Tell me about the Dimarzio HS-3. Opinions?

[Diego]

I have a Squier Strat, and I wanna upgrade it. Stock pickups just won't cut it.

The worst offender is the bridge pickup. No matter what string gauge, pickup height or EQ settings I use, it always ends up sounding too shrill and thin. And when I finally get it kinda right, the other pickups turn to mud. I connected the middle tone pot to it (250k) in hope that it would make things better, and it did but it's not there yet.

I'm not really chasing Yngwie's or Ritchie's or Uli's or anyone's tone here. I just want a fat Stratocaster hard rock sound for my bridge pickup, that retains the single coil DANG but with lots of beef, without being compressed. I wanna keep the dynamics and clarity. And from what I've read, the HS-3 might fit my needs just fine, since it retains the Strat sound but with much more bass and mids. I know it's a very low output pickup, but that's not a problem.

What are your thoughts about this pickup? I did a quick search and ended up with a very wide spectrum of opinion, from "crap" to "gem".

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: I found this Youtube link of some guy comparing a few pickups, including an HS-3 with a stock Fender pup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2v97KuRyIM

It's interesting, but sadly the overall tone of the comparison is very poor and saturated. He did something really wrong, because the tone of his songs is really good, but the A/B tests sound awful. Great player actually!

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Tell me about the Dimarzio HS-3. Opinions?

depends on your guitar... but i have used a HS-3 in the bridge and i personally loved how it sounded, it had a certain edgy sound i diged back when i was a SSS strat player and i still have that pickup and if i ever go back to SSS its gonna be my bridge pickup again, didn't sound thin at all and had a nice cut and was straty enough for my taste. Don't usually like single coil bridges as they then to sound thin but this one sounds great, with OD or distortion but cleans aren't great.. i never use the bridge for clean anyways. If you don't care about getting a pure authentic vintage fender tone from the bridge and play mostly with OD/Dist on the bridge like i do try it out. You'll get that hard rock kinda sound you want from them.

 

[Diego]

Re: Tell me about the Dimarzio HS-3. Opinions?

James Byrd isn't a big fan of them YJM or HS3 in the bridge... He says its too shrill.

That's weird, because most negative comments I've read complain about the exact opposite; dead, muffled, "blanket on top". Nobody complained it was too bright! Still good to know.

If it sounds muffled, I don't want it. I just want to it be more balanced than my current Strat bridge pickup, which in the B/M/H chart I'd say it's 3/5/8.5 and that's bad! Something like 5/6/6 would be nice.

C-Martin, thanks for your feedback. That sounds good! I usually don't gel with most Strat bridge pickups either. So it sounds like you and me are after the same thing!

And I don't care for the clean sound on this pickup. That's what the neck and middle pickups are for in these guitars!

 

[357mag]

Re: Tell me about the Dimarzio HS-3. Opinions?

The way it's gonna sound is really dependent on the wood in your guitar. I've had some Malmsteen Strats in which the HS-3 sounded very, very bassy. Way too muddy with little articulation. Hated it.

Now my latest Malmsteen Strat also came with the YJM's and the HS-3. I was very surprised to discover that now that same pickup didn't sound bassy at all. It was very tight and focused. I almost needed to add some bottom to the sound.

The tone guide for the HS-3 is:

Bass - 6
Mids - 6
Highs - 6.5

If you look at that you can see how much top end Dimarzio rolled off the thing. But if you put it in a guitar that has a tight, non-bassy sounding wood it will not really sound like that tone guide.

It is also a gritty sounding pickup. If you listen to Malmsteen's tone he kinda has a gritty tone. Kinda like a little bit of sandpaper mixed in. The HS-3 gives you his gritty tone.

That's the bottom line really.

 

[Diego]

Re: Tell me about the Dimarzio HS-3. Opinions?

Thanks, man!

Did you try a 500k tone pot by any chance? Some say it's a good choice in case it sounds too boomy. Just asking.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Tell me about the Dimarzio HS-3. Opinions?

IMHO, the Fast Track 1 is a nicer pickup. Strattier, higher output, and handles gain better, IMHO.

 

[Diego]

Re: Tell me about the Dimarzio HS-3. Opinions?

Only issue I have with the Fast Tracks is that I wanna keep the original look. No rails for me, sadly.

I'll think about it, though. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[357mag]

Re: Tell me about the Dimarzio HS-3. Opinions?

I don't touch any of my pots. I leave them stock. Interesting comment about the rails look. I will never use them either. I prefer to keep the stock Fender cosmetic.

 

[SMark]

Re: Tell me about the Dimarzio HS-3. Opinions?

I think 500k pots work well with the HS-3. I've never found it to be a thin or shrill sounding pup. It is fairly low output however, so mixing it with other pickups can be problematic. I've always needed to use with other HS-3 or HS-2 pups in the mid and neck positions.

 

[Farkus]

Re: Tell me about the Dimarzio HS-3. Opinions?

I just took an HS-3 combo out of one of my main Strats. I've tried to like it over and over, and for awhile it's okay...then I really miss the extended highs of a true single coil. Overall, if you really need hum cancelling and can deal with a non-vintage Strat tone the HS-3 is an okay choice.

Truth be told, I like the HS-3 head and shoulders over the YJM. It's just supposed to be a change to vintage mag stagger but the YJM has so much high end that it gets the same sound (IMO) as the el cheapo Strat pickups...you know that shrill tone and with no body at the same time.

Just IMO, of course.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Tell me about the Dimarzio HS-3. Opinions?

Did you see the new Hot Stack Plus? It could be what you're looking for. The old Dimarzio stack designs (HS series & IBZUSA series) are a little dull to me. I can't get along with them for extended periods of time. It doesn't seem to matter whether they're the HS-2, HS-3, IBZUSA, IBZUSA C1 or C2. There's a "less than traditional" quality to the attack and the overall tone. Their new line of stacks are a whole different animal. I haven't tried the Virtual Solo, but it could be what you're looking for as well.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Tell me about the Dimarzio HS-3. Opinions?

Forget about the look. Let your ears decide for you.