Short review: Liquifire vs Air Norton

[Nagisa]

Sorry I was too lazy to record an A/B but I will write my impressions.

Running with a Dreamcatcher in the bridge of my J.Custom 8820 through a Kemper JCM900 profile (Cannot find a Mesa profile that sounds as good as this one).

I got the AN because I wanted an alnico neck Petrucci pickup and did not realize the liquifire was alnico when I bought it. The AN ended up being a nice neck pickup - PAFlike (not too far from my Pearly Gates, but louder) . Unfortunately it was a bit muddy. Cleans were fantastic, leads up the neck were good, but mid-neck and lower notes were flubby when distorted. I flipped the pickup around like Petrucci but it didn’t fix the problem. I also was quieter than my Dreamcatcher (amazing bridge pup btw).

So then I discovered the Liquifire was Alnico. Installed it today. Hallelujah! It’s an AN without the flub. Leads are good all over the neck - very liquid(tm). They are clearer throughout than the AN. Sounds just like any DT fan would want. Cleans are also good - only slightly more compressed than the AN.

The biggest plus, though, is the bump in output. It perfectly balances the Dreamcatcher, while the AN had a slight volume drop unless I dropped the Dreamcatcher below optimum height.

Couldn’t be happier! While the AN is a decent pickup, I feel the Liquifire is a clear improvement for players looking for Petrucci sounds. I feel Dimarzio would be justified if it discontinued the AN.

I know there are 3 sig pickups that came after the Liquifire but I have little interest in ceramic neck pickups with my rig. I get why Petrucci does it because he is going for an ultra tight sound now but this is classic DT sounding which I far, far prefer.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Short review: Liquifire vs Air Norton

An AN, Muddy? I tried mine yesterday and I was absolutely amazed at how open and clear it sounded. it's one of my favorite bridge + neck pickups in a LP by far. The liquifire sounds so woofy and fat to my ears. Interesting how we all hear something different and how it responds and works with our playing: I have a notoriously bright attack in my fingers, perhaps that accounts for my different experience.

 

[Nagisa]

Re: Short review: Liquifire vs Air Norton

Adjectives for sounds are difficult. A better word might have been thick. There is a broad spectrum of sound in the AN wheras the Liquifire is more focused (IME). .7mm pen vs .5mm pen if you will.

Also being able to back the pickup away from the strings some thanks to the increased output may help with clarity in my case.

 

[Anficht]

Re: Short review: Liquifire vs Air Norton

AN is definitely muddy for me as well.
I solved this by half-airing mine and also replacing the A5 with a Ceramic magnet.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Short review: Liquifire vs Air Norton

Agreed...I'm not a big fan of the AN in the neck, either. It's an "ok" choice if all you play is thick, smooth leads on the neck pickup, but the Liquifire is a better all around pickup, having a little more edge and clarity to it. If it weren't for Petrucci fans keeping it alive, the AN would have fallen off the radar for most people long ago.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Short review: Liquifire vs Air Norton

Interesting. I like the clips I've heard of the Air Norton. Seems kinda EMG 85-ish with a laid-back attack and liquid sustain. What you say about the output worries me, though, as if I got one, I'd probably be pairing it with a Duncan Distortion. Would love to try the Liquifire if it's equally liquid-y. I guess the name implies it is, LOL.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Short review: Liquifire vs Air Norton

I thought the AN was a puddle of mud too. It is so smooth and has so little pick attack, I felt like I was playing a synthesizer, not a guitar. I hated the fact that Ibanez stuck it in practically every Japanese Prestige model they made for a while. I like the Liquifire/Crunch Lab combo more than I thought I would. The Liquifire is a way more useable pickup than the AN for me. Much more versatile.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Short review: Liquifire vs Air Norton

Does your upper register playing sound extremely shrilly even with dark pickups... I have this.... and didn't think of it being because of my finger tone. I've always assumed I just had weird pick attack.

Mind blown.

No, because my picking changes the higher I go. What happens is that I scrape the strings with my thumb when I chord and riff and use the edge of the pick to get more 'grind', but for soloing up high I use just the tip and pick very lightly. I never had pedals when I started playing so I had to bake in dynamics into my playing, so if I picked HARD, I get a lot more power.

It's so, so weird to hear you all say the AN is a woofy, fat or even muddy pickup. I never experienced it that way, only as a warm yet clear pickup that howls when I play. I personally enjoy the tones because the AN in neck+bridge works so well because the tones are very similar.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Short review: Liquifire vs Air Norton

In the perfect guitar, I'm sure the AN is great. But, as you can see, there's a strong trend emerging, ha ha!

Orpheo, if you really like the AN, you should definitely give the Liquifire a shot if you get the chance

 

[orpheo]

Re: Short review: Liquifire vs Air Norton

In the perfect guitar, I'm sure the AN is great. But, as you can see, there's a strong trend emerging, ha ha!

Orpheo, if you really like the AN, you should definitely give the Liquifire a shot if you get the chance

I did! But it's soooo warm and syrupy and thick. I couldn't get a handle on it. The AN felt more open, organic to me.

 

[Juanhanglo]

Re: Short review: Liquifire vs Air Norton

I like the AN better of those two.

I like the Air norton s even more. It fixes the slight lack of high end focus (?) in the full sized version

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Short review: Liquifire vs Air Norton

Does the Liquifire have the Airbucker and/or the Virtual Vintage thingy? The DiMarzio site used to say if it does, but it doesn't anymore.

 

[Anficht]

Re: Short review: Liquifire vs Air Norton

Does the Liquifire have the Airbucker and/or the Virtual Vintage thingy? The DiMarzio site used to say if it does, but it doesn't anymore.

Good question. I wonder why they did remove that information.
I usually could tell if I were to like a certain pickup model or not based on that info alone and 3 times out of 4 I was right.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Short review: Liquifire vs Air Norton

You can still access older versions of the site (and pretty much any website). Here's a trick: LINK

Looks like the Liquifire uses both Airing and VV tech according to the patent. If I still had one, I'd see about removing the VV tech to brighten it up a bit, but probably leave the Airing.

Interesting!

 

[Ascension]

Re: Short review: Liquifire vs Air Norton

An AN, Muddy? I tried mine yesterday and I was absolutely amazed at how open and clear it sounded. it's one of my favorite bridge + neck pickups in a LP by far. The liquifire sounds so woofy and fat to my ears. Interesting how we all hear something different and how it responds and works with our playing: I have a notoriously bright attack in my fingers, perhaps that accounts for my different experience.

I had the same experience with the Liquifier way to muddy and thick in the neck of my Carvin ST 300. To me it would make a nice mid output bridge pickup but was to hot and muddy for me in the neck. Some of it may have been the guitar had it in as even the Sentient i have in the neck of the ST 300 is a little wooly and boomie. Will swap the A 5 to a rough cast A 4 at the next string change on that guitar and if that doesn't do it swap the Sentient for a SNS neck.