1081

Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: Dimarzio Area Pickups for Telecaster

« on: March 03, 2015, 07:41:28 AM »

If you want a warmer tele tone with good output that does not overpower the neck pickup the Virtual Hot T does it.

I have to modify my verdict on the neck pickup slightly. When I posted the above comment I used it mainly overdriven, and there it works as described. However in a clean amp setting the output is noticeably lower than the bridge pickup so if you want something to better balance with the neck, I guess the regular Area T or Area 615 would be better.

1082

Guitar Lounge / Re: Help with pickup vs wood type

« on: February 25, 2015, 05:19:42 AM »

There's another thing that perhaps many will disagree with me on, but certain pickups do excellent job in masking the guitar's tone. In general, a large magnet ceramics do this the best (aside the obvious active pickups) to my experience, but also, for some reason, the Air versions of some higher output pickups (as far as DMZ goes) as well. I'm not saying Air Zone or Air Norton sound the same in mahogany alder or ash, but I am saying that, for some reason, these pickups tend to filter the negative aspects (overbearing highs of maple, muddy lows of specific heavy mahogany piece etc) of a finicky guitar wood much better, giving a predictive sound that is quite similar in many different woods. This might explain why you liked the AN on the bridge as much, since it remedied some of that muddiness/darkness of the wood without adding any unnecessary brightness.

I noticed that as well. Some pickups can sound radically different in various guitars whereas others try to dominate the guitar - the latter is often good for finicky guitars.

Cheers Stephan

1083

Guitar Lounge / Re: Help with pickup vs wood type

« on: February 24, 2015, 04:39:14 AM »

Actually there's also the body weight, the wood age, the finish and countless different things that affect tone. We can, however, take a good guess how will something affect tone, this is what OP asked for. We ain't here to overcomplicate things to the OP, we're here to help and if in any way possible simplify his/her search for the tone he/she is looking for. I said what ash sounds in general, what he can expect in general. There's whole other thing that, to my ears, DiMarzios are much less picky (again, in general - then some other manufacturer's pu) as far as different woods go, specifically in same species. It's a fact that simply saying "can't help you until you try yourself" isn't helpful.

I am fully aware of all that, and I certainly did not want to overcomplicate things. I would agree that swamp ash tends to have more of a midscoop which usually accentuates low and high frequencies. But if the midscoop is in a certain part of the midrange, the guitar can sound very dark. I have such a guitar with a swamp ash body that has boomy bass, is dark in the midrange and has good but not overbearing highs. The pickups typically recommended for swamp ash (strong mids and lows) all failed miserably in this guitar and produced muddy bass even on the bridge pickup. The only combination that worked was Air Norton in the bridge and a Bluesbucker in the neck because they were bright enough to balance out the inherent darkness of that guitar.

I have never had a similar experience with an alder or mahogany bodied guitar. Neither wood usually does exhibit a midscoop as does ash.

As for the rest I feel you gave the correct advice to the OP.

Cheers Stephan

1084

Guitar Lounge / Re: Help with pickup vs wood type

« on: February 23, 2015, 01:44:44 PM »

Ash's on the brighter side of things and to my ears a little devoid of mids but not super scooped, sounds pretty 'pop' to me.

Usually yes, but individual pieces of wood - even the same species - can sound vastly different from each other. There are other factors coming into play such as body size, construction and hardware, so it's very difficult to exactly predict how a pickup sounds in a specific guitar until you try for yourself.

Cheers Stephan

1085

Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: Dimarzio Area Pickups for Telecaster

« on: February 23, 2015, 09:51:38 AM »

I recently scored a Virtual Hot T but have not yet installed it in anything yet.

I just put together a partscaster tele (ash body, maple neck w/ maple cap, vintage style bridge w/ Kohler stainless steel saddles) and used the Virtual Hot T and the Area T neck, 250k pots and a 4-way-switch, tone cap 0.0033 Orange Drop.

I described the Area T neck earlier as a twangy, clear and really open sounding pickup, and it does it in this guitar, too. Not only is it a bonus that it is so noiseless that I can use it with a 4 gain stage preamp without undue noise but the tone is excellent and I like it better than any non-noiseless pickup I used before (some famous samples among these for sure).

The Virtual Hot T lives up to its name: it has more output that a traditional tele bridge pickup, more like a Broadcaster/Nocaster type pickup. Tonally it's close but has more twang so I would say the twang factor is between a 52 type and a Broadcaster type. If you want a warmer tele tone with good output that does not overpower the neck pickup the Virtual Hot T does it.

Compared to the Chopper T the Virtual Hot T retains more of the typical tele tone than the Chopper T, which leans far more into the PAF humbucker territory. Both very good but different.

Compared to its successor Area Hot T - no idea since I never played the Area Hot T.

Cheers Stephan

1086

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

« on: February 17, 2015, 03:55:02 AM »

As far as as I know there is only one model which can be used in both positions. Unfortunately I never used one in the bridge so I cannot comment on how it balances in a set.

Cheers Stephan

1087

Guitar Lounge / Re: Ibanez 450m Custom "Skittles"

« on: February 11, 2015, 03:32:02 AM »

80s flashback - great looking guitar! Have fun with it.

1088

Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: Area 58, 61 and 67 Strat Pickups

« on: February 05, 2015, 07:24:41 AM »

Dimarzio Area (and Virtual Vintage) strat pickups can be mounted inside soapbar P90 covers! It's not much trouble at all if you have a Dremel or similar tool. Remove the two baseplate screws from the Area pickup. They hold the coils together, but also line up well with P90 mounting screw holes. The poles don't line up quite so perfectly, so on the P90 cover you'll have to Dremel out the outer edge of the 1st and 6th pole holes a tiny bit, and the 2nd and 5th holes an even tinier bit. For me this is a much better solution to strat tone in a P90 form factor than, say, this.

That's a very cool idea. I may try that with one guitar I have a P90 in the neck position at the moment.

The other thing I wanted to add was, for me, the Area 67 completely nails "that sound in my head" of what a strat neck pickup should sound like, mainly inspired by Mr. Hendrix.

Fully agree to that one. I had it in a few guitars and have yet to find one in which it does not sound good.

And to respond to the quack discussion, to me the VV 54 Pro is the perfect middle pickup complement to the 67 in the neck, both in terms of output and notch (quack) tone. I've tried all the Area, VV, and Injector strat pickups, and if you're looking to match the 67 in the neck, then the 54 is the one.

Since I now have two spare VV 54 Pros I may try that instead of the 58 I have in the middle.

Cheers Stephan

1089

Everything you wanted to know about .... / DP-198 Hot Minibucker

« on: February 02, 2015, 04:30:55 AM »

I had this pickup lying around for quite a while before I got around to put it into the guitar - it went into the bridge position of a three pickup Firebird monster and replaced a Lollar Firebird bridge model. I only spent a short time with it so far but here are my first impressions.

The pickup's DC measured 13.1k. Wire guage is probably 43 ga. Output is noticeably hotter than the pickup it replaced but not over the top hot. It still balances well with the Lollar FB neck and middle pickups.

I expected the Hot Minibucker to be a definitve step toward a full sized humbucker tone but that was not the case. It does not at all sound like a full sized humbucker, not at least any that I played before. Tonally the Hot Minibucker retains the Firebird bite but with a lot of low end and a healthy dose of midrange added. The good thing is that low end still retains clarity as well. Very cool tone indeed.

I think this is a great pickup for all LP Deluxe and Firebird owners who want to retain the treble bite but want to add girth and power to the tone without going to a full sized humbucker tone.  My vote is to bring it back into the regular DiMarzio line - there is always a place for a vintage minibucker and a hot minibucker.

Cheers Stephan

1090

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

« on: January 19, 2015, 04:57:32 AM »

Just very recently I found that the Bluesbucker sits really well in the neck spot of 24 fret guitars.

1091

Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: The Air Norton

« on: January 19, 2015, 04:56:22 AM »

Here is a link to a thread in the LP Forum. See reply #12 for a description of Air Norton in the bridge and Bluesbucker in the neck.

http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140916&highlight=nash

I have that combination in a guitar that is acoustically rather dark sounding and it works very well.

Cheers Stephan

1092

Guitar Lounge / Re: Tuning problems with Les Pauls

« on: January 12, 2015, 06:50:06 AM »

Meanwhile I replaced the tune-o-matic bridges on two guitars with Graphtec Resomax bridges. That helped a lot and to a point where it's working OK.

Thanks for all your input,
Stephan

1093

Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues 2 (DP 409)

« on: January 07, 2015, 04:58:31 AM »

Wired the second tone pot for the bridge pickup with a 0.001uf cap but either I messed up the wiring or it does not have any audible effect. I will probably up that to 0.0015uf or even 0.0022uf.

Turns out I did not mess up the wiring but the 0.001uf cap was indeed too small. 0.0015uf gave me the expected result.

1094

Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: DP240 Vintage Mini Humbucker

« on: December 18, 2014, 10:08:02 AM »

Meanwhile I scored a used one on the bay and replaced the Cruiser bridge in my telecaster with it. I mainly did this because the pickguard which I ordered with a strat pickup route did not fit - apart from the fact that it had a tele neck pickup route so the supplier screwed this one up big time .

Anyway - I still had two white tele pickguards routed for minihum/Firebird in the neck so in went the DP240. This is a great tele neck pickup, and IMHO it balances better with the Chopper T in the bridge than the Cruiser that was in there before. It is clear, articulate yet warm and has the tight enough low end I want - no mud at all. It simply sounds like it belongs in a tele's neck spot. Cruiser was great, too, though but I like this one even better. Highly recommended.

Cheers Stephan   

1095

The Pickup Place / Re: Want to replace Illuminators on MusicMan Majesty

« on: December 03, 2014, 12:17:12 PM »

I believe BKP has an option you can ask for to mount on baseplates with the triangle tab.

That's correct - you will need to put that into the comments box when you order, then they will do it that way.

Cheers Stephan