DiMarzio Forum

DimarzioForum.Com => The Pickup Place => Topic started by: marcwormjim on November 30, 2015, 01:46:59 AM

Title: Where to go from Air Norton S?
Post by: marcwormjim on November 30, 2015, 01:46:59 AM

Hi all - My RG3XXV currently has the stock Air Norton S in the neck and a Kiesel Holdsworth in the bridge. I currently have the 2502N switch wired for Neck Humbucker - Neck Coils Parallel - Neck and Bridge Humbuckers - Neck and Bridge Inside Coils - Bridge Humbucker, with jumpers to a push-pull to ground the inside coils so that 1 and 5 are neck and bridge outside coils and 3 is the outside coils combined.

I use the neck coils in series to play clean fingerpicked jazz ala Joe Pass and split or parallel for SRV stuff. As much as I've been enjoying the Air Norton S, I want something that will give me more of a Les Paul neck pup sound with the coils in series, and more of a Hendrix-y strat sound parallel or split.

I've been itching to try the Satch Track since it was released - Will this get me closer to or further from what I'm going for?

Title: Re: Where to go from Air Norton S?
Post by: jazzfromhell on November 30, 2015, 03:45:37 AM

A railbucker like the ANS, Satch Track, Chopper etc is always going to be a compromise. It will never sound like a real humbucker or a real single coil, and getting both of those sounds from one pickup is a tall order.

But yes, the Satch Track in parallel will be closer to the strat thing and it sounds great in series of course. BTW, I have almost exactly the same guitar as you (RGR465) and Ive had quite a few of the DiMarzio railbuckers in the neck slot (ANS, Pro Track, Chopper and now Satch Track) and the ST is by far my favorite. For reference my bridge bucker is a Transition.

Title: Re: Where to go from Air Norton S?
Post by: marcwormjim on November 30, 2015, 07:31:28 AM

Thanks. Yes; I'm not expecting a dramatic improvement - Just a push in one direction.

I found and purchased a Satch Track for $50 on Reverb, and hopefully can post my thoughts by the end of the week.

Title: Re: Where to go from Air Norton S?
Post by: Amplifuzz on November 30, 2015, 09:52:12 PM

Please do post a review, both marc and jazzfromhell. I'm especially interested in how close the Satch Track can get to a true singlecoil tone when in parallel. It's sort of a given that a slightly leaner Chopper will sound great in series for fat neck stuff, but there's been zero feedback so far on the other wiring options.

Title: Re: Where to go from Air Norton S?
Post by: jazzfromhell on December 02, 2015, 04:57:43 AM

Satch Track in parallel sounds great but not necessarily like a single-coil. Its just a thinner, brighter version of the same sound. I think its a very useful tone, I use it the way Id use the 4th position on a strat. Its a good-enough approximation of that tone for me.

Title: Re: Where to go from Air Norton S?
Post by: KH Guitar Freak on December 02, 2015, 04:29:58 PM

Maybe the Pro Track might work?

Title: Re: Where to go from Air Norton S?
Post by: marcwormjim on December 07, 2015, 03:16:04 PM

I'll have to try the Pro Track or Chopper next opportunity. In the meantime, here's the link to my Satch Track comparison:

http://www.dimarzioforum.com/forum/index.php/topic,5710.msg41804.html#msg41804