Dimarzio advice?

[TheElectricMoron]

So I was sorta digging around in the work room a couple days ago and came across these Dimarzio stacked HB's that I pulled out of a 90 Malmsteen Strat. As I recall they were pretty blah sounding and the alnico things I replaced them with were a substancial improvement. Is that a faulty memory? I'm kinda working up to putting a bunch of Strat pieces together and the body has the swimming pool route so I had a s/s/hb guard made for it. Do I want to put this thing together with the Dimarzios in there? I have a JB bridge for the hb hole. Is there some secret to making the Dimarzios wonderful if they aren't already. 

Just wondering. Your thots would be appreciated.

thanks
Charlie

[G._Hoffman]

If you didn't like them then, my guess is you won't like them now.  It's only in the last couple years that I've started to feel that stacked humbuckers are any good, so I would guess they aren't all that great.



Gabriel

[jhadhar65]

Do you know which ones they are?  I've owned all the HS series pickups, as well as the YJM.  They're all pretty low output - somewhere in the neighborhood of 8k ohms or less if I remember correctly.  The YJM is basically an HS2, but built a little different.

It's probably the low output you don't like.  Tone-wise, I rank them between the uppermid area of a regular side-by-side and the trebly twang of a common Fender-style single.  I found that I liked them best directly into a compressor, then on to whatever front end stuff I was using.  If you have something like a Dyna Comp or better, you could go ahead and wire them up, play around with the compressor settings, and see what you think about that.  I haven't played any DiMarzio's in several years now.

Instead of the compressor, I've always been intrigued by Duncan's Pickup Booster.  I'd really like to know what's inside it - especially whatever the resonance switch is connected to.

[G._Hoffman]

Do you know which ones they are?  I've owned all the HS series pickups, as well as the YJM.  They're all pretty low output - somewhere in the neighborhood of 8k ohms or less if I remember correctly.  The YJM is basically an HS2, but built a little different.

It's probably the low output you don't like.  Tone-wise, I rank them between the uppermid area of a regular side-by-side and the trebly twang of a common Fender-style single.  I found that I liked them best directly into a compressor, then on to whatever front end stuff I was using.  If you have something like a Dyna Comp or better, you could go ahead and wire them up, play around with the compressor settings, and see what you think about that.  I haven't played any DiMarzio's in several years now.

Instead of the compressor, I've always been intrigued by Duncan's Pickup Booster.  I'd really like to know what's inside it - especially whatever the resonance switch is connected to.

I prefer lower output pickups.  No, the problem with most stacks up to a few years ago is they were trying to make them sound like full sized humbuckers, which just doesn't work at all.  I would assume that a signature strat would use his signature pickups.  They have a insanely high DC resistance of 23.5K, which means a very high output, and I just am not fond of that sound. 

If you want something that actually sounds like a strat pickup, my favorite right now is the Seymour Duncan Classic Stack Plus pickups.  Killer stuff.  Hum canceling, and they sound amazing.  Plus, you can tap them when you are in the "in-between" positions, which is where I use my strat most of the time, and the sound is 100% classic strat.


Gabriel

[jhadhar65]

>They have a insanely high DC resistance of 23.5K, which means a very high output...

I just checked the website and you're right!

Surely they redesigned them???  It's been 10 years or more since I had any of these and I can't remember the specs exactly, but I'm pretty, pretty, pretty sure they weren't above 8k.  I bought the first YJM because I first saw a DiMarzio add where Malmsteen was going on about their low output, that's what he wanted so it wouldn't "color" his front end pedals (crap DOD clone of a Distortion +), and other blah, blah.  I liked the lower output HS pickups I already had, so I checked the specs and got one myself.  I didn't hear any significant difference between that and a regular HS2 and figured I wasted more money.  In any event, I couldn't get any of the HS pickups or the YJM to match my backup guitar with EMG passives (~11k), so I resorted to the compressor to get their level up when I switched to the DiMarzio Strat.

Maybe I'm off my nut.


EDIT:  I think I figured it out.  They have a high DC resistance, but their voltage output is unusually low - 93mV compared to 160mV for their standard Fender replacement single.  Maybe my memory replaced "93mV" for what I would expect to be "<8k" resistance.  Anyway, I distinctly recall a low output from them and a compressor or clean boost of some sort may make the difference TEM is looking for.  Or maybe not - tone is a funny thing.

[TheElectricMoron]

Got me curious.  The tags on the bottom of both are DP117 and HS-3.  The meter says 24.7k and 24.9k.  That is insane.  Be a PITA to check the voltage tho so I guess they may just continue to reside in the box.  Tho it might be interesting to see what they sound like with a clean boost.  Ah, well.

thanks
Charlie

[darkbluemurder]

Hi,

I remember playing a DiMarzio Shock Wave set around 1990 (without the active boost) and a HS-3. Both were low output but I must say the Shock Wave set sounded decent. The HS-3 sounded decent as well even though it lacked some sparkle that I want to hear in single coils. I then changed to Seymour Duncan Classic Stacks which were louder but did not sound as warm and clear as the DiMarzios. I tried Bill Lawrence's OBL pickups but they did not sound like strat pickups to me at all - virtually no highs. The noiseless pickups I liked best at that time were the PJ Marx - I believe they are extinct now. Unfortunately I sold them with the guitar they were in. 

I went away from noiseless pickups until I started gigging with a new band about 5 years ago. It became clear that in some venues noiseless became a must. Today I use Wilde Pickups L-200 (built by Bill Lawrence). Tomorrow I will gig with a guitar that has DiMarzio Area 58 in neck and middle and Area 61 in the bridge. I have not yet gigged with this guitar with that particular set up so I cannot yet report on the tone. I play country rock BTW.

There is no reason not to try your pickups in that guitar. Since the JB is also a rather dark sounding pickup they should match tonally but since the single coils are so low powered inspite of their high DC resistance reading the volume match will be difficult unless you can live with a much louder bridge pickup.

Cheers Stephan

[bluesbear]

I never met a Dimarzio I liked! I like Fender Texas Special SC's and Seymour Duncan '59 HB's for aftermarket pickups.
Dave

[G._Hoffman]

I never met a Dimarzio I liked! I like Fender Texas Special SC's and Seymour Duncan '59 HB's for aftermarket pickups.
Dave

I don't like a lot of their pickups, but Dimarzio has always made really nice bass pickups, and in the last few years they have come out with a few that are really kicking.  Their Virtual Vintage Tele bridge pickup is one of the best "noiseless" tele pickups on the market.


Gabriel