Dimarzio's scare me, but

F

Fly_with_v

New member
I bought a Norton.

I love most offerings from SD. In fact, I recently started buying a few Ibanez guitars and tried the EVO in one, but immediately changed to a Custom Custom. I like the EVO OK, but I love the CC. I always like SD pickups. I have a C5,CC AII, Slash, JB, Jazz, Pearly Gates, Blackouts and I love them all.

So why buy a Dimarzio? Well I just purchased a 25th Anniversary RG and it has yellow trembucker pickups. The stock IBZ's are OK, but the leave a bit to be desired, not to mention I really just do not get along with ceramic (which maybe my issue with the EVO's). I wanted to try a JB or even a '78 but as I understand only regular spaced SD's are made in colors and the color is glossy instead of matte for Dimarzio. I am only replacing the bridge initially, once that is set I may change the others.

So two questions.

Why doesn't SD make trembuckers in different colors?

Why is there such a distinct difference in general tone between SD and Dimarzio or is it just that I have only tried a few ceramic Dimarzios?
 
Re: Dimarzio's scare me, but

The Norton is by far the most popular pickup over on the Dimarzio forum, for good reason, I've got one in the bridge of my Strat and it's basically the cat's pajamas.

Dimarzio's are different from SD's in the same way that Coke is different than Pepsi and Ford is different from Audi, they're just different companies that make different products.

And don't worry too much about colored trembuckers...Duncans have absolutely no place in Ibanez guitars :approve:
 
Re: Dimarzio's scare me, but

I keep thinking of trying a Norton for my LP for just the reason oilpit said. From the clips Ive heard, it can rock, it can roll, it can cry and sing and scream. One day......

So yeah. How do you like the Norton?
 
Re: Dimarzio's scare me, but

norton and AT-1 are two of the best medium OP dimarzio's i have ever tried:cool2:
 
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Re: Dimarzio's scare me, but

You can get paint meant to paint on plastic at most hobby/craft stores. or use colored tape. I have a radiation green Carvin 7 string that came with BKPs the previous owner had taped with purple tape, and honestly, I didn't notice it was tape for a long time :D
 
Re: Dimarzio's scare me, but

Ed Hunter said:
norton and AT-1 are two of the best medium OP dimarzio's i have ever tried:cool2:
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What about the Tone Zone?

For the OP question:

1) Back in the late 80s/early 90s there was a craze for bright colours, in everything: clothes, backpacks and guitars. The shredders of the time liked bright yellow, 7up green, pink and silver; their pickup of choice was DiMarzio who hardly pushed the shredders, more than the traditional Duncan. So Dimarzio always offered these PU in crazy colors, SD never.

2) In a famous move the stranger with no name said "every gun's got its voice, and I know this voice" or something like that. For PU it's the same, although there's little difference for me between the Duncan Distortion and the Dimarzio Distortion, or the Tone Zone and the CC.
 
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Re: Dimarzio's scare me, but

You do not know the POWER of the DiMarzio side.

Darth_Vader_pointing.jpg
 
Re: Dimarzio's scare me, but

You should be afraid of DiMarzios...very afraid. They're bad pickups made by bad people. I heard they club puppies during manufacturing.
 
Re: Dimarzio's scare me, but

Dude you know well as anybody that clubbing puppies is an essential part in the pickup making process
 
Re: Dimarzio's scare me, but

yeah, if you don't pot the pickups with puppy blood, you OBVIOUSLY aren't gonna get t3h t0anz
 
Re: Dimarzio's scare me, but

DiMarzio more than any company covers pretty much any tonal territory you can think of. They have stuff ranging from very traditional single coil and PAF tones to thicker medium output offerings to over-the-top hot stuff, and at least a few different things in each category.

I see this a lot: "I tried a super distortion in 1978 and hated it, therefore I hate Dimarzio" or "I saw a DiMarzio ad with Joe Blow in it, I don't play like Joe Blow, therefore everything they make must sound like Joe BLow and I can't use it".

Nuts.

Fwiw, I tried a Super Distortion as my first replacement pup years and years ago, before they were even potted, and hated it. Switched to a JB and liked it MUCH better. I still hate the Super Distortion. But DiMarzio does have a lot of pickups I like a whole lot, some I could take or leave, and some I can't stand, which says a lot for the variety they offer.

PS: Blucher is a far better designer than Larry ever was. They should be called Bluchers, not DiMarzios, but then again, Marshalls should be called Brans.
 
Re: Dimarzio's scare me, but

how come they make so few 'buckers with the traditional screw/slug combination? looks like most of them are hex poles
 
Re: Dimarzio's scare me, but

Snoogles said:
how come they make so few 'buckers with the traditional screw/slug combination? looks like most of them are hex poles
Click to expand...

There is a particular way the magnetic field reacts to hex poles, which DiMarzio finds useful in their designs. Some say hex poles narrow the magnetic field, concentrating it and improving the definition of the pickup. DiMarzio tends to focus their designs on maximizing string-to-string definition and handling gobs of gain and still keeping the fundamental tone. Hex poles help.

I happen to think the Air Zone is one of the best pickups I've ever used and it's traditional slug/fillister, but I also like several pickups with hex poles, including a few Duncan offerings.
 
Re: Dimarzio's scare me, but

IanBallard said:
There is a particular way the magnetic field reacts to hex poles, which DiMarzio finds useful in their designs. Some say hex poles narrow the magnetic field, concentrating it and improving the definition of the pickup. DiMarzio tends to focus their designs on maximizing string-to-string definition and handling gobs of gain and still keeping the fundamental tone. Hex poles help.
Click to expand...

The official explanation I was told is that hex poles have lower magnetic pull...of course it's difficult to say it's true.

I have a SDS-1 with these poles and I love the way it looks.
 
Re: Dimarzio's scare me, but

The_Lombard_Duke said:
The official explanation I was told is that hex poles have lower magnetic pull...of course it's difficult to say it's true.

I have a SDS-1 with these poles and I love the way it looks.
Click to expand...

how can something non magnetic have magnetic pull? But they do influence the magnetic field and the way its shaped and flows.
 
Re: Dimarzio's scare me, but

Here's my norton in the bridge of an Ibanez ART. air norton in the neck. I think it's perfect for les paul style guitars. tone zone is way too heavy.

 
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