Help me settle a disagreement please(dimarzio related)

[WICKED LESTER]

I really like the tone of the bridge pup that was used on the EBMM EVH guitar
many say it is the same as the tone zone?
others say the air zone is it?
anyone know for sure?
I have a tone zone and i dont feel it sounds as clean or organic as the EVH custom wound one eddie used?
is the air verison closer?

 

[walt]

Re: Help me settle a disagreement please(dimarzio related)

From the DiMarzio Website:

What type of pickups were used in the Eddie Van Halen MusicMan Guitar?

These pickups were only available as original equipment on the EVH MusicMan guitar. MusicMan replaced the Van Halen guitar with a very similar model called the Axis, which uses the same pickups. The closest-sounding pickups we offer are the Air Norton™ for the neck position and the Tone Zone® for the bridge position.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: Help me settle a disagreement please(dimarzio related)

i read something a while back that when dimarzio was working with EVH for those pickups they made a few pickups for him to try and one was the tone zone which he liked but was not quite 100% perfect so they made a few changes to it and got the pickups that went into those guitars. so, the closest thing dimarzio has to those you can buy is the tone zone. i have one in a baswood body all maple neck with a floyd strat and it does sound fairly similar to those evh guitars it just seems to have a bit more attitude/push than the evh guitars (in a good way IMO). the tone zone is the best pickup i've found for baswood, it doesn't seem to work as well in other woods but it brings life to baswood for sure. so, anyway, that's what i read.

-Mike

 

[ErikH]

Re: Help me settle a disagreement please(dimarzio related)

That's what they are/were. A buddy of mine in CA used to keep in touch with Eddie's old tech (Scotty) and he passed on this same little tidbit to him when the guitar came out. I know he knew him through somebody out there who ran a shop. Damn, it's been a long time. I almost went TZ/AZ in my homemade.

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: Help me settle a disagreement please(dimarzio related)

I have a tone zone and i dont feel it sounds as clean or organic as the EVH custom wound one eddie used?

Exactly what do you compare it to? You play the musicman pup in the same guitar? Or how? Or are you just asking?

The way I've heard the story goes along the other stories told here. I remember that Larry (?) Dimarzio went to Eddie and brought him a couple of pickups, he liked the TZ best but wanted it to be a bit less hot. DMZ did this but kept the original TZ as a regular line pickup as it was the best pickup they had ever made in their opinion.

 

[WICKED LESTER]

Re: Help me settle a disagreement please(dimarzio related)

Exactly what do you compare it to? You play the musicman pup in the same guitar? Or how? Or are you just asking?

The way I've heard the story goes along the other stories told here. I remember that Larry (?) Dimarzio went to Eddie and brought him a couple of pickups, he liked the TZ best but wanted it to be a bit less hot. DMZ did this but kept the original TZ as a regular line pickup as it was the best pickup they had ever made in their opinion.

well i talked to steve blucher on the phone who is the main designer at dimarzio and he wound the pups for eddie
he said it goes like this,

" eddie is very specific and knew exactly what he wanted in a bridge pup
I made him around 6 different models to try and one of them is now being sold and the tone zone, another he tried is now called the norton.
he liked the tone zone but not 100% and also like the norton again he was not 100% satisfied.
so all i did was wind him a tone zone that is cleaner and is more paf like.
the ending result is a pup that is right in between the norton and TZ"
the closest thing we offer is the TZ because it is closer in output,low mids and vibe to eddies custom wound one
the stock production norton is not as close since it has quite less low mids and bass than the custom wound ebmm EVH or axis pup"

well you guys were just about dead on about the eddie dimarzio so thanks for you help