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Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

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  • Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

    Just curious if anyone has tried a ceramic mag in the Tone Zone?

    If so, what were your thoughts/impressions?

    It's one of the most popular DiMarzios throughout history, but, besides guys "airing" them (creating space between the magnet and the pole pieces), you don't seem to hear much about other tweaks, like swapping magnets.

  • #2
    Re: Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

    I’m been curious about this too. My Parker needs some light tweaking.

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    • #3
      Re: Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

      As a side note, the P90 sized TZ includes a ceramic mag (double thick, if memory serves me). The difference in inductivity is compensated by added slugs between the poles, in order to mimic the missing ferrous content...

      I wonder how/if they achieve the same effect in the single coil sized Tone Zone S or T, that I've not analyzed.

      FWIW. :-)
      Duncan user since the 80's...

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      • #4
        Re: Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

        Originally posted by freefrog View Post
        As a side note, the P90 sized TZ includes a ceramic mag (double thick, if memory serves me). The difference in inductivity is compensated by added slugs between the poles, in order to mimic the missing ferrous content...
        Virtual Vintage, baby!

        My interest in the ceramic is the opposite...looking to enhance the attack and boost the mids a bit. The TZ seems like a good candidate, but it's a stout pickup even with the stock A5, so I was curious what others' experiences have been.

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        • #5
          Re: Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

          Originally posted by masta' c View Post
          Virtual Vintage, baby!

          My interest in the ceramic is the opposite...looking to enhance the attack and boost the mids a bit. The TZ seems like a good candidate, but it's a stout pickup even with the stock A5, so I was curious what others' experiences have been.
          Yes, I did remember what is "Virtual-Vintage". :-)

          I've tried the P90 sized TZ with and without its added slugs, with various AlNiCo bars (and even with 6 poles only in various arrangments, in order to mimic a noise cancelling single coil). The tonal differences were what I expected and showed how such a model is "tweakable".

          Anyway: with an average ceramic mag, the attack would surely be enhanced... but the mids should be drier (if we have the same definition / perception of "mids", of course) because of the decreased inductance. A way to avoid this loss of mids would precisely be to add ferrous slugs in between the poles - IME / IMHO / YMMV and all that kind of things... :-))

          I'll also read with interest any testimonial from someone who has tried a ceramic bar in a regular TZ. Anyone?
          Duncan user since the 80's...

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          • #6
            Re: Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

            Further lowering the inductance is part of the reason why I'm interested in the ceramic swap. The Tone Zone is a loud bastard with the A5, but it's boring, lacks edge and is too subdued on the high end, at least in the guitar I currently have it fitted in. I was contemplating swapping it out, but then thought about potential mods and the ceramic came to mind. The humbucker TZ has more wire on the coils than the P90 sized version (and I would assume slightly different coil heights, as well), so the Ceramic *might* be just right. Hmm...

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            • #7
              Re: Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

              A ceramic magnet should brighten it up.

              When I worked at DiMarzio, one of my jobs was installing pole pieces in bobbins, and those little iron slugs. They leave your fingers blackened. I can’t count how many of those things I pushed in bobbins.


              Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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              • #8
                Re: Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

                Any thoughts on the best way to get them back out? I have an AT-1 I'd like to de-virtual vintage

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                • #9
                  Re: Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

                  Found this old thread on the DiMarzio forums with a couple working soundclips. Not stellar examples, though: LINK

                  EDIT: Also found people on the Ibanez forums claiming the old IBZ "F2" pickups made by DiMarzio are a ToneZone with a ceramic mag. If that's the case, I'm just going to swap this bad boy out. The F2 is a nice, hot pickup, but suffers the same problems of being bottom-heavy and dull up top.
                  Last edited by Masta' C; 12-10-2019, 10:18 AM.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

                    Originally posted by masta' c View Post
                    Found this old thread on the DiMarzio forums with a couple working soundclips. Not stellar examples, though: LINK

                    EDIT: Also found people on the Ibanez forums claiming the old IBZ "F2" pickups made by DiMarzio are a ToneZone with a ceramic mag. If that's the case, I'm just going to swap this bad boy out. The F2 is a nice, hot pickup, but suffers the same problems of being bottom-heavy and dull up top.
                    Duncan’s are usually fixed by shortening the poles. Do all dimarzios pole length stop at the base of the pickup? The tz has regular screws but I’ve never seen how deep they go.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

                      The screw poles barely peep through the baseplate. Not as much wiggle room as your average Duncan, that's for sure.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

                        Originally posted by masta' c View Post
                        Further lowering the inductance is part of the reason why I'm interested in the ceramic swap. The Tone Zone is a loud bastard with the A5, but it's boring, lacks edge and is too subdued on the high end, at least in the guitar I currently have it fitted in. I was contemplating swapping it out, but then thought about potential mods and the ceramic came to mind. The humbucker TZ has more wire on the coils than the P90 sized version (and I would assume slightly different coil heights, as well), so the Ceramic *might* be just right. Hmm...
                        what kind of guitar do you have the Tone Zone in? I'm thinking of putting it in a mid price solid body electric with a hard tail and neck through design. The guitar sounds and feels really thin, my other choice is a Super Distortion.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

                          The Tone Zone will thicken anything up. It's a very full sounding pickup with balanced but slightly subdued highs.

                          I tried one before in a bright sounding neck-through guitar and it was good for taming that guitar's shrill nature, but I didn't gel with the tone long-term. I currently have one installed in my Chapman Norseman, which is a unique guitar if you're trying to compare composition. It's a Strat-style bolt-on neck guitar, but both the body and neck are Sapele, which is *similar* to mahogany, but much more dense/stiff. The top is 1/4" thick flame maple, the fretboard is Ebony and it has a Floyd Rose. This is a "Strat" that weighs over 10 lbs! But I absolutely adore it

                          Expectations would be a brighter, fairly snappy guitar based on "tonewood" lore, but it's not. Very loud acoustically, but it clearly needs a pickup with stronger upper mids and a bigger top end to really shine.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

                            Doesn’t Dmz. glue their magnets to the baseplate?

                            My gut tells me that the Tone Zone shares coil winds with the Steve’s Special. The difference being a regular ceramic mag and polepieces. I haven’t torn them down but between my TZ and SS experiences I could see the tweaks making all the difference.

                            Luke
                            “That which we do for ourselves dies with us … that which we do for others lives forever.”

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                            • #15
                              Re: Ceramic Mag in Tone Zone?

                              I am kinda curious about this also. I put a TZ in my old Squier strat (that was A) my first guitar after not having one for over a decade due to wife and kids, and B) has been my mod learning trial and error guitar) I like the TZ in the fact that it really added "girth" to the sound. As its a huge sounding pup, but to me it lacked a bit of character. So, Id love to know if there is a mag swap or something that would ad alil mojo to it..
                              Believe me when I say that some of the most amazing music in history was made on equipment that's not as good as what you own right now.

                              Jol Dantzig

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