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DimarzioForum.Com => The Pickup Place => Everything you wanted to know about .... => Topic started by: buddroyce on December 31, 2010, 03:55:36 PM

Title: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: buddroyce on December 31, 2010, 03:55:36 PM
The folks at DiMarzio Inc. were nice enough to send me an evaluation set of the new DiMarzio Injector pickups along with an Area 67 a couple of weeks back and they've been sititng on my desk waiting to be installed in a guitar. Wish I had the time to do this earlier but it seems like everyone wants to bring in guitars for setups and upgrades RIGHT BEFORE Christmas and everything, anyways I finally got around to doing it (only because I came down with the flu and stopped taking clients).

NOTE: This review is long and boring, so if you want the summary go right down the end

THE TEST GUITAR:

The guitar the pickups went into is an ESP Vintage Plus strat with a floyd rose trem. The pickups that were on there before the injectors went in were the DiMarzio Cruiser, some stock ESP single coil that I never used, and a Duncan Hybrid that I was going to yank out sooner or later and replace with an AT-1. Needless to say the fact that the Injector Bridge pickup is actually a single coil meant that I wouldn't be using this pickguard. So I went and got myself a stock 11-hole Fender pickguard, but sadly, because this is an ESP strat with a Floyd, the pickguard needed to be *ahem* "modified" to fit. So after about 30 mins of reworking the pickguard with a dremel tool to route out the space for the floyd and the neck pocket (for some reason the neck pocket is actually spaced out like a Tele and not a strat... go figure..)

THE ELECTRONICS:

Anyways, since this was a fresh pickguard it gave me the liberty to screw around with the electronics and since your standard strat config is 1 Vol and 2 Tones it gave me a lot of things to play. However seeing that I never used the tone control and I was too lazy to figure out what I actually wanted I just went with a single 500k volume pot, a tone pot that wasn't conencted to anything and a master TBX tone control (only cause I had it lying around). Also went with a fancy Schaller E+ Megaswitch so I could get the middle position to run both neck and bridge pickups at the same time.

Although the pickups worked with both 250k and 500k pots, the only reason why I chose to go with the 500k pots was simply because I found the 500k pot first so it wasn't done for any tonal purpose although using it will yield a slightly brighter tone.

THE BRIDGE PICKUP:

Ok, first let me say that I have NEVER been a huge fan of single coil pickups in the bridge position. Every guitar I've ever had either had a humbucker in the bridge position or a single coil sized humbucker. Standard single coils just never really cut it for me, until I plugged in this guitar and turned up the volume on the Injector bridge.

The first thing I noticed different about the bridge pickup is how much fuller it sounded in comparison to most standard singles. Where as most singles have a lot of top end, the Injector has a lot of beef to it, which is fantastic for me since the thin bottom end was always my problem with single coils in the bridge position. Clean its got the nice sparkle and jangle you'd expect from a strat single coil but definitely fuller sounding. It's not over the top bright and handles clean jazz stuff fine. With a tad bit more dirt, the pickup starts to really shine. Cranking the gain up yield an awesome crunch tone that's perfect for any kind of blues/rock rhythm tones. Lead tones coming out the bridge pickups cut through easily but aren't over powering. It's got great harmonics and is very responsive to pick attack.

With the gain cranked up to metal levels, the pickup starts to sound a litle buzzy. The girth is there so palm mutes are still good but chords just sound way too buzzy. It's like plugging in a metal zone into a tiny amp. HOWEVER, turning down the tone control fixed the buzziness and the pickup becomes totally usable for metal applications. (thank GOD I had a TBX Tone Control installed!!!). With the top end rolled down a little bit, its starting to sound a bit more like a Crunch Lab with less bottom end and you could totally swear that this was actually a humbucker and not a single coil. Metal/shred lead tones are very articulate and cut through easy and you dont lose out on the harmonics. All and all I'd say that the injector bridge pickup is by far one of the most versatile single coils pickups around. It's not going to win awards for vintage tones but if you're looking for something that can handle a wide spectrum of stuff and always found humbuckers muddy, you should seriously try this out.

THE NECK PICKUP

Now to the neck pickup. Clean, the neck pickup does jazz stuff very nicely, almost like what you'd epect out of a P90 with a tad bit more sparkle, playing rock oriented clean passages, the pickup had a lot of the clarity and glass that you'd expect from a single coil in the neck position. Although I personally preferred the DiMarzio Cruiser that was in there before as it had a more fluid tone.

Cranking the gain on the neck pickup produces a nice fat rhythm tone for blues rock stuff. The bottom end is nice and tight with a fair amount fullness. Think of it as a strat pickup with bigger tighter bottom end or a humbucker with tighter bottom end and more top end sparkle. Blues Rock lead tones are nice right across the fretboard. It handles so well that you could literally get away with just using the neck pickup for an entire song. With the gain reaching metal levels, the pickup starts to sound pretty crappy as a rhythm pickup, but then again, why in the world would you be using a neck pickup for metal rhythms to being with?? For metal/shred style lead stuff and all the Paul Gilbert-esque neo-classical shred stuff, the pickup works REALLY REALLY well. Clean and articulate are two words that come to my mind when it came down to it. The extra brightness DiMarzio added to the neck pickup really helps it cut and when I had someone else shred on my guitar (cause my shred skills aren't exactly up to par anymore), the notes come out very clear and well definited. If you're into the metal shred thing and want something different than the Air Norton or YJM, you should seriously give this a try. To be honest, I actually like the Injector neck a whole lot more than the YJM/HS-4's I used to have in this guitar before I put the cruiser in.

COMBINED WITH THE AREA 67 AND TOGETHER

When either pickup was combined with the Area 67 in the middle position, the tone was very much what you'd expect from any strat in the # 2 and 4 inbetween positions. Nothing truly out of the world note worthy, just exactly the spank you'd expect (it was better than the cruiser and that stock single middle pickup that was in this guitar before). Great clean or with light amounts of distortion. I'd never use the in between positions for high gain applications personally.

With both pickups on, the clean tones sound very nice with an almost acoustic glass like quality. A very note worth combination IMO.

OVERALL OPINION/SUMMARY

Overall, I'm VERY pleased with how these pickups are, and coming from a guy that's predominantly humbucker driven that's saying a lot. I find that the bridge pickup outshines the neck pickup but thats probably because I spend more of my time on the bridge pickup. If you're looking for a set of pickups that are very versatile to handle everything from Jazz, Blues/Rock to Metal (without going super over the top) these pickups are really something to consider. The Injector bridge has given me new faith in my strat to bring as my only guitar out to a gig in how well it handles everything. My only beef with the pickuips is that the bridge pickup can be a bit buzzy when the gain is cranked (and you can hear it off the Fuzz Universe album), but with the tone control rolled down it's totally awesome. The pickups aren't very 'vintage' sounding, so if thats what you're looking for, you're best off elsewhere but if you're out for a modern rock tone or a metal shred tone I'd highly recommend these and I'm sure I'll be recommending them a lot more around here.

 :madness:
Title: Re: Review DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: wxs3 on January 01, 2011, 01:52:51 AM
Good review Bud (oh and happy new year also).  What you have experienced about the Injector bridge is what I have found in the Virtual Vintage Solo (the original one).  I have the VV Solo in 2 of my 3 strats with 54 pros in the neck and middle on one and Area 61s neck and middle on the other.  I like the fact that I can cover most any style with these whcih leads me to my question.  How does the Injector sound next to the Solo?
Title: Re: Review DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: buddroyce on January 01, 2011, 02:28:32 AM
It's been a while since I toyed around with the original Virtual Vintage Solo but from what I remember it seems like the Virtual Vintage Solo is closer to a regular P90 where as the Injector bridge is has more of a paf/p90 feel. I personally could never get any decent metal/shred tones with the Virtual Vintage Solo or the Virtual Vintage Solo pro that I can with the Injector.

If you're asking about the Injector compared to the Virtual Solo (DP420), I'd say the Injector sounds more "raw" compared to Solo which to my ears is a bit smoother and refined. Both would work well in similar settings but I think the deciding factor on which one to go with would come down to preference of rhythm tones in the bridge position. The solo is warmer while the injector has better crunch.

To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if the Injector was really a tweaked version of the original Virtual Vintage Solo.
Title: Re: Review DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: wxs3 on January 01, 2011, 11:26:05 PM
Are you playing these with a floyd?  No thinning issues, common with singles and floyds?
Title: Re: Review DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: buddroyce on January 01, 2011, 11:46:27 PM
yeah I got a floyd but all my guitars have the large brass block and esp arming adjuster in them so there's no thinning issues there.
Title: Re: Review DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: eMs on January 03, 2011, 06:16:26 AM
Great review!  ;)
Title: Re: Review DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: buddroyce on January 06, 2011, 11:10:16 PM
Thanks. Every time I play this guitar I love these pickups more and more. It's definitely better for hard rock tones than metal tones. Doesn't handle brutal metal tones very well, but the day I play Soil Work and In Flames with a strat is the day I need to be shot cause I have plenty of guitars better suited for that stuff.
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: Mpcoluv on January 22, 2011, 08:22:39 AM
So how does it sound for lower tubescreamer into a fender amp gain?
Can you strat pretend to be  Billy Gibbons'  Les Paul?
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: buddroyce on February 07, 2011, 02:06:14 PM
It actually works ok with a tubescreamer into a Fender style amp. I don't have a real Fender amp here but I did just test it with an old TS-9 running into an AMT F1 preamp pedal which is supposed to be a Fender Blackface clone (the preamp pedal sounds awesome btw) and it sounds pretty darn good.

As for trying to nail Billy Gibbon's tone out of the Injector bridge, I do believe this is about as close as you'll get without getting into mini humbuckers. You won't be able to nail it with the tone controls all the way up though as the Injector bridge will have too much top end. With a 250k pot or with the tone control rolled down a bit it's doable though (you may have to roll down the tone still even with a 250k pot). The injector is thick sounding enough to sound like a PAF. It's really the top end that makes it sound like a single coil. This is definitely one of the most versatile strat pickups I've ever come across, but you really need to work those controls and play with pick dynamics to really maximize this pickups potential.

PS. If you're worried about dishing out Gibbon's style pinch harmonics with the injectors, if your technique doesn't suck, these pickups won't either.
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: soundgardener75 on March 31, 2011, 10:24:39 PM
Thanks for the review!

Looks like I found THE neck pickup for the Tele project I'm gonna be doing this year. XD
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: tonejam on April 16, 2013, 10:11:49 AM
If you want a LOUD and pretty authentic single coil Strat sound, try the Injector bridge wired for just the top coil. Works great in middle position between 2 medium to high output humbuckers.
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: grumptruck on May 30, 2013, 02:14:19 PM
This review is pretty on par with mine I typed for SD forum.

Easier to read too lol.
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: RayBarbeeMusic on July 06, 2013, 05:18:45 PM
I found the neck version works really well with a 500k volume pot, for situations where you want to pair something with a single coil vibe with a hotter humbucker and need the 500k volume for the bucker.  Most of the Area series can be pretty shrill with 500k pots, these solve that problem and also have the volume in the neck to keep up with a bucker in the bridge.  With a 250k pot I imagine it would be quite dark.

The bridge I'm not sure about.  I found it too dark and compressed in the highs for a good middle pickup, and I like the Vsolo better in the bridge for a single coil bridge. 
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: darkbluemurder on March 30, 2014, 09:17:33 AM
I just scored a used Injector neck which I put into my H-S stratocaster type guitar. Bridge pickup is a hotter PAF type. The Injector replaced a Bill Lawrence L-200SN and just blows it away - much bigger and fatter sounding but still retaining a single coil vibe. I use 500k pots in this guitar - fits both the humbucker and the Injector well.

This is not even my best strat - I can only imagine how good it will sound in a real good strat.

Cheers Stephan
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: darkbluemurder on June 10, 2014, 02:59:32 AM
Yesterday I set up my better maple neck strat with the Injector neck in the neck and a Bare Knuckle Holydiver (their take on the JB) - very simple set up, one 500k volume, one 500k push-pull pot, 3-way tele selector that selects bridge - both  - neck. Bridge pickup can be split with the push-pull. I preferred H-S this time since I tend to hit the middle pickup all the time.

That Injector neck sounds incredible - clear, stratty, but punchy at the same time. It can easily keep up with the Holydiver, and both pickups together sound great as well. I can imagine that an AT-1 in the bridge and an Injector neck will make a great combination.

I will change the wiring to a 5-way super switch to do bridge series, bridge parallel, both parallel, bridge split in parallel with neck split, neck for more versatility.

Cheers Stephan

EDITED for typos
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: Gavron on November 08, 2016, 09:01:24 AM
Dear all, seriously reccomend trying splited Neck Injector paralell to another north up coil- sound incredibile. Previously I've been using Transition, Area 67 and injector - the 4th position was unsplitted. Upgraded middle pickup to custom wound north up single coil (injector is south up), now 4th sounds much more true. Futhermore in 3rd position I've got now north coil of bridge hb paralell to the top coil of injector - sounds like tele on steroids. Greetings from Poland!
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: buddroyce on January 30, 2017, 06:25:36 PM
Thanks for the recommendation!!! I'll have to give it a shot sometime!
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: darkbluemurder on September 10, 2021, 03:02:04 AM
I noticed I have not yet commented on the Injector bridge here. I have it in the bridge position of two different strats (one alder/rosewood, one ash/maple), and it sounds great in both. Easily my favorite strat bridge pickup - no more thin tones in the bridge, and the bridge+middle still sounds great (the alder guitar has an Area 61 and the ash guitar an Area 58 in the middle).

Highly recommended.

Cheers Stephan
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: darkbluemurder on October 06, 2021, 07:18:32 AM
... seriously reccomend trying splited Neck Injector paralell to another north up coil- sound incredible.

Haven't tried that but the split Injector neck works well in a HSH set up with the split humbuckers (in my guitar a Norton in the bridge and a Bluesbucker in the neck).
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: mmmguitar on October 06, 2021, 08:33:27 AM
Haven't tried that but the split Injector neck works well in a HSH set up with the split humbuckers (in my guitar a Norton in the bridge and a Bluesbucker in the neck).

How would you describe the parallel split tones? That’s setup’s similar to what I’m shooting for and, as I solicited in another thread, I’m going for SRV/Knopfler style sounds in Bluesbucker split/middle and middle/bridge split.
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: darkbluemurder on October 07, 2021, 03:04:20 AM
They are both very strat like. I compared it with a guitar set up for SSS, and to my surprise the #2 and #4 positions are right up with the SSS guitar. Keep in mind that Bluesbucker + Injector neck on my guitar is only #4. No idea how this would work with a Bluesbucker in the bridge but I guess it should be fine.

EDIT: Bluesbucker in the bridge has one problem with the e-type megaswitch as the splitcoil operations in #2 and#3 are predefined and different (#2 uses the neckside coil and #3 the bridgeside coil, which does not work well with a pickup that uses one coil as dummy). In the neck position it is not an issue as both #3 and #4 use the neckside coil of the neck pickup, which is the signal coil in case of a Bluesbucker. You would therefore have to use a 24 pole switch (aka Super Switch) to make this work with the Bluesbucker in the bridge, and the polarity of the pickups must be checked to make sure the combinations are humcancelling.

Cheers Stephan
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: darkbluemurder on October 10, 2023, 04:39:42 AM
Just set up a HSS guitar with two Injector necks in the neck and middle spots, with 500k audio pots throughout. Bridge pickup is a Bare Knuckle True Grit. The Injector necks sound very full but still stratty. Even the N+M combo has a lot of quack, and individually they scream Blues Rock.
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: gregr on October 10, 2023, 11:05:32 AM
Yep! The Injector neck is great in any of the three positions. Shorting the dummy coil brings out some extra sparkle. I was surprised. It makes a fair bit of difference in position 4, though you need to make one RW/RP to get hum cancellation. Reversing polarity is easily doable with a pair of neo magnets.
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: darkbluemurder on October 11, 2023, 04:15:30 AM
I am going to split the middle in the bridge/middle combination, together with the bridge split. That will be humcancelling - I have only to use the neckside humbucker coil.

I have never used the neck model in the bridge spot but I am sure it works well with 67/58 in the other positions.

Cheers Stephan
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: gregr on October 11, 2023, 10:13:58 AM
It can even hang with a 61 in the neck, though tonally the 67 might be a better choice.

Do try the Injector without the dummy coil by itself.
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: darkbluemurder 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.
Title: Re: DiMarzio Injectors (Paul Gilbert Signature Singles)
Post by: gregr on October 17, 2023, 12:58:16 AM
Even when split the pickup is nowhere near as noisy as a true single coil with similar output.