I thought I would like the tone zone.

[guitarslinger213]

I was wrong. I have tried LOTS of Dimarzios. Before the TZ, the only ones I had really disliked were the FRED and the VV Heavy Blues.

The Tone Zone has the same kind of weird plasticky tone that the fred had.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Paf pro in both positions. I love the other VV models, the evos, the breed, the super dist., the hs2, hs3, xtn,F1, F3, F4, H4, etc.

back to the point, the tone zone is incredibly muddy compared to pretty much everyhitng. The highs are also not apparent enough. THe harmonics are no better than any other dimarzio.

It's wrong all over. I might go back to the good old J-90C or a Paf Pro.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: I thought I would like the tone zone.

what did you put it in??

the tone zone shines in bolt on guitars with floyds and maple necks since it fattens them up without getting muddy. i would never consider it for a mahogany set neck guitar though.

-Mike

 

[guitarslinger213]

Re: I thought I would like the tone zone.

what did you put it in??

the tone zone shines in bolt on guitars with floyds and maple necks since it fattens them up without getting muddy. i would never consider it for a mahogany set neck guitar though.

-Mike

It's a very thin, floyd equipped mahogany Ibanez saber with a maple neck.

It is a VERY bright guitar for mahogany. I figured this bassy, middy P'up would be great. I'm a Paul Gilbert fan too.

 

[Aceman]

Re: I thought I would like the tone zone.

Hey - everything isn't for everyone. I have one in a basher LP and love it. Amp tone settings are 3/7/9 B/M/T. I like the general "pumped up" sound, I like the compression, I like the hotness. Sorry it didn't work out for you - a lot of people who don't like TZ seem to like the Air ZOne, though. And +1 on the PAF Pro - That's just a good pup!

 

[guitarslinger213]

Re: I thought I would like the tone zone.

is the air zone mod easy with the tone zone? I heard there is a spacer between the pole pices and magnet that can be removed.

I shouldn't feel bad. I only paid $16 for it and it looks new.

 

[taphappy]

Re: I thought I would like the tone zone.

Seems like it would work well in your guitar. Have you had any previous experience with this pickup?

 

[guitarslinger213]

Re: I thought I would like the tone zone.

Seems like it would work well in your guitar. Have you had any previous experience with this pickup?

you know, I had tried it a couple of times, but never through my gear. I always felt indifferent to it.

I just can't believe how wrong it sounds compared to 90% of the pickups I've ever owned.

The best term I have for this pickup is "unnatural".

It reminds me of the Fred, but it is slightly better.

I can't find anything I like more than high quality OEM Dimarzio pickups like the f series from Ibanez and the H series from fender.

 

[taphappy]

Re: I thought I would like the tone zone.

I think I know what you mean by unnatural. Its just your taste, maybe you should try more duncans, they sound more organic. To be fair I'll say there are organic sounding pups in the Dimarzio line.

 

[guitarslinger213]

Re: I thought I would like the tone zone.

I think I know what you mean by unnatural. Its just your taste, maybe you should try more duncans, they sound more organic. To be fair I'll say there are organic sounding pups in the Dimarzio line.

You might be right. I feel bad that I don't own any seymours.

 

[Pierre]

Re: I thought I would like the tone zone.

If you don't like the TZ, I doubt you'd like the AZ much. It's basically a less hot version if it. Harmonics are FANTASTIC, and the lead sound is just beautiful, but for heavy metal riffing, it really, to be honest, sucked. Now I doubt you need to use the TZ for country, so I'm guessing you'd want to try the AZ for heavy music too?

I wish I could try this: wire the AZ in parrallel, use a demud mod on it, and place it in the neck position. For leads I'm guessing it'd sound fantastic.

 

[ranalli]

Re: I thought I would like the tone zone.

I was wrong. I have tried LOTS of Dimarzios. Before the TZ, the only ones I had really disliked were the FRED and the VV Heavy Blues.

The Tone Zone has the same kind of weird plasticky tone that the fred had.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Paf pro in both positions. I love the other VV models, the evos, the breed, the super dist., the hs2, hs3, xtn,F1, F3, F4, H4, etc.

back to the point, the tone zone is incredibly muddy compared to pretty much everyhitng. The highs are also not apparent enough. THe harmonics are no better than any other dimarzio.

It's wrong all over. I might go back to the good old J-90C or a Paf Pro.

It's pretty much the darkest pickup out there.....did you take a look at the tone chart for it??


It's a very niche pickup IMO or for those who really like lack of top end and lots of bottom and mids....to the extreme. And with it not being ceramic that will make it less tight as well.


I personally think it's a very over-rated pickup. People ALWAYS recommend it when someone asks about Dimarzio but it's so not their best pickup(s).

 

[ranalli]

Re: I thought I would like the tone zone.

I think I know what you mean by unnatural. Its just your taste, maybe you should try more duncans, they sound more organic. To be fair I'll say there are organic sounding pups in the Dimarzio line.

It's really not even a Duncan vs Dimarzio thing.....that's THE most un-natural pickup in the Dimarzio line pretty much. Try a more neutral EQ'd one and it might sound more "natural".