DiMarzio Forum
DimarzioForum.Com => The Pickup Place => Topic started by: cayle_6 on March 24, 2010, 11:11:39 AM
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Once again, i fiddled with the pickup height of my Tone Zone. It was said that the pickup has to be adjusted to find that "zone"...
My current rig sounds bassy, and figured the planet waves cable was the culprit. Dimarzio cables pawn the Planet Waves cable. Cleans were big and boomy, middy and crunchy. So i lowered the Tone Zone's height....
raised it again....lowered....raise....raise....lowered....BOOM! I found the spot. It took me almost 20 mins to find this spot. Cleans were good enough. Bass was not boomy anymore. I also got rid of some of the crunch. Distorted....man, that's were it really shines. Tight, defined, and clear. Before adjusting the height, it sounds huge, loose, bassy, middy, but has that sweet lead tone. After adjusting, it still has the lead tone, but the rhythm....Tighter and more defined notes. :madness:
Right now, it's set low...away from the strings...but it doesn't lose that high output compression. Thinking of a neck pickup to pair with it...Air Norton perhaps? of should i go for PAF Pro?
Waiting for my Lava cable, then i'll adjust the pickup height again... :D
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20 minutes of adjustment is probably quick. I've heard people around here say it can take a week of play and tweaking to really dial it in, and I tend to agree. Well maybe not a whole week, but dialing in the TZ is worth taking some time, using your ears, and making slight adjustments. The results are :madness:
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Yeah, 20 minutes is quick... First time I tried a Tone Zone it took me two weeks to find the damn spot. But that being said, you KNOW when you've found the right height for your playing. It just hits you in the balls (in the good way).
As for a neck pickup... lots of people like the Air Norton, but it isn't for everyone. What kind of sound are you looking for exactly?
I personally like an Air Zone in the neck.
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Personally, I've tried a whole different bunch of settings, and I still prefer the recommended distance between the pickup poles and the underside of the strings by Dimarzio the most...
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Actually, it took me 20 mins during that day. But....I've had this pickup for almost a year now...Been fiddling with the height since it was installed.. :D
I got lucky with the tweaking, i guess. And it matched my current rig.
For the neck pickup, something for blues, jazz, great cleans, searing lead tones, while can still handle high gain without getting flubby or muddy.
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Actually, it took me 20 mins during that day. But....I've had this pickup for almost a year now...Been fiddling with the height since it was installed.. :D
I got lucky with the tweaking, i guess. And it matched my current rig.
For the neck pickup, something for blues, jazz, great cleans, searing lead tones, while can still handle high gain without getting flubby or muddy.
If you like thick and warm, you want an Air Norton. It matches all of those. I'm just not a fan of its clean tone, it's a bit too thick for my tastes.
An Air Zone also matches that description.
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I'll look at Air Norton and Air Classics...Air CLassics look interesting.
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Actually, it took me 20 mins during that day. But....I've had this pickup for almost a year now...Been fiddling with the height since it was installed.. :D
I got lucky with the tweaking, i guess. And it matched my current rig.
For the neck pickup, something for blues, jazz, great cleans, searing lead tones, while can still handle high gain without getting flubby or muddy.
If you like thick and warm, you want an Air Norton. It matches all of those. I'm just not a fan of its clean tone, it's a bit too thick for my tastes.
An Air Zone also matches that description.
You could also try coil splitting the Air Norton. Give a nice single coil tone...
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Really glad to hear that you managed to find the sweet spot for your tone zone. Once you find it, it's MAGIC.
As for the neck pickup, the Air Norton Split (slug side active) produces a very nice single coil tone. The Paf Pro, Air Classic, and PAF 36th are also good options.
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Really glad to hear that you managed to find the sweet spot for your tone zone. Once you find it, it's MAGIC.
As for the neck pickup, the Air Norton Split (slug side active) produces a very nice single coil tone. The Paf Pro, Air Classic, and PAF 36th are also good options.
Thanks Bud. I'm still waiting for some more gear to arrive (cables, pedals, etc..) then i think i might have to find the spot again. Really diggin the Air Classic right now. I hope it won't get muddy under high gain.
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7 years later, I got a Tone Zone too on a RG652 bridge...
It would help us if someone tells us how to adjust the height of that pickup. Please.
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With those screws on either side of the pickup.
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With those screws on either side of the pickup.
I think he knows how to physically alter the pickup height. He probably just wants pointers as to how to set it up measurement wise to get the perfect height and thus the best tone
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I would suggest to start at about 3mm from the 6th string and 2mm from the 1st string and tweak from there. Really, there is no hard and fast rule to set it as it depends on the guitar, the player and his rig. The only hard and fast rule is that you don't want it so close to the strings that the magnet pull grabs them since this could cause out of tune overtones and loss of sustain. A starting point is helpful if you get lost.
Good luck,
Stephan
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I think he knows how to physically alter the pickup height. He probably just wants pointers as to how to set it up measurement wise to get the perfect height and thus the best tone
I think so too.
Yet, it's still something that depends on the end user. Adjust them until they sound good to you. End of story.
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I would suggest to start at about 3mm from the 6th string and 2mm from the 1st string and tweak from there. Really, there is no hard and fast rule to set it as it depends on the guitar, the player and his rig. The only hard and fast rule is that you don't want it so close to the strings that the magnet pull grabs them since this could cause out of tune overtones and loss of sustain. A starting point is helpful if you get lost.
Good luck,
Stephan
Thank you very much, I'm going to try this. :)
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Just a comment: I haven't found a spec that works for me on all pickups & guitars; my method is the old fashioned seat-of-the-pants one, using my ear- starting very low, I'll raise it 'til it sounds good, raise it more 'til it doesn't, then lower it back to where it sounds best. I feel it helps to hear the whole range before settling on a final position.
One thing to remember if setting to a predetermined height- you measure it with the string fretted at the highest fret.
It's also worth mentioning that on guitars which don't have have individual volume controls for the pickups, height adjustment is a way of fine-tuning the balance in combined switch positions. Sometimes when pickups are set for the best tone on their own, the in between positions aren't ideal. A bit of tweaking can sometimes improve this noticeably.