Dimarzio Parts suck

[jmh151]

O.K.- for years I've had Dimarzio Evolutions in my Ibanez RG570, alond with an HS-3 middle position. I decided to try to upgrade the pots and switch up from the standard Ibanez. Since Dimarzio insists that you use their pots with their pickups, I ordered a 5 way 4 pole switch, as well as 2 500k pots and 1 meg pot. Since they were more expensive than the ones on guitarelectronics.com or stewart macdonald, I expected them to be high quality, CTS or better. When I received them in the mail, all parts were made in Mexico. $30 for the switch, and $7 a piece for the pots, when I could have got american made CTS pots for cheaper. I haven't opened the packages yet, maybe Dimarzio makes them to higher spec in mexico? I doubt it. Never buy parts from them. I like their pickups, butthis is a dissappointment

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

O.K.- for years I've had Dimarzio Evolutions in my Ibanez RG570, alond with an HS-3 middle position. I decided to try to upgrade the pots and switch up from the standard Ibanez. Since Dimarzio insists that you use their pots with their pickups, I ordered a 5 way 4 pole switch, as well as 2 500k pots and 1 meg pot. Since they were more expensive than the ones on guitarelectronics.com or stewart macdonald, I expected them to be high quality, CTS or better. When I received them in the mail, all parts were made in Mexico. $30 for the switch, and $7 a piece for the pots, when I could have got american made CTS pots for cheaper. I haven't opened the packages yet, maybe Dimarzio makes them to higher spec in mexico? I doubt it. Never buy parts from them. I like their pickups, butthis is a dissappointment

Well people whined when BOSS changed their manufacturing from MIJ to MIT, but they were the same quality ... They insist huh? Every company that sells parts makes some suggestion that you use their stuff ... it's called marketing ... $30 for a 4P5T switch isn't that much to pay for a quality switch (mine had a CRL marking on it) although you paid list ... you probably won't like the fact that it has offset throws on two of the poles either ... marked Mexico? Mine weren't marked at all, must be something new. I got upset when they stopped selling pup mounting kits in those little tubes, I used to buy them just to get the tubes (those that have 'em know what I'm talking about) great for keeping caps and what not in. As long as the stuff does what I need it too, and lasts I'm fine with whoever they get to manufacture them.

 

[Artie]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

Since Dimarzio insists that you use their pots with their pickups . . .

I don't understand this. Or what . . . you'll get a spanking?

A pup won't know what parts its connected to. Just use whatever you want.
A pot is a pot as far as pure functionality go.

 

[mrid]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

I don't understand this. Or what . . . you'll get a spanking?

I would think this would encourage the use of non-Dimarzio parts... :laugh2:

 

[ranalli]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

Well people whined when BOSS changed their manufacturing from MIJ to MIT, but they were the same quality ... They insist huh? Every company that sells parts makes some suggestion that you use their stuff ... it's called marketing ... $30 for a 4P5T switch isn't that much to pay for a quality switch (mine had a CRL marking on it) although you paid list ... you probably won't like the fact that it has offset throws on two of the poles either ... marked Mexico? Mine weren't marked at all, must be something new. I got upset when they stopped selling pup mounting kits in those little tubes, I used to buy them just to get the tubes (those that have 'em know what I'm talking about) great for keeping caps and what not in. As long as the stuff does what I need it too, and lasts I'm fine with whoever they get to manufacture them.

What he said :burnout:

 

[jmh151]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

Mine weren't marked up, the receipt indicated they were made in Mexico. The pots are stamped Dimarzio. I called Dimarzio, and they indicated that they are CTS pots, but CTS now makes the pots in Mexico under Dimarzio's specs.

 

[BachToRock]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

A pot is a pot as far as pure functionality go.

Actually a pot is not a pot.
The quality of the materials it is constructed with makes a difference in the sound. The signal from the pickup has to pass through the wiper of the pot... the more conductive the material the better... same with internal wiring in your guitar and the cord that connects you to your amplifier.
Your signal is only as good as it's weakest link!
Needless to say, it does not matter WHERE something is made... WHAT it is made of is much more important.

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

In the "sucks" vs. "rules" debate of life, please be respectful to Seymour Duncan's competitors. They're not on this forum to defend themselves. Feel free to talk objectively about them, but please limit derogatory language (like "DiMarzio sucks").

Thanks from your friendly neighborhood board administrator (that's "board" not "bored").

 

[yes-fan]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

i have dimarzio parts in all of my guitars and they kick. i didnt relize were they made. i dont think it matters.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

I always thought that Dimarzio just repackaged parts. All the pots I have are repacked CTS's from Dimarzio, so are the swsitches in my Strat and Tele and the switches in my Paul and Sheraton. The switches were all repacked Switchcraft hardware. They're good enough for me.

Other manufacturers do this as well, such as Peavyer repacking EH tubes and Dunlop Straplocks.

 

[rspst14]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

I have Dimarzio 500k push/pull pots in both of my guitars, and they seem to be high quality parts. I got them on Kent's recommendation. If you just need standard pots, CTS pots are good quality and inexpensive. But most push/pull pots are cheap and made god knows where. The Dimarzio push/pull pots seem to be of much higher quality.

Ryan

 

[Artie]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

Actually a pot is not a pot.
The quality of the materials it is constructed with makes a difference in the sound. The signal from the pickup has to pass through the wiper of the pot... the more conductive the material the better... same with internal wiring in your guitar and the cord that connects you to your amplifier.
Your signal is only as good as it's weakest link!
Needless to say, it does not matter WHERE something is made... WHAT it is made of is much more important.

I don't want to say that you're wrong, because I know you have more experience in guitars than I do, but I do have difficulty accepting this. The difference in conductivity between the cheapest tin, and the most expensive gold-plated, oxygen-free copper isn't going to be significant within the context of a guitar signal. (IMHO)

There's a good article on this very subject, (relative to guitar cords), at the GuitarNuts website. And I don't necessarily take what that guy says as gospel either. He may not have anymore knowledge or experience as you do. But it fits with my own three decades of electronics/audio/pro-audio experience.

So I must ask: have you ever noticed a fidelity improvement by simply changing a pot in a guitar, that you're sure wasn't related to something else that may have changed at the same time. Like a subtle difference in the resistance values of the two pots for instance? Or an improvement in a "bad" solder connection?

If you say yes . . . I'll believe you.

 

[BachToRock]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

I think everything in between the leads on your pickup an the voice coil of the speaker in your amp has a subtle effect on your tone.
The high-impedance signal of a stereo system is much the same as the signal from your pickups.
GuitarNuts makes some valid points, but seems to concentrate more on bashing the myths than explaining what is ideal and mosy importantly... WHY.
Here are the most logical/intelligent articles I have found on the effects of cables, connectors, etc.... on an audio signal.
http://ww.bluejeanscable.com/articles/whatwiredoes.htm
http://ww.bluejeanscable.com/articles/doeswirematter.htm
http://ww.bluejeanscable.com/articles/exoticmaterials.htm
http://ww.bluejeanscable.com/articles/humrejection.htm
Electrons are just like water... they have to flow from the source to their destination... the higher the conductivity and less resistive the material the better... in the case of a high-impedance signal you also want low capacatince
The RESISTANCE part of a potentiometer is from the middle wiper(hot to output jack) to ground... the connection between the hot leg to the middle wiper has it's own characteristics of impedance/capacitance the can effect the flow of electrons.

Food for thought... WHY do the USA production Duncans sound so good... it's the quality of the materials such as the wire used to wind the coils.
Also... think of how different pickups sound... the difference between some is just the type of insulation that is on the wire!

Interestingly enough... so many people love the George L's cables which are technically not a very good design for guitar signal... especially the shielding...

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

I would think this would encourage the use of non-Dimarzio parts... :laugh2:

Depends on whether they have beautiful women scantily clad in leather doing it or not ... :laugh2: But enough of that ... :laugh2:

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

Actually a pot is not a pot.
The quality of the materials it is constructed with makes a difference in the sound. The signal from the pickup has to pass through the wiper of the pot... the more conductive the material the better... same with internal wiring in your guitar and the cord that connects you to your amplifier.
Your signal is only as good as it's weakest link!
Needless to say, it does not matter WHERE something is made... WHAT it is made of is much more important.

Although I see your point here,and basically agree with it this is mainly a follow up for Art... I find the greatest differences in the actual precision of tapers, tolerances, and of course the physical strength and longevity of the part itself. Now I'm not fully up on the actual manufacturing details, but some pots just don't last, the tracks actually wear out in very short order or they are very intolerant to heat. Also the metal on some overseas made pots are well ...very flimsy ... I actually went to tighten down a loose mounted volume pot with a nut driver and an el cheapo pot bushing stripped ... The nut was fine, but the threads on the bushing stripped ... and I wasn't death gripping it either. Some pots you roll up to ten and check the resistance between the wiper and the CW pad, and you could get 45 ohms, on better made pots you might get 9ohms. That's the kinda stuff I'm talking about, also some pots are more capacitive then others.

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

Mine weren't marked up, the receipt indicated they were made in Mexico. The pots are stamped Dimarzio. I called Dimarzio, and they indicated that they are CTS pots, but CTS now makes the pots in Mexico under Dimarzio's specs.

Well, that would go along with what I was told, just didn't know where the actual manufacturing took place, so you did get cts pots then ... :laugh2:

 

[Artie]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

I think everything in between the leads on your pickup an the voice coil of the speaker in your amp has a subtle effect on your tone.

Here are the most logical/intelligent articles I have found on the effects of cables, connectors, etc.... on an audio signal.
http://ww.bluejeanscable.com/articles/whatwiredoes.htm
http://ww.bluejeanscable.com/articles/doeswirematter.htm
http://ww.bluejeanscable.com/articles/exoticmaterials.htm
http://ww.bluejeanscable.com/articles/humrejection.htm

That I agree with, and great links. It'll take me some time to read it all, but looks like good info. I was mentioning to TwilightOdyssey in another thread somewhere, that I've "heard" the difference a good speaker cable makes, over a cheap one in a "good" stereo, so I guess it shouldn't be that hard to accept that a good pot might sound better than a cheap one.

I'll just have to "experiment".

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

I always thought that Dimarzio just repackaged parts. All the pots I have are repacked CTS's from Dimarzio, so are the swsitches in my Strat and Tele and the switches in my Paul and Sheraton. The switches were all repacked Switchcraft hardware. They're good enough for me.

Other manufacturers do this as well, such as Peavyer repacking EH tubes and Dunlop Straplocks.

Very true, many manufactures do this for their parts, and yes the gibby style toggles that I have from DMZ appear to be switchcraft. A lot comes down to coast issue also ...If I can walk into a local store every eight months or so, and hand them a list of parts that I can get from DMZ and they give me a discount that is competitive with finding the individual parts directly from parts suppliers, then the one stop shopping combined with a competative discount agrees with me. Now the toggles that they sell, I normally do get those direct from a parts supplier because I can get them cheaper. Their cable ends are either Switchcraft or Neutrik, the cable is Belden, etc.

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

I think everything in between the leads on your pickup an the voice coil of the speaker in your amp has a subtle effect on your tone.
The high-impedance signal of a stereo system is much the same as the signal from your pickups.
GuitarNuts makes some valid points, but seems to concentrate more on bashing the myths than explaining what is ideal and mosy importantly... WHY.
Here are the most logical/intelligent articles I have found on the effects of cables, connectors, etc.... on an audio signal.
http://ww.bluejeanscable.com/articles/whatwiredoes.htm
http://ww.bluejeanscable.com/articles/doeswirematter.htm
http://ww.bluejeanscable.com/articles/exoticmaterials.htm
http://ww.bluejeanscable.com/articles/humrejection.htm
Electrons are just like water... they have to flow from the source to their destination... the higher the conductivity and less resistive the material the better... in the case of a high-impedance signal you also want low capacatince
The RESISTANCE part of a potentiometer is from the middle wiper(hot to output jack) to ground... the connection between the hot leg to the middle wiper has it's own characteristics of impedance/capacitance the can effect the flow of electrons.

Food for thought... WHY do the USA production Duncans sound so good... it's the quality of the materials such as the wire used to wind the coils.
Also... think of how different pickups sound... the difference between some is just the type of insulation that is on the wire!

Interestingly enough... so many people love the George L's cables which are technically not a very good design for guitar signal... especially the shielding...

That reminds me of those *hotwires* that sounded great, I don't know who made them, they didn't spec the greatest but the sounded great.
There are marginal improvements that can be made by selecting certain grades of OFHC free cable (in regard to high Z cables), inductance also plays a small part (very small) in the tone also. Like I said, for me though it's normally the physical sturdiness, precision, and over all how *well* a part is made that contributes to it's life span, and the electrical tolerance and precision that relates to sonic performance. Also one might look up the White Paper pdfs off of Pro Co.'s site as well.

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Dimarzio Parts suck

I don't want to say that you're wrong, because I know you have more experience in guitars than I do, but I do have difficulty accepting this. The difference in conductivity between the cheapest tin, and the most expensive gold-plated, oxygen-free copper isn't going to be significant within the context of a guitar signal. (IMHO)

There's a good article on this very subject, (relative to guitar cords), at the GuitarNuts website. And I don't necessarily take what that guy says as gospel either. He may not have anymore knowledge or experience as you do. But it fits with my own three decades of electronics/audio/pro-audio experience.

So I must ask: have you ever noticed a fidelity improvement by simply changing a pot in a guitar, that you're sure wasn't related to something else that may have changed at the same time. Like a subtle difference in the resistance values of the two pots for instance? Or an improvement in a "bad" solder connection?

If you say yes . . . I'll believe you.

I think on the OFHC thing you're intering into intentional overkill, although, I do think it makes a difference in speaker cables. A I've have heard a difference between various cables of the same length (within an inch ((2.54cm)) or so), better shielding is a no brainer of course ... but even then is the question of ...is it benefical to the enviroment that you are in? There are some sonic differences between cables though, and that's for sure. Will all work, sure, do some sound better than others in side by side comparisons, sure, would you be able to tell which cable was what in a blind test ... probably not, would the audience ... most certainly not. I think it boils down to the fact that would you rather buy a part that you know is made well, and realiable, or tke a chance on something made a bit cheap and flimsy? Plus some things a made to different specs,and only available thru certain sources anyway. To Art's query, I did have that happen one time, drastic difference, but I was replacing a pot that was overheated, so maybe that doesn't count really. If the pot is made to descent specs and is made with say the resistive track done properly and evenly (according to taper) then any difference would be subtle at best ... but like I said, an el cheapo aluminum pot might have a higher resistance than a well made one with silver plated nickel-zinc contacts((or whatever they are made of)) between what is supposed to be a zero ohm connection. Note also that pots are rated for there impedance ... not DCR, we check them using DC; now I've always assumed that they are supposed to be linear in resistance ... But I do wonder if we'd get the same specs that we get for resistance (using DC) as we would a say a sine wave at 1kHz., and at 10kHz.? :scratchch: