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Dimarzio Area pickup in HSH configuration

9K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  greenlion7 
#1 ·
I'm upgrading the stock electronics in my RG with a vai wiring harness from 92OD Custom.

My guitar has Dimarzio Breeds in the neck and bridge, and I'm planning on upgrading the single coil to a hum canceling dimarzio when I put the new harness in.
My only problem is that I don't know how you are supposed to wire it so that the single coils can hum cancel in the middle position and in the second and fourth, similar to how Steve Vai wires his. The dimarzio site only has a diagram that splits the hum canceling single coils meaning the middle position will be noisy. Any advice on how I should wire it? I haven't bought the harness yet so I could also buy one with a push pull pot if that would change anything
If you have any suggestions for a better single coil I would appreciate it. Im currently looking at the area 67 and 61
 
#2 ·
Hi, there's a wiring diagram on the DiMarzio website that shows how to keep all positions hum-cancelling. You need a 4-pole 5-way switch to do this. Here's the link to the diagram...
https://d2emr0qhzqfj88.cloudfront.net/s3fs-public/diagrams/2h1vv_nbtone_split2and4_c.pdf


The Area models are relatively low output and go after bright vintage tones. Breeds are hot & fat sounding, even when you split them they are still much hotter than vintage single coils. I don't think the Areas will mesh well with the Breeds. I went through the same exercise with my Ibanez RG570 HSH guitar. I tried lots of single coils, and ended up liking the Injector Neck model best. Here's a list of what I tried...

1. Stock Ibanez S1 pickup - sounds too thin/bright on its own and adds a noticeable & annoying treble peak in positions 2 & 4.
2. DiMarzio Area 61 - better than Ibanez S1, but still too bright/steely sounding (probably due to 500K pots).
3. DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Blues - pretty nice, but a little hollow sounding unless I move it close to the strings where it interferes with my picking.
4. DiMarzio Injector Neck - nice on its own and split with humbuckers. It has a nice, even tonal balance with 500K pots, and can be backed away from strings and still sound good. It also handles distortion exceptionally well for a single coil.
 
#3 ·
Hi.
I have the same question but more detailed.

I have DiMarzio's Gravity Storm Neck + Evolution Bridge hums on my Ibanez JEM and now I'm curious about how it will sound with one of the DiMarzio's Area hum canceling single pickups for my middle.

On DiMarzio's web page there are two wiring diagrams which have "Area" in their names :

"2 Humbucker, 1 Area Single in Split Mode, 5-Way, 1 Volume, 1 Tone; Neck, Neck Split & Middle, Middle, Bridge Split & Middle, Bridge"
and

"Jem 20th Anniversary Wiring, 2 Humbucker, 1 Area Single, Ibanez 5-Way, 1 Volume, 1 Tone; Neck, (Neck & Middle) Split, Middle, (Bridge & Middle) Split, Bridge"

:(sorry, this forum doesn't allow newcomers to post links and pictures):

...so I wonder if these are the ones I should follow?

I'm thinking of trying the single DiMarzio Area 67 in particular.

#DZJAM On your diagram there are three pots, right? So did you drilled you RG and put an extra Tone pot for it to work?

Also was there any benefit for you to use the hum canceling Area 61?

From what I understand you recommend the neck Injector to be used as a middle, right?

Do you believe the 61 was too bright for Vai type of sound or your personal taste?
Any sound samples with any of the configurations you mentioned?
 
#4 ·
I didn't drill any holes or add the extra pot. My RG has one 500K Ohm volume and one 500K Ohm tone only, as stock. I used the diagram to determine how to wire the DiMarzio noiseless stacked singles to split for combination with the split humbuckers. The wire colors on DiMarzio noiseless stacked singles are different than their side-by-side humbuckers. It's also worth noting that the top coil of all DiMarzio noiseless stacked singles is RWRP, which is exactly like stock Ibanez (and Fender) middle single coil pickups, so it hum-cancels when split with the split humbuckers.

I found the Area 61 to have a very exaggerated treble peak with 500K pots. It seems that the Areas were designed to work with 250K pots. They are overly bright with 500K pots. The Injector Neck model is warmer, and with 500K pots it sounds like a normal (bright but not harsh) single coil pickup. When you split the Injector Neck it sounds slightly brighter, so the 2 & 4 positions will have that quacky sound like a Jem or Strat. The Injector Neck also has a little more output level than most single coil pickups, so it can be lowered away from the strings and still balance well. This is important to me because the middle pickup can interfere with my picking if it's too close to the strings.

The biggest advantage of the Injector Neck or any of the noiseless DiMarzio stacked singles is no hum. The Injector Neck sounds great on its own. It has a very nice bluesy overdrive tone, and a good neoclassical distortion tone in the middle position! I never used the middle alone until I discovered this pickup. It also gives a great clean tone and positions 2 & 4 sound cool too. With heavy overdrive or distortion most singles tend to get a brash and thin, sometimes piercing tone. That's not the case with the Injector Neck, it stays smooth and tight. The biggest surprise bonus to me is that position 2 (split Injector Neck and split bridge humbucker) has a fantastic tone with high Gain that's a nice lower gain alternative to the bridge humbucker on its own.

One more thing... the Injector Neck has excellent sustain. In fact it seems to have improved the sustain of all positions (even when its not on). I think this is because its magnet has less pull on the strings than typical single coils.
 
#5 ·
I got the same as yours 2 x 500k volume & tone + 5 way switch.
Your diagram is quite puzzling to me. I cant figure out even where the pickups are in it?
#absolutebeginner :0

Did you wire the way DiMarzio suggests in the "Area" diagrams I posted? (sorry I'm not allowed to post the links)

I would be very, very, VERY grateful if you can post pictures of your wiring or just the wiring diagram on a level that is readable for absolute beginners. If it's too much work for free, just post me your PayPal and I will buy you a beer :D
 
#6 ·
You probably already have what you need. The middles you are trying are probably too bright because they are meant to be used with 250k pots, where your humbuckers need 500k pots. You can fix this by adding a resistor of around 500k ohms to the hot lug of the switch where the middle pickup's hot wire connects. It allows your humbuckers to run with 500k pots while the single "sees" a 250k pot. This video shows how to do it:

 
#7 ·
@ Zak Totkoff
The diagram I linked to is on DiMarzio.com. I couldn't find a diagram on their site for HSH with stacked single and only a volume and tone control. Just omit the second tone and its wiring. The pickups are not shown in the diagram, but the wires from the pickups are shown connected to the 5-way switch lugs and pot case grounds. For example: Middle Green means middle (Injector/Area) pickup's green wire. I think you can figure out the rest. If not, you can contact DiMarzio tech support for help. They are nice folks. BTW, you need to have a 5-way 4-pole switch to make this work. If you only have a 5-way 2-pole switch, like on a Strat, then you won't be able to split the Injector and humbuckers in positions 2 & 4.

@ greenlion7
Yes, your resistor suggestion works to tame bright singles when using 500k pots. I would add that the value can be 250k to compensate for the fact that both the volume and tone are both 500k. Since 250k is not a standard resistor value you can go with 270k Ohm and it works great. If the humbuckers are dark sounding then the added resistor might make positions 2 & 4 too dull. So you may need a 4-pole 5-way switch to add the resistor only in position 3. I went with the Injector in the middle because vintage singles have too much drop in volume compared to hot humbuckers in the neck and bridge. I suppose if I wanted to stick with a standard single coil I could of went with a DiMarzio Red Velvet, SDS1 or FS-1, but I really appreciate how quiet & hum-free the Injector is. It's great clean and dirty.
 
#8 ·
Running a 270K resistor in parallel with the 500k pot will lower the value the single coil sees to 175k. That would probably be way too dark. I was talking about Dimarzio Area singles, not traditional singles. I run Area singles and a Cruiser in 3 different Ibanez RG's along with humbuckers in the neck/bridge, and I have not found the 2/4 positions to be too dark. It may be because the humbuckers are also split in those positions in an Ibanez RG.
 
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