitars and have no problem cutting thru. The pickup has all kinds of mids, it's the treble that's a bit lower than the mids and lows. This is a bass heavy pickup from the get-go as well, so your percieved lack of mids is because of the low end this puts out. This is also a very height senstive pickup.

 

Before throwing out the TZ, do this: Lower the Low E side of the pickup, then raise the pickup screw poles under the E, A, D strings to match the height of the High E string. This will bring out more mids and highs and tame that huge low end. If that doesn't work well enough, try the half-air mod to it.

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if you can't cut thru from the lack of mids on a Tone Zone, you're setting it up wrong in your guitar !! I have these in 3 of my guitars and have no problem cutting thru. The pickup has all kinds of mids, it's the treble that's a bit lower than the mids and lows. This is a bass heavy pickup from the get-go as well, so your percieved lack of mids is because of the low end this puts out. This is also a very height senstive pickup.


Before throwing out the TZ, do this: Lower the Low E side of the pickup, then raise the pickup screw poles under the E, A, D strings to match the height of the High E string. This will bring out more mids and highs and tame that huge low end. If that doesn't work well enough, try the half-air mod to it.

 

 

I tend to agree with this.

 

Also there was another suggestion for the Fred. I owned a JS1200 for a little while that had a Fred. It's a really good sounding pup that will definitely cut thru. It's not high output though in case that's what you are looking for.

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if you can't cut thru from the lack of mids on a Tone Zone, you're setting it up wrong in your guitar !! I have these in 3 of my guitars and have no problem cutting thru. The pickup has all kinds of mids, it's the treble that's a bit lower than the mids and lows. This is a bass heavy pickup from the get-go as well, so your percieved lack of mids is because of the low end this puts out. This is also a very height senstive pickup.


Before throwing out the TZ, do this: Lower the Low E side of the pickup, then raise the pickup screw poles under the E, A, D strings to match the height of the High E string. This will bring out more mids and highs and tame that huge low end. If that doesn't work well enough, try the half-air mod to it.

 

 

Yep, this.

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I've tried (and still have in some guitars) the Evolution, Tone Zone, Super Distortion, and Air Zone. My favorite by far is the Evolution, but in mahogany. For brighter guitars I like the Super Distortion and Air Zone. In some guitars the top end of the Super Distortion is a bit scratchy, although it sounds great in basswood. I think the Air Zone sounds much better than the Tone Zone, even though they have a similar EQ curve on paper. It is lower output though, but it seems to hit in the right places to make up for that when paired with the right guitar. Cutting has more to do with setting the amp than the guitar IMO. Pickups are more about balancing the signal before you hit the amp so you're not forced into a shrill bright tone or a dark muddy tone. Garbage in, garbage out. Some people prefer to exaggerate certain requencies with their pickup selections and it is a matter of taste.

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Sorry to be pedantic, but this has been annoying me a little bit.

I Love Charvel's :facepalm:

The plural of 'Charvel' doesn't require an apostrophe.

Your sig should say I Love Charvels.

As you were. :)


(I share your love of Charvels, by the way)

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I think one matter that's possibly a cross message in this thread is the "cuts through the mix" comment on the TZ. I think Pennywise's comments about tweaking the TZ are good comments and certainly worth a try because they will indeed move a TZ closer to what the OP is looking for. But I also have seen comments going years back about this issue with the TZ and I recognize what they're talking about. I personally really do like the TZ. I have one in this guitar and think it's great.

 

Guitars009.jpg

 

and I liked it enough to buy another for a mod into this one.

 

DSC01924-1.jpg

 

 

But in general "cuts through the mix" pickups are often ones that are either mid ranged humped, like the DiMarzio FRED, or have the highs and lows really rolled off like the Duncan Custom Custom for a bit of the EVH solo sound or have the mids bumped and just some lows rolled off like the JB.

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