Bright, scooped Dimarzio for a thick, dull guitar?

Dave Locher

Dave Locher

New member
Gotta be double cream!
I had a Super Distortion in this guitar and it was seriously bloated and dull. (I like the Super D in other guitars, but not this one!) So I swapped it out for a 9k handwound paf-style with a roughcast A8 magnet. That pickup was a bit bright in the guitar I pulled it from. NOT IN THIS GUITAR!
So now I realize I have a dull, fat sounding guitar that needs a bright, scooped pickup. What Dimarzio should I be hunting for?
Guitar is a heavily modified Norlin era Gibson Marauder: slab mahogany body, bolt-on maple neck with maple fingerboard, harmonica bridge. I always thought it was a great sounding guitar but I now realize the pickup I threw in there 30 years ago was just really suited to the guitar. It was a 1978 Ibanez V-2, the one that looks a lot like a Super Distortion but has an A5 magnet and is 16k. Like an idiot I sold that pickup and they are pretty hard to find but having played all 3 pickups in this guitar I know I want about the same level of output as the Super Distortion but with more highs and WAY less mids.
Suggestions?
 
Dave Locher said:
Gotta be double cream!

I always thought it was a great sounding guitar but I now realize the pickup I threw in there 30 years ago was just really suited to the guitar. It was a 1978 Ibanez V-2, the one that looks a lot like a Super Distortion but has an A5 magnet and is 16k.
Click to expand...

another Dimarzio HB featuring A5 mag(s), similar Bass-mid-treble eq specs, and similar millivolt output to the V-2. The Dimarzio site lists all three of those parameters for each pup. Browse the HBs on the dimarzio site with similar specs to the V-2. A5 mag, high millivolts, and eq qualities that you recall rhe v-2 having
 
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I know sometimes specs are misleading, I'm hoping someone has direct experience.
I am actually considering a Super 2, but it is not so much scooped as lacking bass?
 
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never owned it, but maybe a steve‘s special?
you can add a series cap if the bass is too strong

by the way, you can always make a double cream out of a zebra and reverse zebra pickup.
screamin demon would be a good point to start...
 
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I'd also suggest the Evo bridge. If the guitar sounds dull, I'm not sure you want scooped. Upper mids will help. The Evolution is a screamer.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk
 
The EVO 2 is better than the original EVO in my opinion, but it's warmer in the highs. I would recommend either the Evo or the Steve's Special, it's not as scooped as the description would leave you to believe, it's basically a 6 string version of the Blaze, it's very clear.

The Fred or Norton might also be worth considering, the Norton (non-air) is one of my favorite bridge pickups.

Something else to try would be new pots and wiring, I didn't realize how much until I put a Mad Hatter harness in a RG655, I was very skeptical about it, but it made much more of a difference than I thought it would. It also fixed the crappy taper on the volume pot, the new one is very linear feeling (so yes, a log pot) and easy to control the volume and clean up the tone, The all the difference in the stock pot was in the first 1/5th of a revolution or so.
 
I was thinking Evo or Steve's Special as well. The SS is touted by Dimarzio as being scooped in the mids... and the Evo is supposedly a screamer in anything. I used the SS a long time ago and don't remember it all that well, haven't used the Evo but have certainly listened to Mr Vai quite a bit.
 
I agree you probably don't need scooped, you need bright.
The Super II might be a good match. They're bright as heck.

Then again, if the V-2 was perfect in this axe, get another. I don't think they came in double cream though.
DiMarzio custom shop would make one for you, I bet. Or call 'em and ask what's the closest stock model.

Is the guitar actually lively, only dark & muddy sounding? Ace has a point - there's no fix for dead wood.
 
I have to disagree about a dark deadened guitar always being a bad thing. They are the best guitars for an emg81 IMO.
 
Fred is the pickup you are looking for. Its not as hot as a SD, but boosted it will get there and its tight when boosted. This is an A5 pickup. Very bright.

Its probably the most complex sound in the DZ catalog.

Failing that, the Evo. Its hotter, somewhat open top, but still ceramic. Not quite as bright as the Fred, more mids, tighter. The Fred and Evo are two of the most iconic Dimarzio pickups.

The Norton, I have played a ton. After many years I came to conclusion that its not a great lead guitar pickup imo. While it is thick and woofy, it is open on top like the Fred, but it doesnt have a strong resonant peak where you want it. I'd describe it as the anti-JB.

While I recommend the Fred and the Evo, you would think the Norton, being in between the two would also be great. That said, the Norton is good in the neck when you need a hot neck pu. Norton has a very hi-fi sound to it, but for soloing it is washed out.
 
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Full Shred set.

I had a Steve's special a long time ago. The reduced mids work great in a middy guitar, but I wouldn't say it increased clarity.

I really think the super 2 is a great choice for your kind of situation.
Fred too.

any pickup that easily allow alot of harmonics and is somewhat bright will work.
 
Thank you for all the replies! I never would have even considered the Evo. This is why I asked y'all.
About the wiring: I replaced everything years ago. CTS 500k pots and a toggle to bypass the tone control so the pickup only sees the volume pot when in that mode.
About the V-2: yeah, I have been looking but they are hard to find. They are late '70s-early '80s only. I'm talking about the double-cream-only V-2, not the later V2 pickups. They look and sound totally different.
So now I will widen my search to include a couple of those suggested and see what I can find.
Thanks again, everyone.
 
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