Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

[OrkestrA]

Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Anyone have any info such as B/M/T ratings, magnet types etc for this model?


I seem to have aquired one... apparently they're a custom shop job these days

 

[The JEM Ghost]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Anyone have any info such as B/M/T ratings, magnet types etc for this model?


I seem to have aquired one... apparently they're a custom shop job these days

Although not loved by a lot of people, the DP201 is one of my favorite neckbuckers. I have one in a Jackson DK2M and one will go in a Ibanez RG550.

The specs of the DP201:
-Alnico V magnet
-EQ B/M/T= 6/4/6 (according to the old DiMarzio EQ numbers, they have changed them a couple of times since then,so take that into account when comparing them to other models on the site nowadays)
-Output: 230 mV.
-Resistance: 10.87K DC.

Nowadays this is indeed a special custom order at DiMarzio, I don't know about the price now though, I was lucky to find some models left in stock over here in Europe,and I was very glad I did, the DP201 was a very pleasant surprise. Don't forget to roll down on the treble control and check out it's tone then!!
As said before, not much people seem to like the DP201, but I sure do!!

 

[OrkestrA]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

ahhhh cheers dude, yeah I found one in Germany and it's GORGEOUS!!! Why don't people like it?!?

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

I've been interested in the DiMeola pickups for awhile, but have never had the opportunity to try one. I'd like to hear more about them.

 

[BigDreamer]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Anyway to hook us up with some clips?

 

[The JEM Ghost]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

ahhhh cheers dude, yeah I found one in Germany and it's GORGEOUS!!! Why don't people like it?!?

Glad I am not the only one who thinks of it as a very good pup!
Most people call it very cold and sterile sounding and another complaint is that it has no sustain at all, and that it is oversensitive to pick attack.
I personaly don't think of it as cold or sterile, it is accurate as a scalpel (which is a plus for me) and with the treble pot rolled down, a very warm and sweet tone steps out, like having 2 totaly different (and very usable) tones from your neckbucker with just a turn off the pot.

I have to admit that I do wish it had a bit more sustain, but that would make the pickup near perfect, and it not always a little about compromising in the pickup world?? ;-)
Don't get me wrong if there comes a pickup that does all the DP201 does and has more sustain, I will get it without any doubt lol.
But I don't think there is somehting like the perfect pickup to be honest, there is always a little this or that that you would change when given the option, at least that is my experience.

It is my favorite neckbucker without doubt, and it is heavily underrated if you ask me, which is a shame (it did not sell enough, that is why they made it a special order at DiMarzio). Although not your typical neckbucker, I do think the DP201 can be used in a lot of different styles, and yes there are better necknuckers for blues, but that said, the DP201 is not a one trick pony in my opinion.
On top of it I think it looks great and pretty classy with the golden hex screws it comes with.

What guitar is yours in? Can you tell me a bit more about your experience with it? I am just very curious towards other guys who use the DP201 and actualy like it!!

Keep me updated on it will you?
Thanks in advance mate!

 

[Aceman]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Also - Al usd superD's too. Just a sidenote. I've never heard an actual Al D model. Sounds like it would be very cool.

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Glad I am not the only one who thinks of it as a very good pup!
Most people call it very cold and sterile sounding and another complaint is that it has no sustain at all, and that it is oversensitive to pick attack.

I had the bridge model and that was my impression. I couldn't relate to it at all. Too me it was a magnifying glass that really showed off how bad I suck!

 

[OrkestrA]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Mine is in a RG550 with gold hardware, (!) it looks incredible.

Sure the sustain isn't really there, but it's so responsive im quite happy to trade one over the other, i want rapid fire notes and this thing really does the job! I'll post clips when im back from Germany; I have nothing to record it with here!

Ill try your pot trick, sounds interesting

 

[The JEM Ghost]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Mine is in a RG550 with gold hardware, (!) it looks incredible.

Sure the sustain isn't really there, but it's so responsive im quite happy to trade one over the other, i want rapid fire notes and this thing really does the job! I'll post clips when im back from Germany; I have nothing to record it with here!

Ill try your pot trick, sounds interesting

Hell yeah OrkestrA, I bet it looks killer in a golden hardwared RG!!

I usualy never even use the tone pot on my guitars, but it is defenatly usable with the DP201! Rolling down on the tone pot, makes the DP201 sound warmer,sweeter,softer, more vintage, more typical PAF like, without loosing too much responsiveness and dynamics, it kind of sounds in the direction of a PAF Pro when rolling down the tone pot, and that is a great phenomena in my opinion, it makes the DP201 even more remarkable (and usable!) then I already thought it was before I tried rolling down the tone pot.

Keep me informed on how you like it mate!
Cheers!

 

[LazNovak]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

I don't know about the neck model but I have the bridge model that I got in the late 80s and it is awesome.

I have it in my 87 Charvel but I haven't wired it up.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

You know this is a 7 year old thread. right?

 

[LazNovak]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

I know. It was resurrected here.

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?279817-Resurrecting-a-Charvel/page3

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

So good, they resurrected it twice!

For what it is worth, I have a DiMeola model in the neck position of my Yamaha YSG (the short-lived PRS-alike 24 fret model). Sounds wonderful. Loves valve overdrive. A .022uF cap on the tone pot smooths it out a treat.

Certainly worth obtaining pre-owned. Not sure that I would pay the special order price to obtain one.

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

The specs of the DP201:
-Alnico V magnet
-EQ B/M/T= 6/4/6 (according to the old DiMarzio EQ numbers, they have changed them a couple of times since then,so take that into account when comparing them to other models on the site nowadays)
-Output: 230 mV.
-Resistance: 10.87K DC.

Where did you get those specs? I was always under the impression that they were Dual Sound pups with brass hex screws? I always avoided them because I thought they were ceramic...

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Where did you get those specs? I was always under the impression that they were Dual Sound pups with brass hex screws? I always avoided them because I thought they were ceramic...

The Dimeola pickups are an odd duck. They don't really sound like much else and they aren't dual sounds. They are a loud, clean, transparent and precise pickup. I didn't care for them because they didn't behave like most other pickups when used with distortion. Instead of smoothing out and taking on a singing quality they stayed loud, clean, hard and precise.

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

The Dimeola pickups are an odd duck. They don't really sound like much else and they aren't dual sounds. They are a loud, clean, transparent and precise pickup. I didn't care for them because they didn't behave like most other pickups when used with distortion. Instead of smoothing out and taking on a singing quality they stayed loud, clean, hard and precise.

His signature pickups are lighter powered versions of the high output ceramic pickups he used on his iconic recordings? Just like George Lynch did with the Screamin' Demon huh? Good to know.

I have had a bunch of chances to pickups up a pair of these over the years. I stayed away from them because I thought they were high output ceramic pickups. now that I know, I don't play DiMarzios anymore. lolz!

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

His signature pickups are lighter powered versions of the high output ceramic pickups he used on his iconic recordings? Just like George Lynch did with the Screamin' Demon huh? Good to know.

I have had a bunch of chances to pickups up a pair of these over the years. I stayed away from them because I thought they were high output ceramic pickups. now that I know, I don't play DiMarzios anymore. lolz!

Al Dimeola used both the Super Distortion series and his own signature pickup at about the same time during 70's & 80'a. It wouldn't surprise me if he used different guitars each equiped with Dual Sounds and his signature pickups depending on the song he was playing. He probably used the Dual Sounds for his overdriven legato songs and his signature pickups for his clean staccato songs. I have no doubt that the Al Dimeola series can sound good in the right hands, but in mine it was like putting a bidet in a gorilla's cage.

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Al Dimeola used both the Super Distortion series and his own signature pickup at about the same time during 70's & 80'a.

The Steve Morse signature pickups were introduced in 1983 and they are DP200.

Not that DiMarzio keeps their model numbers in consecutive order or anything but... I haven't seen any information that signifies when the DP201 and DP202 went into production. They could have come out around the same time as Morse's signature pickups. I suppose Al could have been using them before they went into production as a custom pickup wound especially for him. An email to DiMarzio would probably get the information of when they started the DP201/202 set.

It wouldn't surprise me if he used different guitars each equiped with Dual Sounds and his signature pickups depending on the song he was playing. He probably used the Dual Sounds for his overdriven legato songs and his signature pickups for his clean staccato songs. I have no doubt that the Al Dimeola series can sound good in the right hands, but in mine it was like putting a bidet in a gorilla's cage.

What did you think of the combined neck and bridge tone? Al never used the neck or bridge alone but used the in between position and the individual volume knobs depending on what tone he wanted to get.

Of course, his late 70s tone comes out of a cranked non master volume Marshall half stack... so that's probably another key to his soaring sustain.

I wish there was a decent tab book for Elegant Gypsy and Casino. lolz! Learning that stuff by ear is really hard, have to slow it down and even then it's difficult to tell exactly what he is doing.

LOVE Al DiMeola!!!!

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

Re: Dimarzio DP201 - Al DiMeola Model™ Neck

The Steve Morse signature pickups were introduced in 1983 and they are DP200.

Not that DiMarzio keeps their model numbers in consecutive order or anything but... I haven't seen any information that signifies when the DP201 and DP202 went into production. They could have come out around the same time as Morse's signature pickups. I suppose Al could have been using them before they went into production as a custom pickup wound especially for him. An email to DiMarzio would probably get the information of when they started the DP201/202 set.



What did you think of the combined neck and bridge tone? Al never used the neck or bridge alone but used the in between position and the individual volume knobs depending on what tone he wanted to get.

Of course, his late 70s tone comes out of a cranked non master volume Marshall half stack... so that's probably another key to his soaring sustain.

I wish there was a decent tab book for Elegant Gypsy and Casino. lolz! Learning that stuff by ear is really hard, have to slow it down and even then it's difficult to tell exactly what he is doing.

LOVE Al DiMeola!!!!

I tried it in the middle and neck position of a 3 humbucker guitar with on/on/on switches. It was just too different for my tastes and it didn't blend well with the Dimarzio PAF and Humbucker From Hell I had in the guitar. However JEM Ghost's description is very accurate regarding the sustain and the strong pick attack. You really need that wide loose vibrato like Yngwie or Al with this pickup due to the lack of sustain, otherwise it sounds kind of choked.

Glad I am not the only one who thinks of it as a very good pup!
Most people call it very cold and sterile sounding and another complaint is that it has no sustain at all, and that it is oversensitive to pick attack.
I personaly don't think of it as cold or sterile, it is accurate as a scalpel (which is a plus for me) and with the treble pot rolled down, a very warm and sweet tone steps out, like having 2 totaly different (and very usable) tones from your neckbucker with just a turn off the pot.

I have to admit that I do wish it had a bit more sustain, but that would make the pickup near perfect, and it not always a little about compromising in the pickup world?? ;-)
Don't get me wrong if there comes a pickup that does all the DP201 does and has more sustain, I will get it without any doubt lol.
But I don't think there is somehting like the perfect pickup to be honest, there is always a little this or that that you would change when given the option, at least that is my experience.