BartOfDarkness
New member
So I recently picked up my Custom Jackson from the shop that was assembling it (pics coming soon) and while the whole thing is absolutely awesome, I feel I have to comment on the Bridge version of the Air Classic that I put in the neck position as there's little to no information about using it this way.
I've always been more of a DiMarzio guy, but I've also been underwhelmed by their neck pickups in the past. One day it hit me, that a lot of my favorite shred style neck pickup tones are from Duncan users that have vintage output, mid scooped pickups with Alnico V mags such as the Duncan 59. Now I could have just bought a 59 and called it a day, but I decided to see if DiMarzio made anything that matched this description and that's how I came across the Air Classic.
I should mention that I only chose the Bridge version for output reasons and I can't compare it to the actual Air Classic neck, because I've never used one. My bridge pickup in this guitar is an Evolution and I simply didn't want to have any balancing issues.
Simply put, the Air Classic delivered everything I could have wanted and more. It gets rid of that bloated sound that a lot of DiMarzio neck pickups have (most notably the Air Norton) while not going too far in the other direction. It's definitely in that same tonal ballpark as the Duncan 59 and when set too high it even has that boomy sound some people dislike about the 59, but at the same time it brings out that DiMarzio flavor I've grown to like so much, such as the vocal lead tone they're known for. To summarize, it's warm, but it's also articulate with the highs remaining very crisp. It keeps up really well with the EVO in terms of output and having tried it, I'm sure that the weaker Air Classic neck would have done just fine, but with how good it sounds there's no reason to swap it out for the neck version. This could be my go to neck pickup from now on! :headbang:
I've always been more of a DiMarzio guy, but I've also been underwhelmed by their neck pickups in the past. One day it hit me, that a lot of my favorite shred style neck pickup tones are from Duncan users that have vintage output, mid scooped pickups with Alnico V mags such as the Duncan 59. Now I could have just bought a 59 and called it a day, but I decided to see if DiMarzio made anything that matched this description and that's how I came across the Air Classic.
I should mention that I only chose the Bridge version for output reasons and I can't compare it to the actual Air Classic neck, because I've never used one. My bridge pickup in this guitar is an Evolution and I simply didn't want to have any balancing issues.
Simply put, the Air Classic delivered everything I could have wanted and more. It gets rid of that bloated sound that a lot of DiMarzio neck pickups have (most notably the Air Norton) while not going too far in the other direction. It's definitely in that same tonal ballpark as the Duncan 59 and when set too high it even has that boomy sound some people dislike about the 59, but at the same time it brings out that DiMarzio flavor I've grown to like so much, such as the vocal lead tone they're known for. To summarize, it's warm, but it's also articulate with the highs remaining very crisp. It keeps up really well with the EVO in terms of output and having tried it, I'm sure that the weaker Air Classic neck would have done just fine, but with how good it sounds there's no reason to swap it out for the neck version. This could be my go to neck pickup from now on! :headbang:
