Dimarzio Xn2 or Full Shred?

[BigBazz]

A friend of mine from another forum is selling a Dimarzio Xn2 and since the price is nice im thinking of doing a little bit of experimenting. i have a full shred in my strat now and im happy with it but i want to experiment with other pickups to see what i can get. i like to play a mixture of gary moore type blues all the way to Death metal like arch enemy and also Slipknot type of music.

has anyone tried these pickups? what do they sound like, and what seymour duncans could they compare too? ive always used duncans but this is a nice price.

 

[Jag513]

Re: Dimarzio Xn2 or Full Shred?

Well they're completely different types of pickups. The Full Shred is medium output, going more for clarity and letting every note articulate (which it does extremely well). The X2N's sort of like the Distortion, it's just a frickin' beast with a ton of output.

If you're going to go for the X2N (which is mainly a lead pickup), better have your other pickups be bluesy type pickups to satisfy your blues tastes. And if you're going to be playing a lot of rhythm, I'd say look somewhere else. I don't have too much experience with the X2N, but from what I've heard and played, it's more of a lead pickup.

 

[Hellion]

Re: Dimarzio Xn2 or Full Shred?

The Full Shred isn't what I would consider to be a medium output pickup, I've always considered it to be closer to an Invader without the low end. I personally liken the Invader to the X2N, they're both definitely lead type pups.

If the price is right, get the X2N. You can always put something else back in it's place. You can play blues with something of that output and it will definitely translate to death metal or something of the Slipknot ilk. You can NEVER go wrong owning toys!

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Dimarzio Xn2 or Full Shred?

If the X2N was good enough for Chuck Schuldiner, it's good enough for me

 

[lateralus]

Re: Dimarzio Xn2 or Full Shred?

but the x2n CAN be quite good for rhythm, palm muting sounds great

 

[ranalli]

Re: Dimarzio Xn2 or Full Shred?

X2N is much higher output than the Full Shred and doesn't do lower gain stuff too well unless you have a low gain amp or cleans either. Very good pickup if most of what you do is straight up metal....does leads and rhythm great. It's got really good tone...just a TON of output...more than an EMG81 actually.

 

[SABOTAGE]

Re: Dimarzio Xn2 or Full Shred?

X2N is much higher output than the Full Shred and doesn't do lower gain stuff too well unless you have a low gain amp or cleans either. Very good pickup if most of what you do is straight up metal....does leads and rhythm great. It's got really good tone...just a TON of output...more than an EMG81 actually.

yeah ranalli has it dead on.
I found the X2N to be too overkill with any higher gain amp like my mesa.
and i have to warn you there is something "fizzy" in its tone?
you may like this but i hated it :yell:
it has a real upper presence that is very buzzsaw like and like ranalli said has more output than a 81 which is just plain SICK! :laugh2: