Which DiMarzio Area is closest to Duncan APS single?

[Shooweri]

Hi guys! I've 60s spec strat that is quite bright sounding. I have tried some pickup sets in it; SSL-1 set, Virtual Vintage 54 Pro (bridge) and Area 58s (mid&neck), Duncan APS-1 set. Tonally speaking, my clear favourite is APS set. I moved to new apartment which has crappy electronics wiring and using APS set when recording is very frustrating.

Before mentioned DiMarzio set takes care of humming problems but won't satisfy my needs tonally. In this guitar 58s are quite bland sounding and won't give me the same aouthorative snarl as the APS set. These DiMarzios are too underpowered and I need something to replace them with similar tonal properties as the APS singles. I'm even considering 54 Pro / APS setup but the 54 might be too low output to match with A2Pros.

I know this is a long shot but does anyone know which DM Area/Virtual Vintage pickup is the closest in output and sound to APS-1? I'm short on cash atm so I just cannot go buy more pickups and test every possible hum cancelling DiMarzio pickup in their lineup.

Thanks a lot in advance!

[Teleplayer]

Try the Area 58s with 500k controls. Wire the second tone control so it works on the bridge pickup only. After changing the pots you can adjust the height to get more output as well.

[RayBarbeeMusic]

Duncan info says APS are 6.1k DCR of 42. Equivalent Area would be a '61. If you want a little hotter, Injector Neck. If you want a calibrated set, I'd go '58 or '67 neck, 61 middle, injector bridge, or you could do '61 neck/middle with injector bridge. Use 500k tone and 500k volume then put a resistor from the volume hot to ground to give you whatever load you want to achieve if you find 500k too bright. 1M resistor = 333k, higher resistor = higher value pot.

[Teleplayer]

Both APS and Area 58 use anlico 2 magnets. IMO the Area 58 should get you close enough to the tone, once the pickup heights are fine tuned when using 500k controls. To me the Area 61 has an unpleasant nasal tone which sounds harsh, but in a completely different way to a proper strat pickup.

[idsnowdog]

You could try a Dimarzio Virtual Vintage 2.1. They have Alnico II magnets and sound a lot like an APS.

[PFDarkside]

You could try a Dimarzio Virtual Vintage 2.1. They have Alnico II magnets and sound a lot like an APS.

Baring that I’d try an Ilitch scratchplate.

[jmcorey]

Dude, the solution is this:

I had two Area 58s in a guitar. They sounded lifeless to me. I read somewhere they are supposed to sound smokey....

I replaced them with Duncan STK-S4s, because in this particular guitar (HSS strat) the bridge sounded better with Duncans. I guessed that the middle and neck would also. They sound almost spot on compared to the SSL-1s.

My recommendation is that if you like the sound of a Duncan single coil, then get a Duncan noiseless single. I love mine.

[Teleplayer]

Dude, the solution is this:

I had two Area 58s in a guitar. They sounded lifeless to me. I read somewhere they are supposed to sound smokey....

I replaced them with Duncan STK-S4s, because in this particular guitar (HSS strat) the bridge sounded better with Duncans. I guessed that the middle and neck would also. They sound almost spot on compared to the SSL-1s.

My recommendation is that if you like the sound of a Duncan single coil, then get a Duncan noiseless single. I love mine.

What pot values did you use with the area 58s?

[PFDarkside]

Dude, the solution is this:

I had two Area 58s in a guitar. They sounded lifeless to me. I read somewhere they are supposed to sound smokey....

I replaced them with Duncan STK-S4s, because in this particular guitar (HSS strat) the bridge sounded better with Duncans. I guessed that the middle and neck would also. They sound almost spot on compared to the SSL-1s.

My recommendation is that if you like the sound of a Duncan single coil, then get a Duncan noiseless single. I love mine.

The APS-1 has a cool chewy quality compared to the more direct SSL-1. I wonder if the CS could do an APS-1 inspired STK plus pickup?

[jmcorey]

What pot values did you use with the area 58s?

I am not sure what pot values are in that guitar.


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