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Dimarzio Norton or Air Zone with Ceramic?

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  • #16
    Originally posted by JB_From_Hell View Post
    Put a ceramic mag in the Norton. You’ll dig it.

    That's what I did and it fits the Soloist quite well!
    I'm not sure which pole pieces I like better since the hex screws I have are 5-40 and they are a bit too small so they tend to slip through.
    Any idea which screws Dimarzio (or the Full Shred) acutally using for the pole pieces?

    The ceramic magnet has better highs than the A5, but I liked the A5 too with hex pole pieces.
    I guess I like the Norton better than the Evo 2 which I had installed only for an evening when I met a friend in my home studio.
    He played the guitar shortly and said that it just not sounds or feels right which I agreed.

    Has anybody messed around with A8 in a Norton or Evo 2?

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    • #17
      I’m glad you like it. Kinda funny, a friend of mine was over last. night. He was playing my PRS with the ceramic Norton. I mentioned I’d recently tried another set of pickups in it, and he cuts me off and goes, “What the hell for?”
      “I can play the hell out of a riff. The rest of it’s all bulls**t anyway,” Gary Holt

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      • #18
        Originally posted by Mr. Lime View Post
        I'm not sure which pole pieces I like better since the hex screws I have are 5-40 and they are a bit too small so they tend to slip through.
        Not exactly sure what the question is? They are 5-40 socket head cap screws - https://www.mcmaster.com/screws/thre...ive-style~hex/

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        • #19
          Yes, the cermic Norton is fun to play with. I'm excited how the aired Tone Zone with ceramic will compare to it. I'm afraid I will soon need more guitars to put all those pickups in.


          Originally posted by devastone View Post

          Not exactly sure what the question is? They are 5-40 socket head cap screws - https://www.mcmaster.com/screws/thre...ive-style~hex/
          Well I ordered a bunch of 5-40 hex screws from Axerus UK and their diameter is too small to screw them into the bobbins of my Dimarzio pickups to replace the pole pieces. Pretty much the same with the Duncan Full Shred.
          I agree that 5-40 are suitable to replace Duncan pole pieces but they just slip through in the Full Shred.
          The right screws seem just a tad bigger.

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          • #20
            I tried the A8 in the Norton but I will put the ceramic magnet back in. There's something annoying in the high-mid frequencies that I can't stand with the A8.
            My first impression was that it's similar to the ceramic but later I realized that it's not as tight and that the ceramic sounds way better balanced.
            In my Gibson SG Supreme sits a Duncan Alternative 8 which does the same thing and will be replaced soon. In a SG Standard was the Alt 8 the perfect match so it really depends on the guitar.

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            • #21
              Originally posted by Mr. Lime View Post
              Well I ordered a bunch of 5-40 hex screws from Axerus UK and their diameter is too small to screw them into the bobbins of my Dimarzio pickups to replace the pole pieces. Pretty much the same with the Duncan Full Shred.
              I agree that 5-40 are suitable to replace Duncan pole pieces but they just slip through in the Full Shred.
              The right screws seem just a tad bigger.
              Weird, I thought all of them were 5-40 except the DiMarzios that use set screws which are much bigger. The next size screw is a 6-32, might try to find one of those and see if it fits, but I've never seen anything but 5-40s. Are you sure you didn't get 4-40 screws? (not being an a$$, just asking)

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              • #22
                It's only a very small difference, hardly to see but the 5-40 (the ones i bought and the Duncan pole piece) won't fit as replacement for Dimarzios. I triple checked it. Left is the one from the Full Shred..
                Attached Files

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                • #23
                  I've been playing with mags the last few days and landed with an A8 in my Air Zone. Air Zone is already voiced fat/sweet, A8 just enhanced those qualities but still screams for high gain. It's in a mahogany super strat and very nearly has me convinced it's a Gibson set neck. Other pickups in this guitar have leaned the tone more towards the Fenderey side (JB with all the magnets, stock 85/15). Could be a little thuddier with palm mute chuggage, but with a Floyd Rose bridge it may never be as precisely articulate as I want. Still a nice improvement over the stock Air Zone for what I was looking for in this particular guitar.

                  Norton was in this guitar briefly and it was similar to the stock Air Zone but a bit chimier. Now the Norton is in an SG and it's fat, warm, and brutal. It ends up that the Norton in the SG sounds very similar to the A8 Air Zone in the mahogany super strat, with small differences in articulation and compression that I think are due mostly to the differences in the guitars themselves (SG is loud and articulate, super strat is spongier)
                  Last edited by alex1fly; 11-27-2021, 09:34 AM.
                  Originally posted by crusty philtrum
                  Anyone who *sings* at me through their teeth deserves to have a bus drive through their face
                  http://www.youtube.com/alexiansounds

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                  • #24
                    Have you tried a ceramic magnet in a Norton or have you compared ceramic with A8 in your Air Zone?

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                    • #25
                      Originally posted by Mr. Lime View Post
                      Have you tried a ceramic magnet in a Norton or have you compared ceramic with A8 in your Air Zone?
                      Neither. Norton is pretty darn aggressive and articulate as is. I would've tried a ceramic in the Air Zone in this round of tinkering, but in this batch of magnets I ordered the ceramic magnets are really weak - they have less pull than everything except for A3. This seemed wrong so I didn't give them a serious go.
                      Originally posted by crusty philtrum
                      Anyone who *sings* at me through their teeth deserves to have a bus drive through their face
                      http://www.youtube.com/alexiansounds

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Originally posted by Mr. Lime View Post
                        It's only a very small difference, hardly to see but the 5-40 (the ones i bought and the Duncan pole piece) won't fit as replacement for Dimarzios. I triple checked it. Left is the one from the Full Shred..
                        Might try shooting DiMarzio an e-mail, they are usually pretty helpful.

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Originally posted by alex1fly View Post

                          Neither. Norton is pretty darn aggressive and articulate as is. I would've tried a ceramic in the Air Zone in this round of tinkering, but in this batch of magnets I ordered the ceramic magnets are really weak - they have less pull than everything except for A3. This seemed wrong so I didn't give them a serious go.
                          You got the Norton installed? What did you think other than aggressive and articulate? Meaning did you like it?

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                          • #28
                            Originally posted by devastone View Post

                            You got the Norton installed? What did you think other than aggressive and articulate? Meaning did you like it?
                            It's gorgeous. Fat, chimey, split sounds great. Lots of harmonic content so it's quite pleasing to the ear. In the SG the cleans remind me of 2000s radio rock which I love. It'll stay in there a good while.
                            Originally posted by crusty philtrum
                            Anyone who *sings* at me through their teeth deserves to have a bus drive through their face
                            http://www.youtube.com/alexiansounds

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Originally posted by devastone View Post

                              Might try shooting DiMarzio an e-mail, they are usually pretty helpful.
                              Well I did but got no response..


                              Currently I put an OFR with big brass block in my Jackson Soloist to see how the ceramic Norton works out and I think I like the change. The difference doesn't feel that big as with the TB-6 previously and I still get decent highs out of it. Anyway I would like have a brighter sound so I will try 1meg volume and tone pots. The Bluesbucker neck PU might profit from this too..

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                              • #30
                                Has anybody tried a thick ceramic magnet in a Norton?

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