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  • DiMarzio Area '67 and Virtual Solo Single Coil Pickups

    By Chris Loeffler |

    By Chris Loeffler

     

    One of the challenges of the single coil pickup (and one of the reasons it has its distinct sound) is the amount of noise the inherent 60 cycle hum can produce, leading to anything from “barely there” white noise to unbearably, unmusically buzzy depending on the setting and quality of the electricity. Attempts by pickup manufacturers to “buck” the hum (without just creating a humbucker) typically result in a pickup that is “single coil-ish”, but somewhat missing the characteristics or liveliness that make guitar players historically accept the hum.

    DiMarzio introduced its Area series pickups quite a few years ago as an answer to copping the strat souns captured on thousands of iconic recordings from the 60’s through today with introducing the extra noise. The series, comprised of the Area 58, Area 61, and Area 67, are built to the sonic specifications of the best examples of the strat pickups built at that time.

     

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    DiMarzio Area 67 Single Coil Pickup

    The DiMarzio Area 67 was built to capture the sound of a late 60’s Stratocaster pickup and is named after Hendrix’s guitar tone in the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Best suited for the middle and neck positions, the Area 67 sounds like a dead-on classic strat without the 60 cycle hum thanks to the Area technology DiMarzio utilizes to kill the noise. And noiseless they are… even through a rig plugged into an outlet sharing an electrical path with a neon sign, the pickup is dead silent.

    The Area 67 is bright and clear, easily copping the percussiveness and glassy sheen of traditional strat tones. The pickups are as bright as one would expect a strat pickup to sound without crossing the line into being harsh or ice-picky. Mids sound a bit scooped when compared to modern, high-fidelity pickups, but that’s part of the classic strat sound. The Area 67 excels at cleans and brings an almost piano-like punch to the attack and dirtying up the amp with increased gain yields warm, pleasing harmonics. To my ears, the Area 67 works best in the neck and middle positions as it already has plenty of brightness.

    For enthusiasts, it is worth noting that while late 60’s strats were built using full strength alnico V magnets, whereas the DiMarzio Area 67s use alnico II magnets. Because of the efficiencies of the design, the alnico II greatly decreases the magnet pull without impacting output and reduces strain to sustain and the likeliness of intonation issues.

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    DiMarzio Virtual Solo Single Coil Pickup

    Unlike the Area 67, which aims at nailing the late 60’s strat sound, the DiMarzio Virtual Solo is a hybrid of two DiMarzio originals- the DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Solo and the DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Solo Pro. By combining the best elements of these two (now decommissioned) pickups, DiMarzio has created a pickup that is heavy in upper mids and deep and rich in the bass. Compared to the Area 67, the Virtual Solo has nearly twice the output and a bit of high-end roll off that perfectly complements the bridge position. Mids, while far from cartoony or unnatural sounding, are brash and bold and sit well over the extended bass range to create a focused, cutting lead tone. In short, the Virtual Solo has more bite and snarl than a traditional strat pickup but fits perfectly within the tonal range of what a strat should do.

     

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    Limitations

    The DiMarzio Area series pickups are best paired with a 500k tone pot, which doesn’t come stock in many strat-style guitars. While not necessary, the small costs of picking up a tone pot with the pickup will pay big dividends when it comes to dialing in the perfect amount of treble character.

    Conclusion

     

    Those seeking vintage strat tones without the noise really need look no further than the Area series pickups. Whereas most strat-a-like pickups that are “noiseless” sacrifice the liveliness and fundamental character that people are seeking in a classic strat, the Area 67 drips “that” sound. The Virtual Solo, by contrast, sounds fantastically vintage but compliments, rather than emulates, the strat sound by kicking up the bass, mids, and harmonics for a distortion-friendly, sustained growl.

     

    Resources

    DiMarzio Area 67 Pickup at Musician's Friend (MSRP $109.99, Street 79.99)

    DiMarzio Virtual Solo Pickup at Musician's Friend (MSRP $104.99, Street $74.99)

    DiMarzio Area 67 Product Page

    DiMarzio Virtual Solo Product Page

     

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     Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer. 

     

     




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    Love the Area 67; I use one in the mid position of my strat. One correction: according to DiMarzio's documentation for the Area series, "all models were designed to work with 250K controls." They do note that 500K or 1M can be used for a brighter tone.

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    They really do sound better with 500k's... Just my $.02. You always get a bit better treble response and sparkle with 500k vol and tone and lose less sparkle and brilliance as you actually use the controls. I always like 5ook's in just about everything and the only time I could see myself using 250k's would be if I was trying to do a period correct strat or tele. MAYBE would consider 250k's on a potentially harsh, brittle tele to warm it up but even that scenario is doubtful bc that's kind of the charm of the tele. Lastly, yes DiMarzio does state that all pickups are designed to work with 250k pots but int the same breath they suggest higher values for more high end response! Try some 500k's and I bet you'll be super pleased and surprised! You can always get them to sound like regular 250k setups by rolling off the tone just a bit and voila! Now you have a more versatile instrument ;:)

    Now as far as the area 67 pickup go; these are the sh!t! Period! This is that amazing bad a$$, chimney, glassy, sparkly fender tone you love! i put these in my super strat in the middle and neck position and could not be happier!!! They nail the amazing classic fender tone PERFECTLY WITH ABSOLUTELY NO HUM! It's amazing because you sacrifice absolutely nothing to lose the hum! I have the two 67's paired with a DiMarzio Air Classic (neck model believe it or not) in the bridge set up on a push pull pot for series parallel switching and the guitar is literally capable of everything from Buddy Holly to Eddie Van Halen. When you hit that parallel switch and put it in the 2 position. It's quacking like Donald Duck hahahah. Slam that bad boy down into serious and your killing it ala ZZ Top or SRV. THIS SETUP CANNOT BE PRAISED ENOUGH. DUNCAN IS A JOKE! DiMarzio for life! The original and still by far the best! 

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