Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

[STRATDELUXER97]

Very chimey on top(Clear and almost single coil like in the top and with the note clarity)Excellent! Very articulate pickup and you literally hear every note crystal clear when played clean.... Cleans up and the strong lows go away if you volume back a bit..I Liked the overall eq of the highs and mids and the lows are strong and prominent.

Loud,strong output,drives a clean BF 2x12 setting in my Vox VT Head into a slight breakup with no problem....Balances very well with the bridge VPAF Hot..

Tight as all get up,strong tight lows...Again I Notice this "air technology"in that there's this space or breathy phenomena going on with this pickup...3D again is a good way to explain it....

Concerns: The lows boom like the Duncan 59N pickup and I've lowered this pickup to about 3.5/32" Bass and around 3/32" treble,but I could go to around 4/32" but I'd lose the perfect balance I Now have between the neck and bridge pickup...

The guitar needs new strings and I attribute some problems to the dull sounding E,A,and D wound strings...I use D'Addario EXL .010s

The highs are great,great note clarity,crystal clear overall tone that is almost like a single coil...Noticable overall cleaner tone by rolling the volume back a bit also...As mentioned above,Strong,loud output,tight and articulate like other Dimarzio pickups.Not as smooth as the 59N or as round.I'm not quite as wowed(yet) with this pickup like I am with the VPAF Hot in the bridge,but we'll restring and see if that helps?

I hate a neck pickup that overpowers in the lows! The exception for me so far has been either the Jazz N or a Jazz/59N Hybrid with the A4 magnet...

Nice pickup,but not totally better than the Duncan 59N? The stock Gibson pickup I Pulled with an A5 wasn't boomy in the lows,but it's flatter sounding because it lacks Dimarzio's "air" technology.....It's an early review and I need to tweak the amp settings a bit also...

A Duncan 59N sounds like a sweeter,rounder,warmer neck pickup but it lacks the chime of this VPAF and it also lacks the clarity and it's not as tight or strong....

The VPAF neck sounds like a pickup in a guitar you bought today and that you'd hope would smooth out a bit over time....The 59 already has that I feel? This pickup is a cross between a 59N and the Jazz pickup...It has the strong lows of the 59 and the chimey articulation of notes like the Jazz....

I Love the Hybrid Jazz/59 I have in my Love Rock or just a stock Jazz might be better?The 59N A4 is great also and it trims those boomy lows perfect! Again....First impressions only!

 

[nepalnt21]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

thanks for the review. ive been looking around for a PAF style neck humbucker that suits me and the chimey single coil top end sounds like it might.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

thanks for the review. ive been looking around for a PAF style neck humbucker that suits me and the chimey single coil top end sounds like it might.

If your guitar is bright and lacks lows....This pickup has strong tight lows and quite a bit of strong output....I was surprised at how powerful it was when I started playing..It's very tight,strong,and direct...It's not like a rounder,warmer,sweeter Duncan 59 up there in the neck....

Not saying I dislike the VPAF,but it's a different beast by comparison!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

Maybe a magnet swap in the VPAF would help?

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

Maybe a magnet swap in the VPAF would help?

Maybe,but I thought more about not keeping it(If I don't like it),instead of canibilizing it? I'll lose the double creme in the neck and have to go back to dual nickel covers if I go back to a Duncan neck pickup?

It's way too early,plus I noticed my strat with AP2s and a Texas Hot bridge was even boomy today....I need to adjust the lows on my amp and restring my SG and I should be ok with the VPAF neck...

I really like that 3D quality or added depth in sound of this series pickup...It also has great note clarity,is strong and tight and has nice highend chime...Things I need and look for in my neck pickups...

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

Bump....Chime in!

 

[JeffB]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

Sounds like a nice pup John...

prolly not what I'm looking for tho...sounds a bit more "aggressive" and less vintage than what I personally am looking for.


VHPAF bridge tho def has my interest

 

[JeffB]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

P.S.

Thats a very nice looking SG ya have. Color has aged well (and I personally would keep the black rings...gives it nice contrast since you have the smaller less obtrusive pickguard on it)

 

[ErikH]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

Hmm, not sure if I'd like it. If I have to tweak amp settings for a pickup, then me no likey very much. That's what I love about the CC, PAF and Little 59 that I use now, no amp tweakage. They all sound good with the same settings. The single-coil like quality you mention is cool. I feel that in the Jazz a little bit as well.

And like Jeff said, the SG is nice. She's aged well.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

Has anyone used the neck version of the Air Classic? I wonder how that compares? It may solve the boominess problems associated with VPAFn and 59n. The neck humbucker slot is a difficult problem on mohogony guitars, because A2 can lack articulation in the lows, and A5 can sometimes boom. The Duncan Jazz is still the most common solution it seems.

 

[strangegrey]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

I hate a neck pickup that overpowers in the lows! The exception for me so far has been either the Jazz N or a Jazz/59N Hybrid with the A4 magnet...

This is precisely why I'm so frustrated with my BurstBucker Pro set in my Les Paul. Whether you interpret it as the bridge pup being too weak, without enough low end...or the neck pickup too boomy in the low end...the end result is the same...

When you switch from the neck pup to the bridge pup, it's like someone cut the low end off at the nutsack and all you're left with is the top and middle. That's not how I feel a neck to bridge transition should work. There should be a far more subtle shift....

To me, it's a superbly annoying feature of the BBPro set...and when I had the 498T/490R set, as much as this set is maligned, it at least, balanced nicely...

-

If the Vpaf neck has this problem with the Vpaf hot bridge, I'm immediately crossing it off the short list...and I'm going to return to my original intentions of some variety of duncan...perhaps a 59 set or maybe a 59/JB set...

 

[OlinMusic]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

I find the VPAF bridge verrrrrrry thin. I am not alone in this. If you get the VPAF neck, consider a different bridge choice.

Amazingly, I have liked it with the CC and the Air Zone.

 

[ranalli]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

perhaps a 59 set or maybe a 59/JB set...

That's the worst combination of all if you don't want to go from bright to boomy.

The '59 is boomy loose ass in the neck of every single guitar I've put it in.



Stratdeluxer......What is more chimey?? The Jazz neck or the VPAF neck??? I guess, what is the overall brighter pickup of the two....I hate bassy dark pickups in the neck.....my EMG60 is THE sound I want...but I want a passive setup in this guitar.

 

[SoCalSteve]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

John said his Strat also sounded boomy today so I'll be interested in hearing a further review. I'm very happy with the VPAF/VHPAF combo and find a nice balance between them. BTW the tech that installed them has the bridge pup 3/64 from the strings and the neck 7/64.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

Hmm, not sure if I'd like it. If I have to tweak amp settings for a pickup, then me no likey very much. That's what I love about the CC, PAF and Little 59 that I use now, no amp tweakage. They all sound good with the same settings. The single-coil like quality you mention is cool. I feel that in the Jazz a little bit as well.

And like Jeff said, the SG is nice. She's aged well.

It was my amp setting,as my APS2/Texas Hot loaded strat was even too bassy today through my 4x12 V30 cab using my Valvetronix head....It's not the fault of the pickup at all...

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

Sounds like a nice pup John...

prolly not what I'm looking for tho...sounds a bit more "aggressive" and less vintage than what I personally am looking for.


VHPAF bridge tho def has my interest

It's not so much that it's aggressive,but it's tight,powerful,and projects well...It's definately not as warm and round as what most of us are used to with Seymour's stuff and I'm with ya there...It's just different and you know I Like variety and different......"Always" :laugh2:

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

P.S.

Thats a very nice looking SG ya have. Color has aged well (and I personally would keep the black rings...gives it nice contrast since you have the smaller less obtrusive pickguard on it)

Thanks Jeff.....I've done a ton of gigs with this axe....I bought the creme rings and I'll have to see what looks better? Maybe I'll take pictures and do a poll and see what my forum brothers think..

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

John said his Strat also sounded boomy today so I'll be interested in hearing a further review. I'm very happy with the VPAF/VHPAF combo and find a nice balance between them. BTW the tech that installed them has the bridge pup 3/64 from the strings and the neck 7/64.

It's still really too early to give a great review on the new pickup....

Yep my neck pickup heights are at 3.5/32" Bass and 3/32" treble....If I go lower I'll give up the volume balance with the VPAF Hot...

I need to listen again over the next day or so with a clear head and ears and see where it takes me? The VPAF Hot was an immediate thing that I Liked and it's mainly because it was warm and round and not at all peaky in the highs...It has a nice slight peak in the mids and the lows are strong and this is something an SG benefits from....

The neck VPAF sounds like the VPAF Hot but has slightly less mids and the lows seem stronger because it's in the neck and closer to alot more string vibration...I find this with most neck pickups but not the Jazz Neck...The Jazz/59 Hybrid works great also,but I find it needs an A4 magnet as soon as the 59 comes into the equation..

I guess the vintage style wound neck pickup is going to boom in the neck with the A5 magnet from my experiences?

 

[ranalli]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

It's still really too early to give a great review on the new pickup....

Yep my neck pickup heights are at 3.5/32" Bass and 3/32" treble....If I go lower I'll give up the volume balance with the VPAF Hot...

I need to listen again over the next day or so with a clear head and ears and see where it takes me? The VPAF Hot was an immediate thing that I Liked and it's mainly because it was warm and round and not at all peaky in the highs...It has a nice slight peak in the mids and the lows are strong and this is something an SG benefits from....

The neck VPAF sounds like the VPAF Hot but has slightly less mids and the lows seem stronger because it's in the neck and closer to alot more string vibration...I find this with most neck pickups but not the Jazz Neck...The Jazz/59 Hybrid works great also,but I find it needs an A4 magnet as soon as the 59 comes into the equation..

I guess the vintage style wound neck pickup is going to boom in the neck with the A5 magnet from my experiences?

Stratdeluxer......What is more chimey?? The Jazz neck or the VPAF neck??? I guess, what is the overall brighter pickup of the two....I hate bassy dark pickups in the neck.....my EMG60 is THE sound I want...but I want a passive setup in this guitar.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Dimarzio VPAF Neck Early Review

Stratdeluxer......What is more chimey?? The Jazz neck or the VPAF neck??? I guess, what is the overall brighter pickup of the two....I hate bassy dark pickups in the neck.....my EMG60 is THE sound I want...but I want a passive setup in this guitar.

I'm going strickly by memory cause I only had the stock Jazz pickup in the neck for a very short time before I went with a Jazz/59N Hybrid with an A4 magnet....This Hybrid is a nice combination of the Jazz and the 59(Both pickups that I Like)and the A4 keeps the lows from being to overbearing and acts like an aged A5 magnet(Thanks again to Doc Barlo)about the A4 magnet..

Both are really nice and clear,articulate,and nice clear chimey highs...The VPAF has more mids and more lows...For sure the VPAF N has more lows and it rivals the 59N up there in the neck..

The Jazz N is pretty hard to beat if you need the perfect balance of clear top,articulation,and the lows aren't so boomy!