A couple of years ago, I disassembled a few Warmoth strats with the intention of swapping necks and bodies but never got back around to it. One of them had an Air Zone that I had put away in the closet. Yesterday, I found the Air Zone and installed it into a strat and wanted to kick myself for forgetting I had that pickup. It's a seriously, seriously good pickup that's like a FRED and Air Norton put together. The harmonics are so rich, the low end is clear and smooth, but it's full of mids, a little aggressive, and has enough power so it's also good for death metal. I've never played a more expressive pickup than the Dimarzio FRED, but the Air Zone equals it. I also feel like I can get a similar level of expression with the Duncan Custom Custom and Custom/59 so I would suggest those if you want a Duncan with a really beautiful array of harmonic overtones but with more output than vintage pickups. The Air Zone, however, has all that but also a little bigger sound. It's still kind of aggressive so I think "smooth" is not really a good description, more like "refined" perhaps.
According to Dimarzio's website, the Air Zone is a moderate output pickup.with a big bottom end, and the EQ is as follows:
Bass 9.5
Low Mid 8
High Mids 7.5
Treble 4.5
However, it's definitely not an overpowering low end or mids as the chart suggests. In fact, mids are more prominent than the low end but not in a way that sounds a bit much, and if I were to rate the treble, it would be more like 5. Those little pieces of plastic they put may be extremely simple but it's genius. Perhaps the EQ might be accurate but what their "air" technology does is impart some evenness and space across the spectrum so that it's thick but not bassy or nasaly, and not as compressed as a Norton or Tone Zone.
Even though it's categorized as moderate output, it reminds me more of the Tone Zone output, and that has something to do with it's FRED touch. The difference in output is offset by certain sensitivity and feel. As a moderate output pickup, it gets away with a lot because it can drive an amp almost as good as much as a Tone Zone but stay pretty clean with amps like the Friedman Dirty Shirley.
I'm surprised the Air Zone isn't one of the more popular pickups on the market. It's so good that I'm kicking myself for forgetting all about it. Lesson learned! The Air Zone will never, ever come out of this guitar.
According to Dimarzio's website, the Air Zone is a moderate output pickup.with a big bottom end, and the EQ is as follows:
Bass 9.5
Low Mid 8
High Mids 7.5
Treble 4.5
However, it's definitely not an overpowering low end or mids as the chart suggests. In fact, mids are more prominent than the low end but not in a way that sounds a bit much, and if I were to rate the treble, it would be more like 5. Those little pieces of plastic they put may be extremely simple but it's genius. Perhaps the EQ might be accurate but what their "air" technology does is impart some evenness and space across the spectrum so that it's thick but not bassy or nasaly, and not as compressed as a Norton or Tone Zone.
Even though it's categorized as moderate output, it reminds me more of the Tone Zone output, and that has something to do with it's FRED touch. The difference in output is offset by certain sensitivity and feel. As a moderate output pickup, it gets away with a lot because it can drive an amp almost as good as much as a Tone Zone but stay pretty clean with amps like the Friedman Dirty Shirley.
I'm surprised the Air Zone isn't one of the more popular pickups on the market. It's so good that I'm kicking myself for forgetting all about it. Lesson learned! The Air Zone will never, ever come out of this guitar.
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