X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

[Dave Locher]

I have been exploring the sort of "classic" high output passive humbuckers. Like the Super Distortion and the Super 3, just okay with the JB and Tone Zone.
Can anyone tell me from personal experience how the Dimarzio X2n sounds and feels compared to a Super D? I am curious as heck but have yet to find a used one for less than $50 (my cutoff for just-to-try-this pickups) and as always internet reviews are all over the map and YouTube clips are mostly useless.
Is it like a Super D only "more," or something totally different? And is the magnet pull just too strong to be practical?

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

Had X-2N's way back in the 80's.... Fricking aggressive honk for days, no clean tones, just massive fuzzy mids and blurry bass tones. It's a pickup for idiots.

 

[Aceman]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

I had an X2N for a long time in a Kramer SuperStrat. I will have one again in my Hello Kitty Strat.

X2N:

First - it is STUPID hot. It is made for pimp-slapping a preamp tube into next week. There should be a law against violating a Fender Twin with one. And not surprisingly giving that hot factor, notes freaking leap out it. It reaches up and snatches them right from under your fingers. You can get harmonics just by thinking about them almost.

Next - compressed as hell. This is NOT a dynamic pickup period. It is however, loud as hell. See point number one above.

The tone, IMO, is as thick as it gets. SuperD is thick with bass and mids. The Tone Zone is thicker. The SuperD is beyond thick into dense. An X2N makes a SuperD seem pretty open by comparison. It is not at all a SuperD in any way. Totally different beast. I love the SuperD. I love the X2N. I do not love them for any of the same reasons.

I felt it was fairly evenly EQ'd. However, because of the compression the highs were by no means sharp or shrieking. This may vary based on the guitar.


Now - when I put it in, I had a three way mini switch on this guitar. I worried it for Series, Parallel, and Split. I know that sounds like the DiMarzio advertisement, and that's because that's where I got it. Let me mention this....While in series it is certainly not very sonically diverse, but Parallel and split - oh man. Those three settings really open it up and turn it into a versatile monster.

In parallel this thing has an awesome clean sound. Quiet, balanced, tight and open. All kinds of fantastic rhythm sounds are available, clean or dirty depending on the amp. In split mode, it is like Texas Hot Strat pickups except a little more 'tude. The thing is so hot that when split they are still pretty sporty and you can really work the sounds with the volume.

In Hello Kitty, I want a molten Metal assault, so it is staying series only. But if you wire it for Series/Parallel/Split, you get some very cool sounds and a lot of flexibility. Just remember that in Series, the thing is made for a purpose. That purpose is to turn a Marshall 800 into a Soldano SLO 100 being juiced hard with a Rat. Except without an SLO 100 and a Rat. It isn't made for modern user-gain amps with cranked preamps. SO tread cautiously with the gain knob if that is what you are playing.

 

[Aceman]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

Had X-2N's way back in the 80's.... Fricking aggressive honk for days, no clean tones, just massive fuzzy mids and blurry bass tones. It's a pickup for idiots.

No it isn't, but that explains why you didn't like it.

 

[Demanic]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

Had X-2N's way back in the 80's.... Fricking aggressive honk for days, no clean tones, just massive fuzzy mids and blurry bass tones. It's a pickup for idiots.

Proud to be a happy idiot.
The X2N is massive. Like a Dimebucker's mean older brother.

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[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

Like a Dimebucker's mean older brother.

No, that would be a Lawrence L-500XL. [emoji6]

The X2N is a pretty dark pickup in comparison. I had one in my acrylic guitar. Sounding great distorted. Got interesting clean tones in parallel.




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[Demanic]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

Doesn't mean contain the inference of dark?

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[DavidRavenMoon]

X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

Doesn't mean contain the inference of dark?

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Mean (as an adjective) actually means (as a verb) "unkind." But obviously in this context it's understood what by you mean (verb).

Dark as an adjective can mean "gloomy or pessimistic" which is kind of the meaning you mean. Lol. But in this context it's the opposite of "bright" and when we are talking about tone, means the lack of treble. [emoji6]

It's all about context.

Either way I was teasing because the Dimebucker is a copy of the L-500XL.


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[Demanic]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

Mean (as an adjective) actually means (as a verb) "unkind." But obviously in this context it's understood what by you mean (verb).

Dark as an adjective can mean "gloomy or pessimistic" which is kind of the meaning you mean. Lol. But in this context it's the opposite of "bright" and when we are talking about tone, means the lack of treble. [emoji6]

It's all about context.

Either way I was teasing because the Dimebucker is a copy of the L-500XL.


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Right. And the X2N is still like their meaner older brother.

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[JeffB]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

The X2N (and SuperD)sounds best for what it was designed to- push a high volume "lower" gain tube amp from the mid 1970s into thicker tighter distortion. The X2n has less bass, is more grainy and has a more prominent high midrange, whereas the Super is low and low midrange focused.

I find I don't like either pushing more "modern" designs that have a pretty decent amount of pre-amp gain to begin with. They sound best through an old NMV Marshall.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

I knew I could count on this forum to come through!
So "super hot" I had already gathered. Are we also agreeing that the eq is less bottom-heavy than the supers and tone zone, but less bright than an L500XL? (By the way, I just bought one of those to try, too!)
I am not looking for nuance. I have other guitars and volume knobs for that. And the idea of notes just jumping out sounds interesting. But I still cant quite get a grip on the eq. Is it that it has less lows/low mids than a super, or all those lows plus more highs and high mids? The Super D is as bright as I can tolerate.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

Had X-2N's way back in the 80's.... Fricking aggressive honk for days, no clean tones, just massive fuzzy mids and blurry bass tones. It's a pickup for idiots.

That's what every other mention says, which is why I keep not quite pulling the trigger on one. And I get the sense they might be a little harder to resell than my other test subjects have been.

 

[dave74]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

Most guys who have tried the x2n have had it waaaay too close to the strings,,,,,,,,IMO, or rather my speculation.

Set it low enough where the warble goes away when fretting at the strings at their highest fret.
Should be close to 1/4" just as advised by dimarzio. They used to put a little "warning" slip with the pickup but they don't anymore for some reason.
They probably figured with all the internet-info they'd just save some paper lol.
Depends on the setup though. You can get it a bit closer when you're using more standard gauges and tunings.

Set properly IMO the x2n sounds like an EMG81 that's been decompressed while actually being juicier.
Takes that extra fizz away that an 81's preamp creates and also keeps the lows from getting as softened-up.

SD has more depth and spread,,,,,,like Ace posted, it's much more open than the x2n in the highs and the lows.
Through a Marshall I'd take the SD, and through a Mesa(6L6) the x2n,,,,,,,,,but that's a risky generalization really,,it would depend on the rig.
Love them both.

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

I should mention they've been used as bass pickups with a bit of success.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

This is just what i wanted to know!
It does seem like something I would like to try, but not the perfect pickup for me. If it comes off as having less highs and lows than the SuperD then I don't think I would love it, but I heard Motorhead "Live to Win" on the radio today and damn that is a good guitar sound! I sat in my car and Googled long enough to figure out Eddie played a Strat with an X2N in it. So I am back to hunting for a good deal on one to try.

 

[dave74]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

Has major upper-bass and lower-treble, just not those extended ultra-highs that many of the more modern-metal pups have, nor the big round lows found in some of the classics.

If they'd reduce the output by 20% it might just be the djenters dream pup lol.


Here it is in an out-of-metal context just for reference sake.
It's a good vid because you can clearly see when he switches back and forth between neck and bridge.

 

[metalchurch79]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

I got an X2N in a Kramer a few months ago but I didn't spend much time with it yet. I literally unboxed the guitar, tuned it up and played for about 20seconds (if that), then immediately replaced it with an L500XL (BillnBecky) and was all smiles again..
The X2N is currently sitting in my Kramer V project waiting to be finished up. I gotta say that after reading this thread, most notably Aceman's post about the series/split/parallel, I'm actually thinking about giving it one more chance because there has to be some good tones deep down inside it's ceramic soul...

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

Here it is in an out-of-metal context just for reference sake.

INCORRECT! It is well known that Nuno uses Bill Lawrence L-500 pickups in the bridge - NOT X2N's.

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

....... good tones deep down inside it's ceramic soul......

Can anyone think of any other pickup in the world built around a samarium cobalt magnet like the X2N?

 

[The JEM Ghost]

Re: X2N vs Super Distortion? (Or any X2n experience?)

Can anyone think of any other pickup in the world built around a samarium cobalt magnet like the X2N?

Samarium cobalt noiseless pickups from Fender??? (although those were single coil sized)

INCORRECT! It is well known that Nuno uses Bill Lawrence L-500 pickups in the bridge - NOT X2N's.

I agree with that, Bettencourt plays Bill Lawrence L-500's and not DiMarzio X2N's.

The X2n has less bass, is more grainy and has a more prominent high midrange, whereas the Super is low and low midrange focused.

That's how I experienced the X2N too.