Starting to wonder if Dimarzio pickups are no longer the way to go...

[SonicExplorer]

Hello,

I've always been a Dimarzio player and have recently been doing a lot of research trying to catch up on the many new pickups that have surfaced over the last 10 years or so. However, today I finally went to the website and listened to dozens of sample clips. YUCK !!! The Air Norton was okay, but most of the pickups sounded boxy, dry or fizzy. Nothing really organic and glassy, at least not unless a pickup was medium/vintage in voicing. This prompted me to go to the Seymour Duncan website and that was MUCH better. I particularly liked the Distortion and Custom Custom.

I've never tried Seymour Duncan but I'm now wondering if that could be the better route to pursue for new pickups. The soundclips certainly indicated as much...

Sonic

[newbieguitarmaker]

Originally Posted by SonicExplorer

Hello,

I've always been a Dimarzio player and have recently been doing a lot of research trying to catch up on the many new pickups that have surfaced over the last 10 years or so. However, today I finally went to the website and listened to dozens of sample clips. YUCK !!! The Air Norton was okay, but most of the pickups sounded boxy, dry or fizzy. Nothing really organic and glassy, at least not unless a pickup was medium/vintage in voicing. This prompted me to go to the Seymour Duncan website and that was MUCH better. I particularly liked the Distortion and Custom Custom.

I've never tried Seymour Duncan but I'm now wondering if that could be the better route to pursue for new pickups. The soundclips certainly indicated as much...

Sonic

aren't all of dimarzio's sound clips real songs so they are probably heavily eq'd and with effects put over them. So idk, I think it is just the clips since they don't personally make them themselves

[Big Job]

Sonic,

I've had the same thoughts as you, but I guess gone one further and brought/installed the Duncans.

Seymour Duncan pickups are the best I have used. I'm a massive fan for the 'Hot Rail' and to my ears this totally kills the Evo and Tone Zone that I have in two of my Ibanez guitars. I'm tempted, really tempted, to have Seymours in all of my guitars.

When I was 17 I got Evos put in my 570 and loved it. But now I really never play her becuase my Yamaha's with Seymours in sound SO much better. As a result I play better too.

My current yamaha strat project is going to have a little JB installed and if this is good I'm going to replace the DiMarzios in my 570.

I highly reccomend Seymour Ducan pickups.

Big Job

[BigShred]

I think there's a place for both DiMarzios and Duncans in your arsenal. It depends on what sound you want and what kind of wood you've got.

Seymour Duncans are treble-centric pickups so they liven up darker sounding woods. This is why Ibanez, a strong ally of DiMarzio, puts them in their heavier line of Mahogany bodied guitars.

Yet, in Basswood, Duncans will sound extremely tinny and harsh in my opinion. DiMarzios are perfect for this and they are MADE for this. They give depth and warmth to Basswood because they tend to have very strong mids and in most cases a very strong bottom end.

Every sound clip you hear is going to be colored at least by the recording itself. Seymour Duncan's clips are a more accurate and raw depiction of the pickup sound. However, DiMarzio's sound clips are not at all dishonest and in most cases a fair representation. I guess they're saying "This is what you can sound like".

Your best bet is to look at the actual sound profile for the pickup and find what suits the wood and the sound you're trying to get.

[elcid]

As far as production pickups go, I'll take Duncans all day over Dimarzio, but WCRs are the money pickups.

[dipstick]

WCR pickups as well as Lindy Fralin are more a vintage type of a pickup.Lollar's are Ok but very thin sounding to me but very glassy like a 50's fender product
I was a guitar tech at RS guitarworks and we delt with all the boutique pickup makers.All are fine pickups and put DiMarzio and Duncan to shame.But DiMarzio and Duncan mass produce their product and they have been for a long time and have standardized products.
I like vintage DiMarzio's like the early 70's super D's they are very different from the new ones so much more bottom end.
Vintage Duncans like the distortion and the JB are solid rock pickups.
I have to agree with Ibanez the DiMarzio line works very well their guitars in general.
Tone is so subjective so I say go with what you like.If you don't mind spending the dollars you should try the boutique builders they make some great pickups.
I have a set of pickups Jim Rolph made for Mick Mars(Motley Crue) around the time of the Dr.Feelgood tour and they are by far the thickest most articulate pickups I have ever heard.He (Jim Rolph) told me the secret behind the tone but swore me to secrecy.
A lot of your tone is in the electronics, quality pots and caps are very important to the overall performance of the pickups.

[CityofBlindingLights]

Personally, I feel DiMarzio's geared a bit more towards a modern sound and less towards a vintage sound (why I'm still in the air about a middle pickup that can do vintage bell-like Strat tone very well). For vintage tone, I'm a big fan of (a lot of people will disagree with me but) Fender pickups, the Hot Noiseless set does wonders, the Fat 50's are really nice, and the custom shop does some nice work. I've not been a fan of Seymour Duncan, as I feel they're a bit overpriced for the quality they put out, and (imho) a TAD lower output as compared to other companies. If you don't want DiMarzio or Fenders, try Lindy Fralin for that classic vintage clean tone.

[Roadstar]

I love dimarzios for the ibanez guitars
everytime i try a duncan in a ibanez i find it to be too trebly or whatever
as far as those clips,
dude do not go by clips when judging pups trust me they will sound very different in your guitar and through your amp

[TheJazzTerminator]

I had a George Lynch Screamin' Demon in my RG550(LTD) and, while it didn't sound bad, it definitely didn't scream like the Tone Zone that I replaced it with.

I find DiMarzios generally have more bite than other pickups. I'm not sure what it is, but they cut through very well. The best example I can think of is John Petrucci's DVD, "Rock Discipline." That tone is absolutely stunning.

[Roadstar]

Originally Posted by TheJazzTerminator

I had a George Lynch Screamin' Demon in my RG550(LTD) and, while it didn't sound bad, it definitely didn't scream like the Tone Zone that I replaced it with.

I find DiMarzios generally have more bite than other pickups. I'm not sure what it is, but they cut through very well. The best example I can think of is John Petrucci's DVD, "Rock Discipline." That tone is absolutely stunning.

yeah the demon is a very trebly pup and does not have a very hot output either definitely not a bad A$$ like the tone zone the demon reminded me a lot of the fred which i do not like
as far as dimarzios having more bite maybe i know they "cut" through live better than anything i have tried.
some players do not like dimarzios presence they say it is fizzy
I do not find this to be true others may
IMHO dimarzio is the most innovative company out there
and have a pup for every need and application

[waylay00]

I generally prefer DiMarzios for 80's Rock (Vai, etc) and Fusion (Gambale), but for straight up rock, I'll take some Seymour Duncans.

[neptoess]

i personally only use Bill Lawrence L-500s because of their transparency, they let all your guitar's tone shine through, and can be EQ'd however you want, you pretty much can't make them sound bad. You can go from extremely dark and warm vintage tones to bright facemelting metal and it does both damn near perfectly. As for harmonics, they blow both SD and Dimarzio out of the water. I think Dimarzios are better than Duncans but they both do the same thing. They're specialty pickups kinda, they describe the kind of tone the pickup has. I don't want that, I want a woody pickup, if you drop it in a mahogany guitar, its darker than the inside of a coffin on a moonless night, in a maple guitar, brighter than an atomic blast. Just my $0.02

[rastachild]

+1 to the bill lawrence l500, it is definitely an amazing bridge pickup. articulate, aggressive and in your face. it's my favorite and better than any dimarzio or seymour duncan, at least for what i do.

other than that, i find it hard to compare dimarzios and duncans in a general sense. they both have pickups that i like and pickups that i dislike. both companies offer a wide array of choices, so it'd be futile to try to make sweeping statements.

dimarzios i like include the fred, mo joe, paf joe and the norton. i don't like the tone zone, x2n or any of their higher output models.

duncans i like include j.b., 59, distortion (just started appreciating that one), custom, custom custom. truth be told, i've liked every duncan i've tried, but there are many that i haven't tried, which i may not like.

[mi2tom]

The only dimarzio pickup that I've like is paf pro and tone zone. I've tried a few others evo, norton, humbucker from hell, D sonic and super distortion. I think they all can't beat duncan's pups, duncans have more clarity and like some say glassy

[ibanezdiehard]

bill lawrence L500XL is all i use in the bridge now.

i tried out a tone zone i had lying around the other day and i just wasn't happy with it as a bridge pickup, But both my axes have one in the neck