Dimarzio Norton/Air Norton experts: a bit of help please?

cardinal

New member
Hi guys,

Sorry my first post on the Duncan board is about Dimarzios, but you all seem knowledge about pretty much any pickup. (I did just pickup a guitar with an SH-10n and SH-5 combo, and I'm likely to start tinkering with it soon. I have what looks like a very thick ceramic magnet that might enjoy being in the SH-5...)

Anway: I've been pulling a part an Air Norton 7-String, hoping to make a 7-string Norton. But now I'm pretty confused. I'm hoping you guys have some measurements on the 6-string Norton/Air-Norton and can help me compare.

My questions:

1) Can anyone measure the resistance of the two coils and tell me what you find?
2) Does anyone know what wire gauge is used to wind each of the Norton coils?

So, the basic measurements of my 7-string Air Norton:
Total Resistance: ~13 k ohms (Dimarzio says 13.34, so with temp variations, etc., seems about right)
Screw coil resistance: ~5.5 k ohms
Slug coil resistance: ~7.5 k ohms

Ok, and Dimarzio has three patents that show up a lot: dual resonance, virtual vintage, and air technology.

Dual Resonance: website says that it's used here, and it makes sense. Assuming the coils are wound with 43 (screw)/44 (slug) AWG or 42 (screw) /43 (slug) AWG, the coils probably have approximately the same number of turns on them. (slug coil has a few hundred more feet of wire than the screw coil).

Virtual vintage: website says that it's used here, but it's NOT. Virtual vintage essentially is extra slugs inserted from the bottom of the bobbins. The bobbins have cavities for the extra slugs, but nothing's in there. Strange.

Air Technology: so it is the AIR Norton, but's only half-aired. The slugs are tapered at the bottom and don't contact the magnet (aired), but the screw coil is traditional (screws are surrounded by a metal keeper bar that contacts the magnet). Strange. Not sure if any other Dimarzio's are "half aired" from the factory.

Thanks guys!
 
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Re: Dimarzio Norton/Air Norton experts: a bit of help please?

Searching finally may have paid off. Found a post saying that the 6-string Norton is a 7k, 43 AWG coil from the Tone Zone (assuming the screw coil?) and a 5k, 42 AWG "Fred" coil. If that's right, seems like the winding on the 7-string version is similar. One 7.5k coil with ~3500 feet of wire and one 5.5k coil with ~3300 feet of wire. So maybe the 7-string version is not that far off, at least in terms of the windings, since the larger 7-string bobbins mean that it just takes more wire to wrap around it.
 
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Re: Dimarzio Norton/Air Norton experts: a bit of help please?

My Norton has a 7.5k coil and a 5k coil. The "one coil from each pickup" isn't true. It is merely most like a mix of the tone zone and the Fred.
 
Re: Dimarzio Norton/Air Norton experts: a bit of help please?

My Norton has a 7.5k coil and a 5k coil. The "one coil from each pickup" isn't true. It is merely most like a mix of the tone zone and the Fred.

Thanks! Which coil is 7.5k? The screw or the slug? Obviously on my 7-string AN the slug coil is ~7.5k, but I wonder if they swapped the coils when they built the 7 string.
 
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