Dimarzio Super Distortions

Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

I'm diggin' it.

Which is weird, because I think it's either broken or wired up incorrectly. Either that or it's just really not what I was expecting at all.

It sounds pretty weak. Really, and I mean REALLY single coil-ish. At first I thought it'd been tapped by mistake, but I touched a screwdriver to a polepiece on each coil and I heard noise from it, so I'm assuming it isn't.

It might be in parallel or some ****.

Maybe it's broken.

Maybe this is how it's supposed to sound.

I dunno.

The weird part is that I actually really like the sounds it's making. I put it in my Westone and I've been jamming on it pretty much all day. Just can't get enough of it.

I'll figure it out at some point. For now I'm enjoying it, though. :friday:

EDIT: Oh, and the guy I bought it from conveniently 'forgot' to tell me that one of the screw holes on the legs was completely stripped. I ended up glueing a saddle from an old TOM bridge I had lying around to it and finding a screw that fit that. Serious hassle.
 
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Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

TheLivingDead said:
Red is hot for DiMarzio.
Click to expand...

Aye, but the leads have been lengthened by the previous owner. I only have two black leads. Thanks for the input, though. :)

I want to see how it sounds in my Pacifica, though, so I'm about to remove it. My iron is heating up as I post this. I'll have a wee **** around with it while it isn't attached to anything. See if I can't get a gander at the original leads under the tape or get a reading or something.

To be honest, I've never used one before so this might be how it's supposed to sound. Even if it's messed up, I'd have second thoughts about putting it right. I really like how it sounds. :dunno:
 
Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

Yeah, to me, it sounds like black was connected instead of hot. Same thing happened with my first DiMarzio and it sounded thin and stratty. I dug it as well, but then got curious and found what I did wrong. Try the other black one this time.
 
Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

who has mag swapped one of these? i have read that some use a A5 or a A2 and get good results?
 
Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

You did something wrong. Single coily is NOT correct.

HOT THICK MEATY is more like the correct terms.
 
Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

Yeah, there's definitely something sketchy about it. I figured it wasn't sounding like it should, but I figured I'd done something wrong. Now I'm thinking it's just a dodgy pup.

I only have two wires. I was wrong about them being both black; one of them is, in fact, white. From what I can see, it's like that all the way into the pup. This thing's apparently from around the very early '90s. Does that sound right? These were originally two-con wiring, right?

The other odd thing is that I totally can't get a resistance reading from this thing to save my life. There's only two wires, so I'm pretty certain I'm doing it right but the meter doesn't even flicker. It's like I'm holding it up to a piece of plastic. Weird.

So, now I don't know whether I should keep ****ing about with it to try to fix it, put it back in my guitar and rock it as it is or contact the dude who sold it to me for a refund. :sad:
 
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Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

I don't have one, but I always thought it would be cool to build a Dave Murray Strat with a SD bridge and PAF neck.
 
Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

Kam said:
Yeah, there's definitely something sketchy about it. I figured it wasn't sounding like it should, but I figured I'd done something wrong. Now I'm thinking it's just a dodgy pup.

I only have two wires. I was wrong about them being both black; one of them is, in fact, white. From what I can see, it's like that all the way into the pup. This thing's apparently from around the very early '90s. Does that sound right? These were originally two-con wiring, right?

The other odd thing is that I totally can't get a resistance reading from this thing to save my life. There's only two wires, so I'm pretty certain I'm doing it right but the meter doesn't even flicker. It's like I'm holding it up to a piece of plastic. Weird.

So, now I don't know whether I should keep ****ing about with it to try to fix it, put it back in my guitar and rock it as it is or contact the dude who sold it to me for a refund. :sad:
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If there are only two wires then that is a much older SD. the older SD's only had a hot and a ground wire and thats it. so if you are wiring it right that SD is broke, it should sound very ballsy and nothing like a single coil.
 
Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

I have one of those old Super D's in my 98 Les Paul DC and I've got the white connected to the switch and the black and bare wires connected to ground and it's nice and thick. I do remember having to change the black and white wires around acouple of times to get the full humbucker sound. If I installed a switch or a push pull pot it would be easy to have both sounds.

"Dual Sound SD" might be what it is called.
 
Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

I love mine. I have one in a 88 Tele, and it has just the perfect sound for me. I play mostly rock/pop but with metal tones through a Mesa Dual Rec... and It is finally the right pickup for this guitar. I had an Invader and JB, and nothing sounded nearly as good in my Tele as the DP100...

Cant speak for any other guitars/types of wood... but In a wood like Alder, Ash, Basswood, Maple.... DP100 all the way. It is clear, yet warm and dark. Lots of chunk and bass, but just present enough to cut, and it doesn't get too jangly or bright like a JB would.
 
Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

Kam said:
...The other odd thing is that I totally can't get a resistance reading from this thing to save my life. There's only two wires, so I'm pretty certain I'm doing it right but the meter doesn't even flicker. It's like I'm holding it up to a piece of plastic. Weird.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what was happening with my Peavey Wolfgang bridge pup. I ended up disecting the beast to find that the slug coil wasn't working but the screw coil was giving a normal reading. The pup was presented as a 2 conductor one though, so how the thing managed to create a signal I have no idea. I'm going to try hybridising it soon though :)

If you like the pup though mebe you should keep it as is and look for a fully functioning super d if you still want to try one out.
 
Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

As an update:

I had another go at installing it today but got the same results. I even opened the tape wrapped around where the leads had been extended and tried to measure resistance from the original wires but couldn't get a reading at all. Doesn't make sense to me. Witches, probably.

Anyway, I contacted the dude for a refund and he seems to be pretty reasonable so that's cool. I'm sending it back to him tomorrow.

Oh, and I've already got two more Super-Ds in my watch list on Ebay. :friday:
 
Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

I think you may have turned my interest back onto the Super D for my Lester. It's got this chewyness to it while having crunch and cut without being too piercing. I remember using it with my old Dual Recto and Greenbacks. Almost nailed the Sword tones. It was weird too, it's a ballsy, warm pickup that makes really awesome harmonics. The Super 3 has a lot of the SD, but thicker mids and LOTS of harmonics.
 
Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

In my experience the Super D is very finicky, but when it's in the right combination of guitar & amp...man, it's HEAVEN!!! YMMV
 
Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

If it's broke, and Double cream, I'm looking for just such a creature...
 
Re: Dimarzio Super Distortions

Aceman said:
If it's broke, and Double cream, I'm looking for just such a creature...
Click to expand...

Sorry dude, i sent it back for a refund this morning. If it had been me that had broken it I would've given it to you but I wasn't about to just give up on it.

Next time I have a broken double-cream pup, you'll be the first to hear about it. :beerchug:
 
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