16

The Pickup Place / Re: Pickup similar to AT-1

« on: November 30, 2023, 04:29:04 AM »

Coming back to that dual hum tele with the AT-1 in the bridge. I asked the DiMarzio tech support what they would recommend if I wanted something with more bass punch and overall clarity. They suggested the Norton. Found one used, put it in and sure they were right but it slightly overshot to the bright side in that guitar. But then I remembered RayBarbeeMusic's post that the usual load of 500k should be reduced to appr. 380k. That provided the midrange bark that I liked about the AT-1 which the Norton was lacking with the 500k load, but now coupled with the bass punch and the bite of the Norton. About the same output as the AT-1 with a load of 500k. Love the guitar now.

Many thanks to the DiMarzio Tech Support for their assistance and Ray for sharing his knowledge.

Cheers Stephan

17

Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: DImarzio Area Magnet Swap

« on: November 27, 2023, 04:08:02 AM »

If they are constructed in a similar way as normal single coils where the winding is wound around the magnets then a swap is not possible. But I never attempted to change magnet rods in a single coil.

Cheers Stephan

18

The Pickup Place / Re: neck humbucker (or BB) to complement PAF type bridge HB

« on: November 23, 2023, 03:39:54 AM »

I think I could more easily make a Norton out of an Air Norton, if I needed to, than the other way round.

If it is an F-spaced model you need a spacer that is spaced for that. With a non-F-spaced, any spacer from another pickup that is regular spaced should work. Eventually you will have to file the holes to make it fit.

19

The Pickup Place / Re: neck humbucker (or BB) to complement PAF type bridge HB

« on: November 21, 2023, 04:09:54 AM »

The classifieds on this Forum are very quiet so I would not place a bet on anything coming up there soon.

In the most popular German classifieds portal, Air Nortons come up consistently (regular and F-spaced, mostly black but sometimes zebra or double cream) but Nortons have become scarce for no obvious reasons.

20

The Pickup Place / Re: Air Norton Bridge Position

« on: November 16, 2023, 04:03:02 AM »

Yes.

I had it in 2H and HSS set ups with good results. Actually mine (F-Spaced) is sitting around idling at the moment. I have two candidates for it - coincidentally one a 2H and one a HSS - and I haven't made up my mind where it should go. Probably in the 2H with a DP240 mini in the neck spot. With the HSS I would have to flip the magnet to use the bridge coil in split mode and be humcancelling with the middle, and I am not looking forward to doing that.

Cheers Stephan

21

The Pickup Place / Re: neck humbucker (or BB) to complement PAF type bridge HB

« on: November 16, 2023, 03:57:20 AM »

Did you try a BB? The BB in the neck with a Tone Zone in the bridge really worked for me on a bright superstrat. I think the screw coil is the  active coil on it. Be aware that the BB plays like it has more output than listed, at least in my experience. In parallel, it can sound almost Fender SC like.

Correct, the screw coil is the active coil.

22

The Pickup Place / Re: Bridge HB to tame bright Basswood guitar?

« on: November 13, 2023, 08:57:04 AM »

Breed bridge is great to fatten up guitars that sound a bit bright and/or thin. Unfortunately it is only available as a custom model but at least it is not discontinued. I was lucky to get a black one which one dealer had as remaining stock before the price increase.

Cheers Stephan

23

Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: The Bluesbucker

« on: November 13, 2023, 08:54:52 AM »

If I tried to play that probably both Hendrix and SRV would have broken down on the floor laughing

24

The Pickup Place / Re: Revisiting the Super D

« on: November 10, 2023, 03:26:09 AM »

That is so cool when that happens - waking up a guitar that is ready to be sold with the right pickups. Congrats!

25

The Pickup Place / Re: Mellowing out Air Norton neck in Charvel So-Cal?

« on: November 10, 2023, 03:24:24 AM »

I also flipped it while I had it in the neck position of one guitar. It made a difference which was clearly audible but it was not night and day to my ears (which may be old by now )

26

The Pickup Place / Re: Low output humbuckers for distorted tones

« on: November 02, 2023, 05:40:07 AM »

I have used the following lower output DiMarzio humbuckers in the bridge position:

- Virtual PAF
- Air Norton
- PAF Pro
- FRED
- Mo' Joe
- Breed Neck

OK, some of them touch medium output territory but I found that they all work well for distorted tones.

Cheers Stephan

27

The Pickup Place / Re: Virtual Solo for the win

« on: October 25, 2023, 03:25:14 AM »

Fully agree. My VS has been in my MIJ Charvel Strat for years. The Injector Bridge is a good alternative. Both do the hot but still strat excellently.

Cheers Stephan

28

The Pickup Place / Re: Bridge HB to tame bright Basswood guitar?

« on: October 18, 2023, 03:13:52 AM »

If you only want a little more drive, Air Zone or Breed bridge (if you can find one) would be a good fit. Gravity Storm bridge could also work well. I am considering replacing an AT-1 with the Gravity Storm bridge at the moment in a bright guitar but I haven't got around to do it yet.

Mo Joe would also be a little less bright and a bit hotter than the PAF Pro but since you said you wanted a lot less highs it would not be my first choice.

29

The mini bar (off topic & misc) / Re: Who are the SDUGF members on here?

« on: October 17, 2023, 03:06:03 AM »

Seriously, though...what the heck did I miss on SDUGF?  When you say the "b" word, just how b'd are we talkin'?  Like perma?

Excuse my ignorance but what is the "b" word?

Thanks, Stephan

30

Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)

« on: October 16, 2023, 07:48:25 AM »

Do try the Injector without the dummy coil by itself.

Yep - did that in a HSH set up with excellent results.