Using SD and Dimarzio Together

[The Dark Wolf]

Greetings. New Forum member here. I have an Ibanez RG2027, with a Dimarzio Air Norton 7 in the neck, and a Dimarzio Blaze Bridge (in the bridge, of course!)

I just purchased a SD JB 7 because I love the sound of the JB, especially in mahogany (which the RG2027 is). The Blaze is great, but I wanted to try something different and thought the JB would pair up excellently with the AN.

Any issues or concerns I should be aware of? Wiring, etc?

PS The guitar has 5-way switching...
1. Bridge, series
2. Bridge/Neck coils together (Strat "quack" setting)
3. Bridge/Neck, series
4. Neck, parallel
5. Neck, series

I have the leads to the bridge pickup taped from the 5-way tp the Blaze for easy swapping, so soldering isn't required (sort of like a swappable harness. Works great.) I plan on using this for the JB as well.

Is matching the wires based on the different codes the only issue?

Thanks everyone!

 

[trelf]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

Hiya fella, I've got a Les Paul with a SD Jeff Beck in the bridge and a Dimarzio Fred in the neck. Just follow the wiring diagrams > easy peezy > I wired it up with a coil tap on each volume pot and a in/out of phase pot on the neck tone control.

I was a bit unsure of how the pickups would sound at first, but all doubts went when I plugged up. The JB is awesome > You can't go wrong with it!!

Trelf

 

[Rich_T]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

Welcome to the light! Just don; be surprised if you feel the need to chage the neck 'bucker too!

 

[The Dark Wolf]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

Welcome to the light! Just don; be surprised if you feel the need to chage the neck 'bucker too!

Lol, thanks guys. Glad to hear it will be a simple operation.

I really like some of Seymour's neck pickups, too. The Jazz and the '59 are great, to name a few. But to be honest, I doubt there's a neck pickup as a good as the Air Norton. Sorta magic. But it seems the same might be true of the JB for the bridge. Kind of a Holy Grail of pickups. :newangel: I can't wait to hear it in my guitar.

Of course, I love actives. EMG 81-7/707 :saeek: But yikes, who wants to route their guitar to fit them in?

Again, I greatly appreciate your help and input.

 

[FretFire]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

I know that DiMarzios use different colors on their wires than Duncans, so make sure to follow the wiring diagrams included with the JB instead of referring to the Dimarzio you already have installed. I too love the Air Norton, it's a monster!

 

[Archer_of_Fish]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

Hiya fella, I've got a Les Paul with a SD Jeff Beck in the bridge and a Dimarzio Fred in the neck. Just follow the wiring diagrams > easy peezy > I wired it up with a coil tap on each volume pot and a in/out of phase pot on the neck tone control.

I was a bit unsure of how the pickups would sound at first, but all doubts went when I plugged up. The JB is awesome > You can't go wrong with it!!

Trelf

Just so you know there is no such thing as an SD Jeff Beck. JB stands for Jazz/Blues.

 

[Boleslaw Gers 666]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

My SG worked well with the Super Distortion and APH2. Except, I forgot to take into account that the alnico II is in fact an alnico II magnet.... so it sounded like ****....

 

[The Dark Wolf]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

Thanks for the help everyone. The JB went in minimal trouble (had to drill 7 small holes into the body to accomodate the screw polepieces, as the Ibanez is set up for direct-mount pups. But this was pretty easy, and I was VERY careful).

The pickup ROCKS... sounds great, everything works fine. Just had to match wires from pickup to harness... SD black to Dimarzio red, green to green, etc.

This pickup matches up REAL well with the AN7. few observations so far...

1. Tonally, it's not a lot different from the Blaze. Sort of like its sibling. Seymour lists the JB as having scooped mids, like the Blaze. Here's what it seems.
a) The Blaze is real clean, with big scooped low mids. Excellent for clarity. The JB doesn't seem AS scooped in the low mids, maybe 75% of the Blaze. But the added top-end (upper mids, and a sort of "sparkle" the Blaze only had about 50% of) yields a net that is about equal in clarity to the Blaze, but with more presence. Almost like a Blaze with the blanket taken off the speakers.
b) The JB has a great "vocal" quality about it. Hard to describe... it's almost like what the Tone Zone has in say alder, but brighter, and less mushy. A great "cut" to the sound, but very, very sweet and smooth. I know from listening to the sound samples, the JB always had this really nice quality to it... what, a 2.5-3k boost maybe? that I just kept digging. That right there won me over. Well, it's still present in the 7-string version and in my Ibanez. Great!
c) The JB has less bass than the Blaze, maybe 15% less or so, but it's very tight. Just a tad rounder, but the net effect is actually a bit punchier, and tighter for the intricate riff stuff (Think metalcore, like Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God type riffs). The Blaze is a master here, but interestingly, I think I might prefer the JB. Smooth, but real articulate, in a way LIKE the Blaze, but different at the same time!
d) The JB seems about 10% louder than the Blaze (same distance from strings). Very clean and punchy, though, and doesn't distort the cleans.

So far, a great pickup! Splits real well... a bit more body than the Blaze used with the AN7 in "quack" position, a bit more sparkle when used with the AN7 in both-series. AND! As everyone knows, pinch harmonics are noticeably easier. The pup might be the all-time PH master.

Thanks again everyone. This is a really lovely pickup, both sweet AND mean :newangel:

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

I think when you combine them, it's like a star trek episode where they combine anti-matter with matter and the entire universe is about to melt down. be very careful

 

[Kev]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

My SG worked well with the Super Distortion and APH2. Except, I forgot to take into account that the alnico II is in fact an alnico II magnet.... so it sounded like ****....

hahaha cracking user name man!

Isn't that Janick's dad?!!! :laugh2:

 

[Kev]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

I'm about to put a JB in the bridge of my ibanez too. Will that be a problem!?

(will i have to drill holes!?)

 

[The Dark Wolf]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

I'm about to put a JB in the bridge of my ibanez too. Will that be a problem!?

(will i have to drill holes!?)

If the Ibanez is set up for direct-mount pickups, you certainly might! The difference is the JB's screw polepieces extend PAST the pickup baseplate. Fine for pickups mounted in pickup rings, but a problem when direct-mounting, unlike Dimarzios, which have the polepieces stop at the baseplate.

 

[Kev]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

If the Ibanez is set up for direct-mount pickups, you certainly might! The difference is the JB's screw polepieces extend PAST the pickup baseplate. Fine for pickups mounted in pickup rings, but a problem when direct-mounting, unlike Dimarzios, which have the polepieces stop at the baseplate.

hmm.. im not quite getting it dude.. perhaps you could clear it up if i post pics??


heres your guitar i think (!)??

heres my guitar's pickup style:

 

[Kev]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

now im thinking about what you said, i guess my guitar has "pickup rings".

So thanks for helping clear that up wolf!

 

[The Dark Wolf]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

now im thinking about what you said, i guess my guitar has "pickup rings".

So thanks for helping clear that up wolf!

There you go. Those little plastic things around the pickups are called pickup mounting rings. My guitar (yep, the one i the pic you posted :cool3: ) doesn't have those. The pickups are direct-mounted... ie., they screw directly into the body of the guitar.

 

[StrangeSound]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

I had this problem in my Ibanez. A guitar tech had to tweak the pup. Spent lot of work into it. At the end I had a faulty pup (humming etc).

Glad you like your JB!

 

[The Dark Wolf]

Re: Using SD and Dimarzio Together

I had this problem in my Ibanez. A guitar tech had to tweak the pup. Spent lot of work into it. At the end I had a faulty pup (humming etc).

Well that sucks! :damnit: Mine was a simple little 5-minute tweak... line up the screws, tap some starter holes, drill, and install.