The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

[nsatke]

Just wanted to put this out there for anyone to either tear apart or learn from (it seems I could learn something from a lot of you, ha!). So anyhow, to my ears the difference between a Duncan and DimarZio is the way they voice their picks. Duncan's always have healthy mids and the frequencies they boost are int the audible range of the guitar spectrum. With dimarzio, their high output/modern pickups especially, the they scoop a lot of the eq so they have a tone with more low lows and sometimes more screech but never as much midrange wallop. This is because they boost frequencies that aren't as present in the guitar's sonic pallet. What do you guys think?


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[Lewguitar]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

I think I've never liked Dimarzios pickups as much as Seymour's. Seymour's remind me of the pickups from the 50's and early 60's that I have owned and loved and Dimarzio's do not.

A lot of my favorite guitar tones have been recorded with Dimarzios (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Tom Scholz, Eric Johnson...) but for me, a blues player, Dimarzio just doesn't voice their pickups for a tone that I feel at home with.

 

[Ascension]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

There is a difference in the way that they are voiced and respond across the entire line and that's a fact.
There also are exceptions so nothing is set in stone that says every Duncan or Dimarzio will respond the same.
Overall Duncans seem to work better in situations where you are running a tube amp and few effects. They also seem voiced more to pickup the tone of the wood and be more expressive.
Dimarazios seem better suited to higher gain and the use of more effects + seem to be more aggressive in setting the tone of the guitar from just the pickups than enhancing the natural tone of the woods.
Both have their place and both have pickups that work in the other sides niche well.
Being that I run few effects and am more of a tone purist at this point in my playing life I use mostly Duncans but it has not always been so.
For many years I ran rack rigs and a lot of effects and used Dimarzios or EMG's mostly then.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

FWIW, the closest I've ever heard to Jeff Beck's sound coming out of my amplifier was using the in-between position of an EVO and Tone Zone straight in . . . I don't think it's possible to generalize because there's just too much variation offered by both companies now.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

Dimarzios are scooped while Duncans have midrange wallop? Wut?

Um, no.

 

[Top-L]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

The duncans seem to have more of the fundamental tones. The dimarzios are scooped and tend to have more bass. The dimarzios have a "complex" more modern sound to my ears, I think they are playing off their dual frequency patent. Its nice because when you have tried one dimarzio and its too hot or has the wrong eq, they have other ones with similar voice but differnt output.

That said, my favorite Duncan is the Full Shred. It sounds much like a dimarzio, kinda like an alnico version of the Evolution, similar EQ, but with more brightness. The screamin demon which I havent tried also sounds like something that could have come from dimarzio.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

Do you guys know what midrange sounds like?

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

Do you guys know what midrange sounds like?

Very few guitarist actually truly know what frequencies occupy it. I learned it from a sound engineer.

As for the difference between DMZ and SD they both have their own thing going sonically. To me SD pickups don't color the sound as much as DMZ does.

 

[tc]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

They both have a broad selection of output ranges and EQ curves going on and I really enjoy both brands. That's all I'll say about it.

 

[jimlp]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

Do you guys know what midrange sounds like?

+1 Almost all Dimarzios have a mid or low mid hump that can dominate the tone on the pickup, the 36th's and Air Classic PAF styles seem to be the exceptions as well as the Steve's Special which is scooped like the C5 for the most part.

 

[ginormous]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

When I started, there was no such thing as "custom replacement pickups".
If your pup didn't work, you got a swap from the local guy. Usually he had a bunch of OEM stuff, that he pulled from guitars that were so trashed he parted them out.
DeArmond, Fender and Gibson had replacement parts for their gear, but nothing that they marketed directly to the public -- it was sold to shops as repair parts.

Then Larry and Seymour started, and awakened a lot of people to the sonic possibilities.
Some other companies came along, and contemporaries like Bill Lawrence and Mighty Mite.

To my memory, early DiMarzios could be rather hot, or straight swap. There was no attempt to alter the EQ curve to any degree.
Seymours weren't in my neighborhood at that point (DiMarzio being a NY company, they had the geographical advantage).
Setting up different EQ curves only started happening when performers asked for custom winds, and that's when the sig pickup market opened up.

 

[Top-L]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

+1 Almost all Dimarzios have a mid or low mid hump that can dominate the tone on the pickup, the 36th's and Air Classic PAF styles seem to be the exceptions as well as the Steve's Special which is scooped like the C5 for the most part.

Mids can inhabit a broad range of frequencies. Dimarzios tend to have more harmonics and more bass which is why it could be perceived as "scooped". Yes they have their mid spike and mid voice, but usually not as strong or fundamental as the Duncan.

 

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

Every DiMarzio pickup I've heard or played through sounded dry, sterile, and lifeless. Whereas Duncans seem more vibrant and lively. Which is also the reason I don't like active pickups either, even the ones that are supposed to sound more "organic". They just don't do it for me.

It's also because of this that I rarely play my Ibanez VBT700. It still has the stock DiMarzio D Activators in it, and they just suck the live out of my playing. Yuck. Problem is, I'm not sure what I want to put in it. I guess I'm kinda waiting to see how the Perpetual Burn turns out.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

They both have a broad selection of output ranges and EQ curves going on and I really enjoy both brands. That's all I'll say about it.

1st, ^^^ this ^^^


2nd, oh geez, not this sheet again.

 

[Drunken Bowling]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

The only DiMarzio I've ever really liked was the Super Distortion. I like the YT clips of the 36th Anniversary PAF's as well, but never had any experience using them.

 

[synzzzer]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

Dimarzios are scooped while Duncans have midrange wallop? Wut?

Um, no.

I have to agree. The majority of Dimarzio's pickups are overwound so much they are nothing but mids, mud, and compression. When players say they are lifeless, they usually mean the pickup is way too compressed. A lot of Dimarzio's offerings are geared towards solo players, and not rhythm players. I will say the Blue Velvet was/is my favorite Dimarzio pickup, but they did away with it in favor of the True Velvet which I haven't had a chance to try.

 

[El Supremo]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

To me, Duncans sound bigger and livelier. Dimarzios sound more focused and dryer to me.
I like both, although Duncans seem to be a bit pickier about which guitar they like.

Hope the APH-1 set I just installed likes my LPC. Now off to play.

 

[JimmyO]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

I have had great experience with pickups from both companies, and they both make quality products. They also both make pickups that sound better in some guitars than others. Really a lot of whether a pickup is going to work with or work against your tone depends a lot on your playing style and setup. Both companies offer great exchange programs if you don't like your initial selection. Try both and see what you think. Don't overthink it and try to spend more time playing the guitar than thinking about pickups. Personally I have more seymour Duncan's than Dimarzios, but also have had good results with stock fender and gibson pickups. I live in ventura county just down the road from Santa Barbara so my local guitar store can usually get any stock duncan the next day. Happy pickup hunting.

 

[crguti]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

I would to see an active DiMarzio : private:

 

[uOpt]

Re: The difference between Duncan and Dimarzio

Whether you perceive a guitar as "singing", whether something interesting happens during the tone, during sustain, depends on the mids. The same mids that your brain uses to identify emotions in other people's voices.

Duncan pickups bring out nuances in these mids better. I don't know whether it is as simple as just a more even general frequency distribution or something more dynamic but there it is.

Gilmour will never play DiMarzios.

Maybe they should spend more time on product development and less on lawering around.