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The Pickup Place / My review of the D-Activator Bridge

« Last post by nienturi on September 18, 2026, 09:14:53 AM »

Hello. This is my review of Dimarzio D-Activator

https://www.tonejourney.com/post/dimarzio-d-activator-bridge-review

Hope you like it

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The Pickup Place / Re: My X2N Review

« Last post by darkbluemurder on September 10, 2026, 04:40:42 AM »

Cool - I like that story.

My oldest pickups are with me since the late 80s, among them a Bill Lawrence OBL L-500 XL, Gordon Smith humbucker and a Gibson HBL+. The one that gets used now and then is the OBL - also very high output.

Cheers Stephan

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Gear Closet / Re: Roland Blues Cube BC-30 (original version)

« Last post by kookaburra on September 09, 2026, 06:24:29 PM »

I know I enjoy my Microcube, and the larger models I’ve heard others play sounded good!

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The Pickup Place / Re: My X2N Review

« Last post by kookaburra on September 09, 2026, 10:32:04 AM »

I always enjoy your reviews, thanks!

I used the X2N in 1981/82.  I wanted a hot pickup for the bridge of my Strat, and the local music store guided me that way.

I used it in a hard rock band, guitar, Tube Screamer, Twin Reverb w/Celestions in the combo, and a Celestion loaded 4x12.  Rocked like a mofo!

I managed to hold on to that X2N until the 90s, where I  dropped it in Hamer Scarab II.  Sounded great in that guitar also, with various British amps being used.

I sold that Hamer with the X2N in it, so that was the end of my enjoyable X2N journey. 

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The Pickup Place / Re: It's time to revisit the pickups in my PRS

« Last post by darkbluemurder on September 08, 2026, 05:49:19 AM »

Big fan of the PAF Pro in the neck, paired with The Breed Neck in the bridge. Both perform fairly well in parallel mode.

I can confirm that for the Breed Neck in the bridge as I have it set up in my HSS strat with a push/pull pot for exactly that (in position #2 it is split).

Cheers Stephan

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The Pickup Place / Re: It's time to revisit the pickups in my PRS

« Last post by gregr on September 07, 2026, 04:22:26 PM »

Big fan of the PAF Pro in the neck, paired with The Breed Neck in the bridge. Both perform fairly well in parallel mode.

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The Pickup Place / Re: It's time to revisit the pickups in my PRS

« Last post by LPBII on September 07, 2026, 11:25:17 AM »

If I recall correctly, the Super 70s are alnico 8.  You might try swapping an alnico 8 into the existing bridge pickup, and a warmer alnico 2 into the existing neck pickup. ( I think both VPAFs are Alnico 5)

Dimarzio makes an alnico 8 bridge pickup if you are willing to experiment with a jump up in power with your current rig.  In that case the tried and tested PAF Pro may be a good match for the neck.

https://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/high-power/satchur8

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The Pickup Place / Re: It's time to revisit the pickups in my PRS

« Last post by gregr on September 06, 2026, 03:07:37 PM »

I am not at all familiar with the DP196 but just saw that it has 8k worth of what I assume to be 42AWG wire which would make sense as to why you don’t like it wired in series. All the pickups I mentioned in my previous post are not wound as hot. The EJ Custom Neck is the leanest and brightest humbucker that DiMarzio makes, as is the Full Shred Neck for Seymour Duncan. The A2P and 59N sit around 7.6k, though the 59N can sound quite bloated with the stock A5 in set neck guitars against a vintage output bridge pickup, hence the magnet swap.

The PGN is an outstanding pickup and sounds decent when spit, as far as that type of tone from a vintage output pickup is concerned. Running it in parallel will sound even thinner. Perhaps the A2 may still be able to smooth out the top end, at least a little bit.

The way I see it, you’ll either have a neck pickup that can offer a good sound in series that is anemic and brittle in parallel, or can offer a useable sound in parallel but is bloated in series. I don’t think there is much out there with a traditional vintage output design that will be able to do both well. This leads me to recommend less conventional designs. The Steve Morse Neck would be the first I would try, though I would first shoot an email to DiMarzio inquiring about it. The Bluesbucker would be a close second.

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The Pickup Place / Re: It's time to revisit the pickups in my PRS

« Last post by HelpImaRock on September 05, 2026, 03:43:11 PM »

It’s still a vintage wind so parallel mode will still tend toward the brittle end of things. A loading resistor in parallel mode can help, as can a small capacitor which will lower the resonant frequency.

I am not a fan of parallel wiring. I did it for a few years but moved on to passive filtering.

On the vintage end of the spectrum… The neck pickup in my #1 is a Duncan 59 with an A3 magnet. My Tele has a DiMarzio EJ Custom Neck. I also like the Full Shred Neck, though it lacks a little body. I also like the Alnico II Pro. I’ve always wanted to try a Lace Sensor Purple/Emerald Dually and simply wire it to access either pickup rather than combine them. I hear good things about the Bluesbucker and am intrigued by Nash wiring on the tone control rather than series/split/parallel swotching, but have never played one.

I love parallel clean or dirty. It's the regular series sounds I want to change. I listened to some clips of the High Voltage and wasn't impressed. I might go with a Pearly Gates set instead.

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The Pickup Place / Re: It's time to revisit the pickups in my PRS

« Last post by gregr on September 05, 2026, 02:08:32 PM »

It’s still a vintage wind so parallel mode will still tend toward the brittle end of things. A loading resistor in parallel mode can help, as can a small capacitor which will lower the resonant frequency.

I am not a fan of parallel wiring. I did it for a few years but moved on to passive filtering.

On the vintage end of the spectrum… The neck pickup in my #1 is a Duncan 59 with an A3 magnet. My Tele has a DiMarzio EJ Custom Neck. I also like the Full Shred Neck, though it lacks a little body. I also like the Alnico II Pro. I’ve always wanted to try a Lace Sensor Purple/Emerald Dually and simply wire it to access either pickup rather than combine them. I hear good things about the Bluesbucker and am intrigued by Nash wiring on the tone control rather than series/split/parallel switching, but have never played one.