Re: Hondo II offshore DiMarzio PUs
Thank you, everyone, for your replies.
Hondo definitely did offer guitars and basses with "Made By DiMarzio" pickups - usually with creme bobbins a la Super Distortion HB. These appeared on a variety of guitars from the matching S. D. Curlee guitar and bass to a flat-topped, screwed-on neck, LP-shaped model. When brand new, the pickups had removable clear plastic film covers proclaiming the DiMarzio involvement. (Just like the protective film over current Epiphone pickups name-drops Gibson.)
My original reason for asking is that I have acquired (yet) another Yamaha Attitude Plus bass guitar. The vendor claimed its non-original pickup to be "designed by DiMarzio". The only instance of "designed by DiMarzio" that I can ever recall is those Hondo II instruments from the early Eighties.
The specific pickup I have is a P Bass replacement with creme bobbin covers and rod magnet polepieces. I would expect a DiMarzio to have either hex headed screw poles, thin bar poles or hidden poles a la Will Power middle PU. Further, on the underside, there is a copper coated screening plate. The rods poke through this plate. Unfortunately, these details and the non-DiMarzio output cabling remind me most strongly of Powersound pickups.
The actual sound from the pickup is generally good except, maybe, for being a little light in the deep bass frequencies. That might just be the crappy old strings.
