Recent content by CarlosG

I realized I couldn't do Norton. Air means there's no metal spacer on the screw polepieces, and the slug polepieces are embossed. So I could do a reverse half-air by adding a metal spacer under the screw polepieces. But I think I'll try hex polepieces first; that'll be the easiest mod.

I can't say exactly which frequencies I'm referring to. This pickup is both dull in sound and can be very bright during the attack, with a bit of an icepick. I'd like a slightly more pronounced sound, without the icepick. I can't say exactly which frequencies I'm talking about, because sometimes...

Hi! I'm not a fan of my Air Norton in the neck. I don't currently have the money for a new pickup. What modifications can I try with the Air Norton? I've been thinking about hex pole pieces. I'm also wondering if I can get a Norton if I put a metal spacer in Air Norton? Apparently Tone Zone and...

Did you wind the strings correctly and stretch them?

I just did some test. I loosened the string so much that the windings on the key were loose. Then I tuned it, made a sharp bend, checked how much it went out of tune, and then tuned it again until it stopped going out of tune. I then repeated the test on the same strings with locking keys. The...

You could also replace the wires with shielded ones, but not everyone wants to influence the originality. I think tightly twisting the wires would be sufficient. You could also remove the shield from the vintage one wire cable and slide it over the single coil's wires.

Do you mean wrapping the coil in copper tape with a gap? Yes, I saw this article. It's supposed to prevent eddy currents. However, it adds capacitance and lowers the resonant peak, without having any effect on noise. Grounding the pole pieces doesn't help either.

I like the copper shield, I solder everything together, I don't trust the conductive glue on the copper tape. I also do not trust the mechanical connection of the housing mass of potentiometers and switches to the shield, I always solder an additional one from the shield to pot.

But humbuckers has shielded wire. Single coils not, but I can twist wires. I suspect that singles do not use shielded cables due to their capacitance and they could lose their shine. Are you still talking about shielding the potentiometer chamber only, keeping a 1cm distance from the bridge...

Hi! Some time ago I shielded the potentiometer chamber in my bass. Then I decided to shield the pickup cavities and under pickup's covers. This made the bass sound worse. It lost its brilliance, became midrange, and the attack was muddy. I'm about to assemble my Stratocaster, and I've always...

Hi. I have an Ibanez with a Tone Zone and an Air Norton, wired to a 5-way switch. I’ve seen many guitars where the Air Norton is installed reversed, so I decided to try it myself. I really like the effect it gives on the neck pickup with distortion. However, position #2 (the inner coils of...

Hi! Have any of you ever thought about the fact that not every pickup you consider bad is actually bad in reality — that it might just be a wrong assumption? Not long ago I tried a Tone Zone in my Strat and it sounded awful: lots of compression, muddy bass, and a harsh, ear-piercing top end. I...

Hi! What were the classic pickups sounds of the 80s? I know for sure that they will be: JB, JB2, Allan Holdsworth, Alnico II pro, Distortion, Super Distortion, Custom, Dirty Fingers, EMG 81, EMG 85, Paf Pro Although produced in the 90s, I would also add Tone Zone to the list. What are the proven...

Hi. This may be a bit strange to ask about DiMarzio pickups on a Duncan forum, but you guys have a lot of experience. I have an Ibanez RG421 HPAM. I really like the Tone Zone in the bridge, but I don’t like the Air Norton in the neck. It sounds too muddy. Position 2 (parallel) also doesn’t sound...

My hand :)