yay or nay on this dimarzio combo

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extendedping

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Hi all, I have the jb/jazz in my aglile 3500 and love it. I brought a guitar into my local setup guy at sam ash to do a bunch of stuff including setup of new pickups...thing is they were all out of duncan humbuckers...arggg. I don't really want anything else but don't want to wait to get this guitar back. So looking at the dimarzios in the store I ended up calling them and one of their techs suggested something called the Fred for the bridge with a PAFpro for the neck...Ok I know this is the duncan forum but can yall help me out? anyone try these pickups and if so what are your thoughts and what might they compare with in the duncan world? Do they suck and should I just be cancelling the order and getting duncans of some sort? Here is the guitar they would be going into

http://www.adirondackguitar.com/lefty/malden/karma_lh.htm

I wan't a nice rock/hardrock/blues combo. thing is there is no dimarzio forum so here I am. If yall think these suck I will cancel then (must do that this morning) and have the sam ash order duncans for me. Oh also (and I don't uderstand this at all) the output of the fred says 305 and the pafpro says 300...what pickups would have this output in the duncan world...I don't see this type of listing (output) on this site. So...paf pro yay or no? and fred is dead? or am I all good?
 
Re: yay or nay on this dimarzio combo

Both of those pickups are bright (for a Dimarzio)..and have a very vocal "aww" sound..kind of like a crybaby wah pedal stuck about 1/2 way down.

If you have a darker natural toned instrument they would sound good, though neither one, IMO is prolly your best bet for a classic rock/hardrock/blues combo.


The PAF Pro is not terribly PAF sounding...it's a very "clean" and articulate pickup..moreso than the Duncan Jazz. It was designed for "shreddy" neck tones and/or loads of effects processing.The Fred is the first pup DiMarzio designed for Joe Satriani, and is a variation on the PAF Pro...more mids and a bit more bass...just as "sterile", IMO.

If they have some other DiMarzios I would reccomend a set of regular DiMarzio PAFs (not the pros)...or if you like the higher output of your JB, I'd grab a Super Distortion for the bridge. The Super D is crunchy like the JB but is focused on low mids, whereas the JB is focused on the upper mids.

Virtual PAFs, Air Classics, PAF classics (covered) are also really good choices..but for a versatile set I'd say SuperD bridge, PAF neck..or a pair of PAFs.

That said, the best advice is to get what you want..if they don't have what you want, order it or go somewhere else.
 
Re: yay or nay on this dimarzio combo

ok I am going there today, if they haven't done the install yet I will look at having them order some duncans...the guitar is thinner then a les paul (almost like a strat) but is not a bolt on. I was told it was like a "michael kelly" whatever that is. So what duncan combo would be nice for rock n blues? Fast forum I have to move this morning :) I would be opened to other combo's apart from JB/Jazz since I have that and wouldn't mind some variety...
 
Re: yay or nay on this dimarzio combo

i like the fred but dont really like the paf pro

pg set is a good choice, it worked for satch too!!
 
Re: yay or nay on this dimarzio combo

Well I cancelled the dimarzios and had sam ash order me a pearly gates neck and bridge...now I will read up on them hope they rock :)

Hey shouldn't I have read up first? Oh well, impulse strikes...
 
Re: yay or nay on this dimarzio combo

My wife is yelling at me for spending yet more money on guitars...tell me I did good with the pg bridge and neck...lie if you have to but just tell me so I can feel good on one front :) :(
 
Re: yay or nay on this dimarzio combo

The PG set is one of the best from Duncan!

The Custom series and the PGs are a sure bet when it comes to Duncan pickups. Those are the ones that most of the guys on here rave about.
 
Re: yay or nay on this dimarzio combo

Good to hear that...again the guitar is not as dense as a les paul its almost like a strat body...hope these PG's sound good in that type of axe. Also hope that just getting a set as opposed to mixing and matching was a good choice. I also hope even though they are "vintage" they have at least decent punch...decent punch...like I'm gonna get from my wife tonight...
 
Re: yay or nay on this dimarzio combo

PGs sound good in anything.

It rocks in the bridge of my Les Paul, it rocked in Rids HWY1 strat, they are just nice and raw pickups.
 
Re: yay or nay on this dimarzio combo

ok I cant wait...btw a bit off track...the tech says he will coil split them for me using a push pull so I can get a single coil tone as well. do I lose anything when the pickups are in humbucker (regular) mode when this is done? and do split coils (specifically pg's) sound at least decent in single coil mode?
 
Re: yay or nay on this dimarzio combo

The tone isn't altered and you don't lose any output simply because they're wired to a push pull pot. When you split the coil, though, that is obviously to be expected. I don't know how they sound split, though. Do you really need the single coil tone? If you don't, why are you having it wired to a push pull pot?
 
Re: yay or nay on this dimarzio combo

good question...I figured if I can get a strat or teleish sound it would be like a 2 for 1 guitar? truthfully because he said he could do it and it sounded...well...cool :)
 
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