[Lund]

I've been playing an American Deluxe Strat (HSS) since 2006. Amp is a Mesa Express 5:50.

The strat is equipped with the fender DH-1 "Atomic" HB in the bridge position. To be fair, it's not an awful pickup. It's got a ton of output and has a cool way of making hammer-ons sound very much like plucked notes. All good.

And yet, it seems to add some very strange overtones when playing high on the fretboard, with any kind of overdrive at all. It's a quirky, "chirping" kind of a tone that sounds almost synthetic or artificial. Very "80s" in the worst possible way, if you know what I mean. It's really starting to irk me.

Based on personal recommendations and internet chatter, I'm thinking maybe the AirZone would be a worthwhile upgrade. Just wondering:

Anyone with experience with these two pickups who can provide a revealing comparison? I know it's goofy trying to describe "tone" in a message board post, but I'm just wondering what I might expect if I swap out the DH-1 for the AirZone.

[darkbluemurder]

If you like the tone playing in the lower registers of the fretboard and the quirks only appear in the upper registers you may have set the pickup too close to the strings. Try backing it a bit off and see if the tone improves.

Good luck,
Stephan

[greenlion]

I have owned a couple of Amer Deluxe Strats with DH-1's and still own a couple of Highway One Strats with Atomic Humbuckers. They don't sound like the same pickups to me. The DH-1 has a harsher grainyness to it and the Atomic is much smoother and screaming in the highs. The EQ and Power may be similar, but the tone and feel is not. The Air Zone is more similar to the DH-1, although not as gritty. It has an open uncompressed tone to it, with a lot of bass and warm highs. It may work well for you, but its going to overpower your single coils if that bothers you. I would also consider what pots your guitar uses. If they are 250k, that may make the already dark Air Zone too muddy.