DimarzioForum.Com > Everything you wanted to know about ....

The AT-1

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tonejam:
I've had one of these things in bridge position for a couple of weeks now. Here's my thoughts so far.
It replaced an Airzone, a VERY hard act to follow. Frankly, I was very happy with it, and surprised I removed it. However, I kept reading posts gushing about how the AT-1 had this extra little thing, this "swirl of harmonics" around each note. The specs on the Dimarzio site are pretty similar for both pickups, so I decided to give it a try.
   Please note that I don't play anything much heavier than AC/DC, Gary Moore, stuff like that. I'm primarily interested in clean sound. I play quite a bit of country music. I was a little concerned when I hit that first chord with the AT-1, and realised that one man's "swirl of harmonics" may be another man's "dirt". It was only when I turned the amp up and gigged that I became relieved. No, not dirt, it's character! The Airzone is like the guy everybody likes. Solid, dependable. The At-1 has attitude, you either like it or you don't. I like it a lot. Its more cutting than the Airzone, but in no way brittle. Not QUITE as much bottom end, but still plenty.
              As I said, I need some country twang, and let me say, the AT-1 doesn't split anywhere near as well as the Airzone. From what I've read, NOTHING does, the Airzone is superb in that area. When I tried splitting the AT-1, I was very disappointed, I'd been spoiled. In desperation, I tried it in parallel, and bingo! I've never been a big fan of parallel wiring, but it just works with this thing. There have been moments onstage where I've been wailing away, thinking I'm in series mode, and suddenly realised I'm in parallel, there's nothing thin or artificial about it. You can get satisfying country twang out of it, unless you're a died-in-the wool Tele fanatic.
          So, at the moment, although the Airzone is not yet for sale, I can say that I'm very satisfied with the AT-1. It covers a lot of ground, and does it with style, and some attitude.     Highly recommended.

A-Bomb:
Glad you like it, love it in my Strat as well.

I'd say it would work for everyone who thinks the TZ/AZ is too warm/dark/bassy and the Norton is too bright. Lots of people say it sounds like a JB with 250K pots but I think there's more to it than that.

The bottom end is quite big actually, not TZ/AZ or SD huge, but I never feel like needing more bass.
Also it's quite smooth sounding to me, compared to the SD in my Ibanez.
I'd say it's quite a modern, yet versatile tone. Can handle drop tunings (Drop C on my Strat) quite well, too.
Also I want to point out the singing lead tone. It just doesn't get thin, no matter how high up the fretboard you're playing.

Overall, very versatile pickup and I highly recommend it to anybody who plays more than just br00talz metal.

tonejam:
Agreed, A-Bomb, a very singing lead tone, that doesn't cop out as you play higher up the neck.
Another thing worth mentioning: its not a finicky pickup, like the Tonezone, which needs to sit at just the right height to sound its best, I've had the AT-1 extremely close to the strings, as well as quite far from them. While there is a difference in tone, it sounds good regardless.

Speeddemon:
Interesting! I just installed a Norton in the bridge of a Burny Les Paul, where previously sat an Air Norton.
I was looking for something more bright-ish than standard PAF's, and the Air Norton already did that, but it does seem to have that tone to it, that says "please put me in the neck position. I'll be way better there". Still, all in all not a bad tone. Now, the Norton is a bit more crunchy/focussed, but not extremely aggressive, which I like and installed a coil-split push/pull volume pot.
Split, the Norton sounds brighter and more jangly than my G&L ASAT Classic Tribute, but those G&L MFD have more output and sound beefier than standard Tele pups (like Tele on 'roids), so I figure that the Norton split may come close to a regular Tele.
Still, I am still interested in how the AT-1 compares to the Norton.

A-Bomb:
My guess is warmer and smoother.

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