DiMarzio Tone Zone vs. Air Zone

[B2D]

Who's got enough experience to compare the two? I've listened to some clips on youtube, mainly of this guy in the vid below (who by the way has a TON of good pickup demos in that axe).

I don't know if he changes his amp settings between clips, but it seems like the AZ sounds more to my taste. The TZ sounds thicker and fatter, but the AZ seems to have more bite while retaining the basic sound.

 

[Marshall_Abuser]

Re: DiMarzio Tone Zone vs. Air Zone

Air Zone sounds like what it is : a Tone-Zone with the Airbucker patent.
Translation into tone language : sounds like a weaker, less ballsy Tone-Zone

 

[B2D]

Re: DiMarzio Tone Zone vs. Air Zone

Air Zone sounds like what it is : a Tone-Zone with the Airbucker patent.
Translation into tone language : sounds like a weaker, less ballsy Tone-Zone

Sounds like you tried an AZ and didn't like it. One person's weaker and less ballsy could be someone else's medium output and clearer...

 

[dr. ad]

Re: DiMarzio Tone Zone vs. Air Zone

i think you'd like it B2D; it's like the demon's evil twin in a way. where the demon has the low-end boom and the upper mid snarl, the AZ is very mid-heavy; both have outstanding clarity and are extremely versatile... the AZ's a bit hotter but it's got that "tubular" dual-resonance DMZ thing hapening
come to think of it, i'd like to wire the 2 up in series...
:scratchch

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: DiMarzio Tone Zone vs. Air Zone

I have an AZ/AN combo in my OPL Axis copy. It's one of my favorite humbucker combos. They're both like souped-up PAFs with more dimension.

 

[sosomething]

Re: DiMarzio Tone Zone vs. Air Zone

The Tone Zone is a pickup I used to like.

The Air Zone is a pickup I still like.

 

[Aceman]

Re: DiMarzio Tone Zone vs. Air Zone

Not so intimately familiar with the AZ. I have heard them a few times, but never actually played. I do own, and like, my ToneZone.

"The TZ sounds thicker and fatter, but the AZ seems to have more bite while retaining the basic sound."

But that sounds about right to me. You lose some of the compression, gain some clarity/crispness, and open it up a bit. It's a very cool sound. I'd say it's an extremely fexible pup...much more so than a regular TZ. Maybe like a slightly cooled down modern version of a SuperDistortion....

Everyone I have ever heard of with one loves them.

 

[B2D]

Re: DiMarzio Tone Zone vs. Air Zone

Resurrecting this thread again.

I'd like to build up a second pickguard assembly for my Music Man with DiMarzios... I'm thinking an Air Norton or Breed neck for the neck slot and a Air Zone, Breed Bridge, or possibly a D-Sonic. The D-Sonic I had in my OLP was really cool, but it didn't quite get there. The EBMM is a better guitar, so that might influence the sound. Plus, I never did try the pickup with the bar towards the bridge.

I just gotta experiment. Thanks to all for their previous input on this, it's been very helpful.

 

[dominus]

Re: DiMarzio Tone Zone vs. Air Zone

Definitely try the D-Sonic with the bar towards the bridge, makes it sound huge.

I like the Air Zone as a bridge pickup myself, plenty of clarity, and also tons of tone.

 

[B2D]

Re: DiMarzio Tone Zone vs. Air Zone

Agh... sorry, I mean to say towards the NECK. I tried it towards the bridge, apparently it's suppose to be a little louder and fatter with the bar towards the neck.

 

[Aceman]

Re: DiMarzio Tone Zone vs. Air Zone

I still think I like the SuperD more than either Zone....

 

[B2D]

Re: DiMarzio Tone Zone vs. Air Zone

I know you're not much of a Dream Theater fan but John Petrucci has sig models out that are mods of D sonic, and the Air norton.

Actually, Ilike DT. I love the band, I just can only take James "Don't Cross the Crooked Step" LaBrie in very small doses, that's all.

It's more trouble than I'm willing to go to, but I'd love to see how the DSonic/AN compared in the same guitar with the Crunch Lab/Liquifire.

 

[schralper]

Re: DiMarzio Tone Zone vs. Air Zone

I have an Washburn N4. It's a prototype with a tone knob and its Mahogany not Ash or Alder. I tried soo many pickups in it. The Bill Lawrence USA was soo bright. Custom Custom was better but still too bright Custom was even brighter. I'm guessin it's the Mahogany and the Ebony fretboard that make it such a bright guitar. Just to change things up I got a Tone Zone to stick in it. PERFECT!!! it is warm, thick, with tons of clarity under a lot of gain. It even has decent clean tones, and it splits superbly. i probably never would've tried it based on its reputation, but I went for it based on its tonal description and Im soo glad I did. never tried an Air Zone. In fact this was my first DiMarzio. I like it.