Dimarzio ToneZone S first impressions..

[walt]

I just installed a Dimarzio ProTrack neck, fast track 1 mid, tonezone s bridge. According to the specs on the Dimarzio Website, I felt this combo would come close to the everything set that is offered by Seymour. I played thru my line 6 podpro and found the following:

Protrack - while advertised as a PAF, I didn't find it to resemble anything like a Paf at all, but it has a very nice bluesy tone to it when played clean. Notes seem to be pretty evenly balanced probably due to the double rail design of the pickups. Under gain the pro track is very articulate and crisp sounding, again notes seem to be very balanced.

Fast Track - This sounds closer to a single coil than a bucker, very crisp when played clean, highs were ringing and very good bottom. Under gain it sounds like a stacked single under gain, not as full sounding as the Pro track or ToneZone S.(but who plays the middle with gain?? I don't YET).

ToneZone S - This was the biggest surprise for me. This pickup is like getting slapped with a wet towel in the face. Clean tones, don't bother, it's not designed for that (at least not to my ears). Under Gain this puppy roars with a very solid bottom, singing mids and crisp highs. It pretty articulate and reminds me of a JBjr but with a monsterous bottom end. I played a full sized Tone Zone and hated it. It was muddy, not articulate at all and lasted 3 days before I sold it on ebay. The "S" is a very solid ROCK pickup and has this "air" demension to it ( as do the other 2 pickups ).

I have found this to be a very modern sounding set up. These pickups do not sound vintage at all (I think that is what was intended for them) but allow you to experiment with something new (creative wise).

This is the first night with this combo and so far, so good. The true test will be at rehersal tomorrow afternoon. Will report my finding after rehersal.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Dimarzio ToneZone S first impressions..

I like my full size TZ a lot. I think it has a little more highs than a SuperD - just enough more. I like the compression-just a little less than a SuperD. It's really cool with my Marshall model.

Also - I like Choppers better than Protracks. You might try one of those in the neck.

 

[walt]

Re: Dimarzio ToneZone S first impressions..

OK some time has passed, but still on the "honeymoon" with these, here's my findings so far.

Pro Track is very good for smooth blues or blues rock type tones. It seems to be evenly eq'd much not overly eq'd. I really like it.

Fast Track 1, I really haven't spent too much time with this one outside to the clean tones. It still reminds me of a stacked single more than a side by side. I need to spend a little more time on this one, but so far I still like it.

Tone Zone S, I'm still impressed with this pup. The best word to describe it is RAW. I saw on the Dimarzio website that it is wound at 12.39K which attracted me to it seeing that I like low to med output buckers. The TZS has a tremendous amount of lower mids and still retains highs. It's definately a pickup that you have to "play" with in order to get it zeroed in, but once it is zeroed in, it is freakin nasty.

My amp is a line6 pod pro (not the xt) and I'm using the JCM 800 patch which seemed to bring this set up to life. The first patch I played these thru was the Plexi patch and while it sounded ok, it wasn't quite as powerful as it is in the 800 patch. The beauty of the POD is that you may have a pickup that responses to a certain amp and all you have to do is find which model it is.

The honeymoon continues...............:banana:

 

[BluesGuyJ]

Re: Dimarzio ToneZone S first impressions..

I actually hated the Tone Zone in my ESP Mirage Custom at first. But then I realized that I really had to tweak the amp when using the ESP. Now my ESP gives me an incredibbly thick tone, thicker than a Paul, and it is clear and crisp too.

The Tone Zone def has a lot of bottom end, but it's well balanced. It's certainly a modern sounding pickup. I can't imagine playing anything but metal with this pickup.

 

[austin]

Re: Dimarzio ToneZone S first impressions..

Also - I like Choppers better than Protracks. You might try one of those in the neck.

In what way do you think the Chopper is better than the Protrack and what kind of music to you play on the neck pickup? I'm asking because I'm still trying to find the perfect neck pickup for my Hamer Cali Elite. I've had a Cool Rails in there and I currently have a Carvin Twinblade there. The Carvin Twinblade is better than the Cool Rails, but I'm still looking for something that's higher-output so it matches the PATB1 in the bridge better. This guitar is pretty dedicated to my lame version of shredding so clean tone isn't a concern but clarity under distortion is. I was looking into a Protrack, but the EQ curve of the Chopper might be better for what I play.

And, Walt, have you tried any neck single-coil-sized hums other than the ProTrack and, if so, how do you think they stack up?

-Austin

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Dimarzio ToneZone S first impressions..

Cool review Walt.

Just a side note:

For all you cats looking for a 'bucker that balances extremely well with neck and mid vintage style singles and has enough authority to play modern rock and is still clean enough for funk and country, try the Fast Track 1 at the bridge. It's a bit compressed sounding clean, but its a good sound.

 

[Mike M.]

Re: Dimarzio ToneZone S first impressions..

Your description of the Tone Zone S sounds a lot like the Tone Zone "T" I put in my Tele. I've got it wired to a push/pull pot for series and parallel and it's made my Tele a most versatile guitar.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Dimarzio ToneZone S first impressions..

Did DiMarzio change the way they have been making Tone Zone full sized humbuckers? I recently had and then took out a Tone Zone, but back like 7-8 years ago, I had one and it was pretty good. What happened?

 

[walt]

Re: Dimarzio ToneZone S first impressions..

Did DiMarzio change the way they have been making Tone Zone full sized humbuckers? I recently had and then took out a Tone Zone, but back like 7-8 years ago, I had one and it was pretty good. What happened?

Dimarzio did a very cool thing in offering the TZ in different sizes. They have a 7 string model, 6 string model, sc rail model, tele model (rails also), and a P 90 model for the TZ. I believe they have done this with the super d also.