Re: Dimarzio Area 58 pickups... did anyone try them?
I think Barbarianbrute pretty much summed it up. If you come to the stacked single coil summit from the vintage camp, you aren't going to be happy with the Dimarzios. I have a couple of VV's, and I like them for juicy, compressed funky solo type stuff. They're kind of like the single coil tone for 90's "post shred" shred. You know like when it wasn't cool to be a shredder so the shredders were all of a sudden into bluesy and funky stuff. When BB says he's liking the HS-3, VV, and Area pickups it's because they all have a certain way about them. It's not bad or anything, it's just a certain feel.
If you're getting that vibe from the sound samples then you're right not to order them. If you come to the stack summit from the modern camp, you probably won't be happy with the Kinmans or Duncans. The Duncans are very vintage sounding, but they have a modern stagger to the poles. So that tiny difference to me makes them the best stack out there today. I hear the Kinmans are great, too. I liked the old Duncan stack as a middle pickup because it was a little more distilled, and "mid-scooped" than a traditional single coil. So I have a few of those, but they're in H/S/S or H/S/H guitars. For my S/S/S Strat I have the new Classic Stack Plus at all three positions.
Still I'll probably never sell those Dimarzios, because for an Alder superstrat they're great for wanking away noodly solos. Actually I need to get some PATB Stacks going again. They also do a good job getting that very excited, juicy, in your face tone. Anyone hip to the Dimarzios could be wise to check the PATB Stack too.
