What is the middle ground between a JB and a Tone Zone?

[Rex_Rocker]

So we all know the Tone Zone came from DiMarzio trying to get something along the lines of EVH's broken JB. The Tone Zone is quite a bit different from the JB, though. Way fatter. Although, I do feel it might come across similar in some ways like the output level and overall saturation.

I wonder what's a good middle ground between both? I was thinking maybe Breed?

I would think maybe the Alternative 8 or the AT-1 would be somewhat that EQ-wise, but the difference in output migh make them behave differently.

Thoughts?

 

[freefrog]

I've not the answer to your question but IME, the TZ clearly owes its fatness to Dual-Resonance. Now, this technique is used by DiMarzio to achieve almost opposite results so, searching among Dual-Resonance models wouldn't even guarantee a similar tone...

I think that if I wanted something between a TZ and a JB, I'd simply take one coil in each (knowing that the two associations doable on this basis would probably have very different if not mutually exclusive comb filtering behaviors) . ;-)

 

[JohnnyGuitarCA]

OK, so you want a hot pickup. DiMarzio Norton (DP160) or EVO2 (DP215). (The EVO2 isn't shrill. The regular Evolution has a nasty peak at around 5K. The EVO2 sounds killer whether clean or dirty, and the Norton sounds great in series and parallel modes. The Norton is a cross between the Tone Zone (DP155) and the Fred. (DP153).

 

[Chistopher]

AT-1 is basically a DMZ JB

 

[eclecticsynergy]

i love the Breed bridge in superStrats.
It fattens up a trem guitar as intended, but stays contained in the lowest lows where the TZ can feel kind of bloated.
AT-1 is pretty similar to the Breed in overall personality I think, just a bit lighter and tighter.
Both are said to be cousins of the Axis bridge made for Music Man.

One of my LPs sounds quite skinny & harsh compared to the others, nearly unusable with its stock Burstbuckers.
AT-1 really filled it out nicely. Pretty muscular output, but IMO a little less over the top than a JB, and a fair bit sweeter.

 

[freefrog]

BTW, giving to a JB the harmonic comb filtering of a TZ would be possible without changing anything in the pickup itself: one would just have to put one of the coils (the one with slugs, at first glance) in series with a low value resistor (something like 1.2k) and in parallel with a low value capacitor to ground (under 100pF to start). The tricky part would be to measure the resonant frequencies obtained and to tune the RC values accordingly, which is not doable by ear nor without a large choice of resistive / capacitive components.

 

[Masta' C]

Saw the title and immediately thought "AT-1".

If you want tighter with more bite, but a voicing that's still in the ballpark, the "Illuminator" is worth checking out.

I don't have experience with the "Gravity Storm" set, but pretty much every review raves about them, so they're on my short-list of DiMarzio pickups to try next.

I've had the "Evo 2" a couple times and I really wanted to like it...sounds perfect on paper and is indeed a bit more relaxed than the original Evo...but I'd take pretty much any of the aforementioned pickups over it.

 

[Cynical]

SuperD.

 

[AdrianSD]

I find the TZ very dark sounding, being used to mostly Duncans. Rex Rocker have you tried a Super Distortion yet, or a Custom with a double thick ceramic?

 

[zionstrat]

BTW, giving to a JB the harmonic comb filtering of a TZ would be possible without changing anything in the pickup itself: one would just have to put one of the coils (the one with slugs, at first glance) in series with a low value resistor (something like 1.2k) and in parallel with a low value capacitor to ground (under 100pF to start). The tricky part would be to measure the resonant frequencies obtained and to tune the RC values accordingly, which is not doable by ear nor without a large choice of resistive / capacitive components.

Haven't gotten my head around this idea quite yet.. is this kind of like the telecaster half out of phase mod?

 

[skelt101]

How about a Tone Zone with the Half Air mod?

 

[Aceman]

I think a JB with an A8 magnet is somewhere in the realm of what you are talking about.

 

[freefrog]

Haven't gotten my head around this idea quite yet.. is this kind of like the telecaster half out of phase mod?

Not quite, since the coils are not OOP.

Rather like a VariTone doing its job beyond the main resonant peak.

Actually, all humbuckers do that, but at high or very high frequencies, beyond the functional range of typical guitar cabs in most cases.

DiMarzio Dual-Resonance just shifts this phenomenon in the audio spectrum - and changes the output level balance between coils.

Sometimes it seems designed to aggravate the comb filtering effect due to uneven capacitive loads and it darkens the high range by comb filtering it, like with a TZ.

In other cases, it appears to be done to correct the mismatching due to 4 conductors cable and to flatten the related comb filtering effect, even if a remaining resistive asymmetry keeps making one of the coils louder than the other...

So, Dual-Resonance can't be defined by univocal consequences IME/IMHO.

But it can be emulated by external RC components- to some extent since a series resistor won't lower the output of a coil separately : my previous answer lacked of nuance for being not precise enough about that... Sounds like health issues make my replies not fully balanced , these days. ;-)

FWIW. < : O)

NOTE - I had shared here an experimental screenshot about the Dual-Resonance of a TZ but have realized that I might have mixed up some data. I'll try to dive in my crowded archives and to come back with something clearer if possible.

 

[xxxplorer]

Motor City Afwayu

 

[Chistopher]

How about a Tone Zone with the Half Air mod?

I think the Air Zone is just that. Dimarzio doesn't distinguish between air and half air in their branding.

 

[skelt101]

I think the Air Zone is just that. Dimarzio doesn't distinguish between air and half air in their branding.

Don’t know. Everything I’ve read states the half air mod is in-between the two factory pickups, and very similar to the EVH/Axis. No personal experience. Perhaps someone can verify the Air Zone is half or fully “aired”…

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I find the TZ very dark sounding, being used to mostly Duncans. Rex Rocker have you tried a Super Distortion yet, or a Custom with a double thick ceramic?

I have tried the Super Distortion, but that was ages ago. It was the first pickup I swapped in and out of a guitar.

I did try the big Ceramic Custom, and I didn't like it. Kinda took away part of what I like from the Custom (the sizzly high-end), and gave me more of what I think the Custom doesn't need (thuddy lows). But I still feel the Custom is really different from the JB in all its forms. It's a cool pickup, but it's not what I want for this guitar.

 

[zionstrat]

Not quite, since the coils are not OOP.

Rather like a VariTone doing its job beyond the main resonant peak.

Actually, all humbuckers do that, but at high or very high frequencies, beyond the functional range of typical guitar cabs in most cases.

DiMarzio Dual-Resonance just shifts this phenomenon in the audio spectrum - and changes the output level balance between coils.

Sometimes it seems designed to aggravate the comb filtering effect due to uneven capacitive loads and it darkens the high range by comb filtering it, like with a TZ.

In other cases, it appears to be done to correct the mismatching due to 4 conductors cable and to flatten the related comb filtering effect, even if a remaining resistive asymmetry keeps making one of the coils louder than the other...

So, Dual-Resonance can't be defined by univocal consequences IME/IMHO.

But it can be emulated by external RC components- to some extent since a series resistor won't lower the output of a coil separately : my previous answer lacked of nuance for being not precise enough about that... Sounds like health issues make my replies not fully balanced , these days. ;-)

FWIW. < : O)

NOTE - I had shared here an experimental screenshot about the Dual-Resonance of a TZ but have realized that I might have mixed up some data. I'll try to dive in my crowded archives and to come back with something clearer if possible.

Thank you!