New Petrucci Dimarzios in a basswood Ibanez?

[Hunter Wingate]

Does anybody know how well the new Crunch Lab and LiquiFire pickups would word in a bassword Ibanez? I know Petrucci's guitars are alder. I'm curious as to how this would sound.
And if anyone knows, what would be a good middle pickup for HSH config with these?

[kotornut]

It'll be fine, they aren't that different than his old PUPs that were in his Basswood gutiars, actually he has retrofit them all into his old gutiars too if I understand correctly. I know tone woods do yeild different tones but it's not always a, "this work for that but not that," situation. Since you're in the states DiMarzio has a 30 day change your pickups out for free satisfaction garantee. So why worry?

If you want a true single for the mid I can't really recommend because I use hum-canceling strat styles. Out of those, I reccomend the fastrack 1, it has enough power yet still a super single like tone to go with those pups plus it's cleans are great. Also, it's EQ, in my opinion, will add some demension that the liquifire and chrunch lab don't have.

[Hunter Wingate]

Huh, well thanks man, great job explaining things.

I guess now it's down to whether I want this set or the Breeds with a True Velvet... I just know I need to replace those stock Infinity pickups, lol.

[Typhonian]

Originally Posted by Hunter Wingate

Huh, well thanks man, great job explaining things.

I guess now it's down to whether I want this set or the Breeds with a True Velvet... I just know I need to replace those stock Infinity pickups, lol.

Considering that these new Petrucci pickups are similar to the Air Norton and D Sonic, it's pretty hard to decide between the Breed in the neck or the Air Norton. They're excellent pickups. The Breed sounds thicker and much better for 5 or 6-string arpeggios.

But when it comes to the bridge, the Breed is a very "normal" pickup. I had one in a RG for more than 3 years and it was useless for clean tones and solos and it lacked some output, highs and thickness. I'm much happier with the D Sonic.

[Hunter Wingate]

Huh, thanks. But doesn't the DiMarzio website say the Crunch Lab and LiquiFire are a lot different than the D-Sonic and Air Norton?
So out of these pickups, what do you think would be the best choices out of those for the 3 slots? (Breeds, Crunch Lab, LiquiFire, etc.)

Or should I just put a set of all 3 evo's in there, considering I already have a spare neck pick-up for that set.

[kotornut]

Originally Posted by Hunter Wingate

Huh, thanks. But doesn't the DiMarzio website say the Crunch Lab and LiquiFire are a lot different than the D-Sonic and Air Norton?
So out of these pickups, what do you think would be the best choices out of those for the 3 slots? (Breeds, Crunch Lab, LiquiFire, etc.)

Or should I just put a set of all 3 evo's in there, considering I already have a spare neck pick-up for that set.

this is actually what the website says:
Crunch Lab

One thing has stayed consistent throughout John Petrucci’s long and successful career: the DiMarzio® pickups in his guitars. John has been pushing the envelope of progressive metal since the late eighties, and the new DiMarzio® Crunch Lab™ Bridge Model ensued from our most recent collaboration with John. He used it throughout Dream Theater’s tenth studio album, "Black Clouds & Silver Linings".
John swears this is the best live and studio sound he has ever had, and the name says it all - "crunch" is what it’s all about with a big, tight sound that’s neither muddy nor thin.
Recommended For: Bridge
Tech Talk: The Crunch Lab™ is noteworthy (bad pun alert!) for what it doesn’t do - it’s not a screamer, and it’s not about thundering lows. Its physical appearance is identical to the D Sonic™, but the internal design is a lot different. It’s louder, and the highs have more depth. The lows and mids are more open, and this is crucial for playing chords with body and presence through a gained-out amp. The voicing of the pickup is also different enough to the point that John prefers the Crunch Lab™ to be installed in almost all of his guitars *(including the JP Bari) with the solid bar toward the neck, regardless of the guitar’s tuning.

Many of those guitars if not most of them are Basswood bodied EBMMJPMs from the non BFR times.


Liquifire

One thing has stayed consistent throughout John Petrucci’s long and successful career: the DiMarzio® pickups in his guitars. John has been pushing the envelope of progressive metal since the late eighties, and the DiMarzio® LiquiFire™ Neck Model resulted from our most recent collaboration with John. He used it throughout Dream Theater’s tenth studio album, "Black Clouds & Silver Linings".
John swears this is the best live and studio sound he has ever had. He wanted a neck pickup with a flowing, singing solo tone when used with a heavily overdriven amp and a clear chord sound with a clean amp setting.
Recommended For: Neck. Can also be used in bridge position.
Tech Talk: Since the mid 1990s, John’s neck pickup sound has been based on either the standard Air Norton™ or the custom version in his Ernie Ball® guitars. The LiquiFire™ has several significant differences. Its treble response is warmer and smoother while bass response is tighter and brighter. The total sound has a more focused voice which works equally well for highly overdriven solos and complex, clean chords.

Nothing there to say "not sound good in basswood bodied gutiars."

No offense but what are you so worried about? They'll change them out if you aren't happy with them. And you'll get to try something else out. And seriously they'll sound good. Is it because they weren't recommended by the Pickup Picker on the DiMarzio site? Mine weren't either but I'm happy.

[Petie]

I'll tell ya how they sound in basswood in a few hours.

http://www.iheartguitarblog.com/2009...ifire-and.html

[Petie]

Just installed them. LiquiFire has a very cool 'burn' around the notes which reminds me of a Breed but 'Nortony'. Still got the roundness and the harmonic overtones. Crunch Lab is warmer than D Sonic, more vocal and musical, and almost makes the guitar sound drop-tuned even on higher notes. Hard to explain, but very addictive to play. I'll have a review with sound samples online in a few days.

[MicahC]

Originally Posted by Petie

Just installed them. LiquiFire has a very cool 'burn' around the notes which reminds me of a Breed but 'Nortony'. Still got the roundness and the harmonic overtones. Crunch Lab is warmer than D Sonic, more vocal and musical, and almost makes the guitar sound drop-tuned even on higher notes. Hard to explain, but very addictive to play. I'll have a review with sound samples online in a few days.

Good man.

[reguv760]

awesome snippet... going to order a CL7 and LF7 for my RG7 eventually
I really dig the D-Sonic but a slightly hotter version that's "very addictive to play" sounds like my alley...
also, did ya install the CL with the bar towards the bridge vs towards the neck? any "audible differences"?

Reg

[Petie]

Originally Posted by reguv760

also, did ya install the CL with the bar towards the bridge vs towards the neck? any "audible differences"?

Reg

I installed it with the bar towards the neck. Haven't tried it the other way but I'm very happy with how it sounds now. Maybe I'll flip it around next time I change strings to see how it sounds.

[IamFastEddie]

I have them in my 1527 and they sound incredible.

[j45m16]

they sound good nin my jp6

[Tahoebrian5]

Question: I have the Dsonic in my RG, love it! I have a jem and am thinking of trying the CL/LF combo. Any thoughts on this combo in an alder body guitar. I think it sounds really thin and tinny now, especially compared to the rg with dsonic.