The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

[uOpt]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

Dude, Gilmour used Dimarzio FS-1's before making the SSL-5 with Duncan.

And dumped them. And even if you say he liked the bridge pickup that Seymour made for him so much, you'll notice he changed middle and neck to Duncans, too.

[Adrian R]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

Dimarzios are scooped while Duncans have midrange wallop? Wut?

Um, no.

My sentiment EXACTLY...nutz...

[GuitarStv]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

And dumped them. And even if you say he liked the bridge pickup that Seymour made for him so much, you'll notice he changed middle and neck to Duncans, too.

Sure, but he recorded Animals and The Wall with them. It's not like they sounded like crap . . .

[MkIII Renegade]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

In the end, it comes down to splitting hairs. I have Duncans, Dimarzios and EMGs and love them all to death. I couldn't imagine having a bunch of the same in my arsenal. What a boring world that would be....

[p4vl]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

Compare Jemsite or Dimarzio's forum to this forum (not the people, I mean what gear they use and what they listen to and play). Dimarzio tends to make pickups for people that play lighter-weight superstrats with locking trems and 7 & 8 string guitars, Duncan pickups tend to sound better in guitars made of more dense wood with fixed bridges (usually; there are exceptions).

Also check out the people that are endorsed by both companies. That will tell you a lot.

[esandes]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

Just wanted to put this out there for anyone to either tear apart or learn from (it seems I could learn something from a lot of you, ha!). So anyhow, to my ears the difference between a Duncan and DimarZio is the way they voice their picks. Duncan's always have healthy mids and the frequencies they boost are int the audible range of the guitar spectrum. With dimarzio, their high output/modern pickups especially, the they scoop a lot of the eq so they have a tone with more low lows and sometimes more screech but never as much midrange wallop. This is because they boost frequencies that aren't as present in the guitar's sonic pallet. What do you guys think?


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the difference is quite significant for me. my first aftermarket pickup was a dimarzio PAF pro. i thought it was the best pickup ever until i tried some duncans.

the difference to me boils down to two things:
-compression
-sensitivity

the duncans just have more of the natural guitar sound. more organic. the dimarzio seems to compress too much for my likes. it stifles the natural sound of the guitar. i've also come to appreciate the sensitivity of the duncans. they have more harmonics too. i can turn down the guitar volume on the guitar with duncans and still have a great wide range of sound going to my non master volume marshalls. with the dimarzio it's like it's completely full out or nothing. that's not cool.

dimarzios compression allows for more mistakes on the fretboard to pass as acceptable. with the duncans they are not as forgiving. with the duncans it seems they just pick up and transfer more tone more sharply, accurately.

i'd never buy another dimarzio. they are just colder and single dimensional.

[Bodeanicus]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

Duncan uses unicorn tears. DiMarzio uses mithril wire. They're both magically delicious. Trust your ears.

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[toneseeker74]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

To me, Duncans sound bigger and livelier. Dimarzios sound more focused and dryer to me.

Although I have more experience with Duncans than DiMarzios, I agree with the above generalization. The one DiMarzio I tried that felt open and juicy was the Virtual PAF, which really is no surprise given that it's a PAF style pickup.

[toneseeker74]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

Duncan uses unicorn tears. DiMarzio uses mithril wire. They're both magically delicious. Trust your ears.

Seriously awesome quote! Both companies make great pickups at great prices with great service. We are lucky to have so many choices!

[Darth Nihilus]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

I love the Super Distortion and the Humbucker From Hell

[GuitarStv]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

dimarzios compression allows for more mistakes on the fretboard to pass as acceptable. with the duncans they are not as forgiving. with the duncans it seems they just pick up and transfer more tone more sharply, accurately.

Hmm. Not following this line of reasoning . . .

If you play the wrong note quietly, it's going to be more noticeable with compression than without. If you flub a note and make a funny guitar noise, it'll be louder with compression than without.

[Rockstar216]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

This question would be answered better by people who actually make pups and understand the how they work and what makes them work.

I do believe Duncans appeal more to the vintage and traditionalist while Dimarzio may appeal more to a more modern player but even that is a broad generalization and doesn't account for everyone.

[Bodeanicus]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

Both companies have offerings that cover any genre. It's just personal preference.

[aleclee]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

My favorite guitars (older Parkers & EBMM Axis) have DMZs. The EVHs in my Driskill sound sweet, too.

None of 'em is what I'd describe as scooped.