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The Pickup Place / Re: Dimarzio Virtual Hot PAF (DP214) Review

« Last post by nienturi on October 08, 2025, 07:01:57 AM »

Yes, I have a DP214 with brass plate and the plastic tubing is also the standard black and not clear as usual.
I bought this from an online retailer. When I asked DiMarzio, why my DP214 has golden brass plate and black plastic wire tubeing (not sure of the exact term for this part of the humbucker) they replied with:

"The pickup is authentic. It is an OEM version of the DP214 that was made for LAG Guitars."

Really? For LAG Guitars? Now, we got to find what LAG models have that pickup

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The Pickup Place / Re: Dimarzio Virtual Hot PAF (DP214) Review

« Last post by Schneidas on October 08, 2025, 06:59:41 AM »

Yes, I have a DP214 with brass plate and the plastic tubing is also the standard black and not clear as usual.
I bought this from an online retailer. When I asked DiMarzio, why my DP214 has golden brass plate and black plastic wire tubeing (not sure of the exact term for this part of the humbucker) they replied with:

"The pickup is authentic. It is an OEM version of the DP214 that was made for LAG Guitars."

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The Pickup Place / Re: NGD - Ibanez JS1000

« Last post by headcrash on October 07, 2025, 09:47:19 AM »

Hey Zoo Keeper,
The difference in position of the bridge pickup, resp. in the JS being closer to the bridge, will result in a thinner or at least less bassier sound - at least in my experience (assuming you set the pickups to the same distance to strings, using the same string gauge, overall as similar conditions as possible).
I think nowadays we all know that tonewood does not, or better: CAN not make a perceivable difference in sound on a purely electric guitar, and since both of your guitars have at least a very similar vibrato, we can rule that out too. 22 frets vs 24 frets also doesn’t make a difference, since both guitars have the same scale length.
We all know that neck pickups in general sound much fuller and bassier than bridge pickups: because of the position in relation to the bridge.

I have a guitar I absolutely love, and its bridge is around 5-8mm closer (depending on which saddle I measure) to the bridge pickup compared to my EBMM Axis (Super) Sports. The Axis Sports still sound quite a bite fuller and bassier using the same bridge pickup and adjusting everything as close to each other as possible on both guitars.
I ended up using a Tone Zone in that other guitar and I absolutely love it, and it also balances really well to a low output PAF-ish neck pickup there.
So I‘d recommend a Tone Zone or Air Zone. Also a AT-1 might work well there, but I remember it being a little soft in its attack, almost being a bit spongy (had it in my Axis Sports as well).
Keep in mind, that TZ or AZ won’t sound too dark or dull compared to many other guitars, because a position closer to the bridge balances things out quite well. At least, that’s what I experienced.
TBH, I didn’t expect the 5..6..7..8 mm to make such a difference, but well, it did.
I think that most folks don’t take this into account (I didn’t either!), when evaluating the sound of pickups.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« Last post by KH Guitar Freak on September 25, 2025, 01:02:24 PM »

Damn, I am late to this. I would have suggested the Air Classic in the neck if you wanted to keep the Air Norton in the bridge

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The Pickup Place / Re: NGD - Ibanez JS1000

« Last post by KH Guitar Freak on September 24, 2025, 05:13:53 PM »

Just to clarify. Is the FRED too bright or too thin for you? If it's too thin but not too bright, you can still try the Mo' Joe or even Norton. The Norton is somewhere between a FRED and a Tone Zone. It's has a beefier tone than the FRED, but still has that upper midrange harmonic you'd expect from the FRED or Mo' Joe

I have a guitar that had a FRED installed in the bridge. I did not quite like how the upper midrange harmonic stood out so much that it gave me the impression that the lower midrange wasn't enough to my taste. Tried out a Mo' Joe and I am happy with the result. A touch more output and low mids, whilst the fundamental qualities of the FRED are still there

However, if you find the FRED too bright sounding instead, then I'd doubt you'd like the FRED or the Norton. Something else, perhaps like an AT-1 or Tone Zone might be more for you

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The Pickup Place / Re: NGD - Ibanez JS1000

« Last post by HeyNorton! on September 21, 2025, 11:37:39 AM »

Congrats on the JS.

I just got a js2450 a few weeks back. What a guitar! 
It is bright though.  Brighter unplugged and plugged in.  That is by design, as Satch is a strat guy at heart.

Engage the HPF and lower the volume some.  There comes a point where the mo'joe  (Fred too maybe?) gets that driven strat bridge sound with higher gain.


I found the mojoe bright, so I lowered the treble side until I was happy.  This worked nicely as it kept the bright/tightness on the low strings. I might have been a full turn to a turn and a half of the adjusting screw

Funny parallels: I have a mojoe/pafjoe in my rg520qs that sound killer, and much fatter than in the js. This fatness stands in stark contrast to the js, and a testament to the pickups.

Norton is bright
At1 might work.
Breed neck is a good choice.
So is the breed bridge. Its in the paf pro family, but is the fattest and warmest variation.  I like it more than the TZ.

I tweaked the eqs on my modeller to account for the brightness.  It messed with my other guitars sound, so now I have an added block with the JS eq adjustments to all my presets.

The satch track is up there with the paf joe in my eyes/ears

IMO, it is totally worth the eq effort. The JS is capable of alot of tones.

I usually run mine HPF pulled, the volume down to 8/9 (tames the harmonics), and the tone down around 6/7.  To be able to roll up the volume and tone for added craziness is great.

My 2450 is not getting touched. Ever. I like it as is. 

With all the sculpting on the body, the controls, the bridge, the bridge, etc.  Its like a super-superstrat.   Hyperstrat?

Edit: i just tried a dunlop gator 2mm over my usual gravity picks, and that tamed the brightness.

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The Pickup Place / Re: NGD - Ibanez JS1000

« Last post by Zoo Keeper on September 17, 2025, 08:45:31 AM »

Thank you all !
I found a YouTube Channel from Japan that does these  great demos of pickups. The poster plays the same sets of riff for every demo, and uses similar guitars, at least for the Dimarzio demos.
A lot of them were with what certainly looks like a 22 fret JS so they were pretty useful to me. As useful as anything on YouTube anyway. 
With that said I am taking a chance on an AT-1 for the Bridge position.  Another discovery about this new guitar was that either the threads or the actual hole in the neck pickup ( low E side) that adjusts the height is stripped. The spring is on the screw, but the pickup on that side is about as deep in the cavity as it could go and I can't get it to raise. The screw turns and I feel it catch then release. I've tried sticking a thin screwdriver in to lever up the pickup while turning the screw to see if I could get it to catch, no go. The pickup is a PAF Pro. If it's the pickups screw hoe that is messed up. I might try the Fred in the neck.  I have looked online and if it is the hole there doesn't seem to be a really good fix for that.
If the AT-1 doesn't win me over, I promise the Breed Neck will go in! 

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The Pickup Place / Re: NGD - Ibanez JS1000

« Last post by darkbluemurder on September 16, 2025, 10:03:00 AM »

Good thing you have a Breed Neck lying in a drawer.

BNIB + PAF Pro FTW!

I didn't see where he said that but I second that recommendation.

Cheers Stephan

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The Pickup Place / Re: NGD - Ibanez JS1000

« Last post by gregr on September 15, 2025, 02:24:56 PM »

Good thing you have a Breed Neck lying in a drawer.

BNIB + PAF Pro FTW!

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Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: FRED

« Last post by Zoo Keeper on September 15, 2025, 08:36:14 AM »

I like it on warmer guitars. But on brighter guitars, i don't prefer.

So I have a Fred in two guitars, a 24 fret RG and a 22 fret JS1000.  Love it in the RG - which not plugged in is a good bit brighter than the JS.
In the JS1000, the Fred that cane with it from Ibamez is thin and overly bright, most noticeable in the plain strings, but also in general just doesn't  have that Fred quality to it.