New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

Masta' C

Well-known member
A unique one from DiMarzio!

Apparently, after a name swap from "Magnetar", it's now called the DP273 "Satchur8" model

13K, Alnico 8 and I'm guessing there are a few unspecified DiMarzio-patented tweaks under the hood. Cool to see them branching out...both DiMarzio AND Joe Satriani!

The output specs suggest this is in the EVO 2 range of output, which is plenty for most.

I went ahead and ordered one to check it out.

Fellow forum bro, DarthPhineas, recently posted a review about the new pickup on his site, but all I got from it was that the pickup has a moderately hot output and isn't overly compressed. Maybe he'll chime in and enlighten us with further details...perhaps compare it to the FRED he had in the same guitar. ;)

I'll be sure to add my two cents once I get mine in and installed.
 
Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

Interesting. We keep seeing more PU makers breaking tradition and using different magnets. One might almost think our years of experimenting and discussions may have had an influence.
 
Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

Just an observation: From the specs on Darth Phineas review, the wind seems to have a lot in common with the Norton.
Norton is 5.4k screw coil & 7.15k slug coil, compared to 5.62 & 7.42 for the Satchur8.
 
Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

I'm still wanting to eventually try the new JP sonic-xtcy,,,,,,,,now that one looks really promising for us metal guys.
 
Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

What is this? Hmm...

:scratchch

I won't really know until they offer it as a plain black open-coil for a more standard price.
Maybe it could be ordered as such now, but I'm sure there would/will-be a custom-charge for having it uncustomized lol,,,,,oh the irony.
Anyways, it's specs are quite different from any of the recent JP-models,,,,,,,,much higher dcr and also a little more output,,,,,more hot and thick instead of clear/dry.
 
Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

I couldnt find either of those pickups on DiMarzio's site. Is it some super secret squirrel schitt?
 
Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

Oh, I remember the Sonic Ecstasy now. It was mentioned here back around NAMM, a thicker, warmer pickup than the Illuminators. Sort of the wrong direction for my tastes.

I'm hoping the Satchur8 has a little more edge and cut than the Sonic Ecstasy, but still maintains enough girth in treble response to keep things from sounding thin up top.

Satch has been slowly gravitating toward higher and higher output designs over the years. The Satchur8 is not extreme, but the output is stated to be 375 mV, which is still no slouch. The PAF Pro was 300, the FRED was around 305 and his Mo' Joe was 320. Just an interesting progression.

Either way, Joe has a better ear for nuance and dynamics than John, IMO, which is also why I'm excited for this new design. ;)
 
Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

Oh, I remember the Sonic Ecstasy now. It was mentioned here back around NAMM, a thicker, warmer pickup than the Illuminators. Sort of the wrong direction for my tastes.

I'm hoping the Satchur8 has a little more edge and cut than the Sonic Ecstasy, but still maintains enough girth in treble response to keep things from sounding thin up top.

Satch has been slowly gravitating toward higher and higher output designs over the years. The Satchur8 is not extreme, but the output is stated to be 375 mV, which is still no slouch. The PAF Pro was 300, the FRED was around 305 and his Mo' Joe was 320. Just an interesting progression.

Either way, Joe has a better ear for nuance and dynamics than John, IMO, which is also why I'm excited for this new design. ;)

I dunno, 375 is actually pretty high and is almost on par with a tone zone, which I would consider pretty high output. but again it depends mostly on how the pickup is voiced. so I don't put too much stock in output specs.
 
Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

Well, my Satchur8 arrived tonight...that was fast!

Hopefully I'll have time to put it in something over the weekend.
 
Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

Let us know the results.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk
 
Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

I loved the tone Satch got in the video demoing the pickup but you never know how much of that is Satch and the processing/production. Would love to try one myself.
 
Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

Might be a brief delay of a day or two. I'm thinking about trying the Satchur8 in one of the guitars I recently tried the Duality pickup in. If I do go that route, it means a quick rewire to go back to passive. I'd like to try it on a push-pull coil split, since it seems like a good candidate, but I might try it with a regular pot first just to get a taste :)

I will say that the A8 magnet DiMarzio is using is quite strong! Doing a non-scientific pull test against an EVO 2 I have sitting here, the magnetic field above the Satchur8 is pretty intense! Doesn't seem they are using "virtual vintage" tech on this. Also, there's definitely no "airing" going on from what I can tell by looking at the spacers on the end.
 
Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

I've got a JS2450 with the Mo' Joe bridge pickup. It's got plenty of output for me.
 
Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

Are the coils balanced? Might be a norton with an a8 hex poles and a nickel baseplate.
 
Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

Well, my Satchur8 arrived tonight...that was fast!

Hopefully I'll have time to put it in something over the weekend.

Where did you order it from ? I do see a few on eBay using the Magnetar name
 
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Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

I should give a tiny bit of background here. In 2013 MJ made me a pickup called The Magnetar. It's an Alnico 8 bridge humbucker for 7-string, and I now have a few of them including a matching Alnico 5 neck pickup that is seriously the greatest sounding pickup I own. I wrote about the bridge model here: http://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/product-news/magnetar and I've used it on sessions, televised performances, mentioned it in instructional columns and interviews, etc.

At NAMM this year I wandered over to the DiMarzio booth to say hi and see what they had. And right there was a pickup called the Magnetar. When I asked them what the deal was, they said it was Joe's new pickup - which was funny because I'd actually told him about my Magnetar a few years ago during one of our many interviews. I guess he filed it away in the back of his mind and forgot where it came from (admittedly it's a hella cool name for a pickup, haha). I truly believe it was an honest mistake, because Joe is one of the nicest guys in the industry and we all know what he went through with the Coldplay incident. Anyway, when I saw that he was using the name, I reminded him about my pickup and he immediately went to Larry who agreed to change the name. DiMarzio probably could have pushed back but they didn't, which I will always appreciate and respect. I guess they already had enough of them packaged up with the Magnetar name that they shifted some before introducing the new name. I should send Satch one of my Magnetars one of these days - it'd make a hell of a six-string pickup!
 
Re: New Satriani Pickup...the "Satchur8"!

^ wow. I had seen the magnetar" name before as well. Nice of Satch to change it in time.

Where is this video demo of this pickup someone mentioned earlier? I can't find it, anyone got a link?
 
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