41

The Pickup Place / Re: HSS with Dimarzio Bridge HB

« Last post by gregr on August 20, 2025, 07:27:29 PM »

Like I said, reversing the polarity of the alnico slugs in a traditional single coil is trivial. It is far easier than flipping a magnet in a humbucker because it is non-invasive. I was able to order a package of 1/4” diameter, 1/2” long neo rod magnets for $9.

Reversing the polarity of a stacked DiMarzio pickup is not as easy because it requires disassembly but is still doable. It is perhaps more difficult than flipping the magnet of a humbucker as the construction is a bit more delicate. I highly recommend desoldering the short black/white wire pair so that the top coil which contains the slugs can be physically removed from the rest of the assembly.

42

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

« Last post by headcrash on August 20, 2025, 05:41:44 AM »

Guys, keep in mind, that a few 10s of Millivolts won't make a perceivable difference in output.
The PAF 36th neck isn't really quieter than the Air Norton, the latter only has a higher inductance, thus its resonant peak shifts a few hundred Hz more towards the lower frequencies. This evens things out a little regarding their positions in the guitar, but obviously not enough.
It's merely a matter of playing with pickup height, and maybe not being afraid to go for a high output bridge humbucker to balance out with a neck humbucker. You could always bring the bridge humbucker farther away from the strings.

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The Pickup Place / Re: 1990s B5 bridge humbucker

« Last post by headcrash on August 20, 2025, 05:28:26 AM »

That B5 pickup is long sold, so I don't have pics any more.

On a side note: I spent the last two weeks reading on the guitarnutz2 forum and learned A LOT about pickups. Actually it was the first time in my life (after playing electric guitars for maybe 35 years, AND being an electrical engineer), I dove relly deep into what is technically important and really makes the sound of a pickup.
I mean, I've had the books by Manfred Zollner for like 10 years now, but tbh, Zollner gets VERY theoretical, and that guitarnutz2 forum mostly doesn't.

What I wanted to say: I wrote here in this thread, I don't like the Tonezone. Well, with with what I learned from guitarnutz2 AND reminding myself and you of this thread https://www.dimarzioforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=16029.0 , with the large DCR tolerances,  the snake oil DiMarzio EBMM EvH could very well sound like a Tonezone or vice versa.
So my main guitar at the moment, where the bridge pickup sits 5 ..7mm nearer to the bridge as in my EBMM Axis's, had a 12k A5 pickup, which I needed to bring very near to the bass strings, to have a balanced sound (and still does not come close to the Axis's). So I put one of my Dimarzio EvH pickups in there, just for the sake of testing, and - well it was really much better.
Now, knowing, that a Tonezone will sound VERY close, I found a cheap one, and put it in there - and turns out, I so much like it!!!
It sounds really, really good in that guitar. I have to admit, I don't like it in the guitar of my band buddy, an old EBMM SUB (chost-saving US-made variant of a Silhouette), where the bridge pickup is even a few millimeters further away from the bridge towards neck, so the TZ sounds quite muddy in there.

Long story short: I can say now: the Tonezone sounds GREAT!

44

The Pickup Place / Re: HSS with Dimarzio Bridge HB

« Last post by headcrash on August 20, 2025, 05:09:14 AM »

Thanks guys for all the hints and stuff. I ended up ordering a cheap Fleor single coil for neck position on Aliexpress (yeah...I know...) and put it in the middle position. Since switch position 4 is the only one to bring the middle pickup into play, and I rarely use it anyway, I decided to do so.
I ended up using the bridge side coil of the humbucker, expecting to cancel hum with the neck single coil, but it doesn't. I can live with that since - well I don't use it that often, and not with higian, I even don't use that guitar much any more.
Pos. 4 sound quite ok, maybe a bit thin, so maybe I'll change the wiring to using the neck side coil of the humbucker some time.

45

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

« Last post by darkbluemurder on August 20, 2025, 03:28:57 AM »

I have a repair tech that I've been going to for quite a while, he was the person that showed me what was going on when I complained about the fret buzz. There is a hump around the 15th fret, where the neck joins the body. My tech says he'd have to pull the frets and plane down the fret board to get rid of it. Even with the action fairly high - which I don't mind - it still frets out a smidge on the wound strings. Still playable but I don't think I'd have the work done. I bought it for $300 about 10 years ago. ( late 90's RG550)

Those are good inexpensive guitars. I agree with your tech but I appreciate if you don't want to spend as much or more for the repair than what you paid for the guitar itself.

Oh and wouldn't you know it, I have a Breed set in my parts drawer as well.

Well then - why not try the Breed neck in the bridge of your guitar first and see (i) whether you like it and (ii) if not, what you want more/less from the pickup.

Good luck
Stephan

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

« Last post by Zoo Keeper on August 19, 2025, 10:34:07 PM »

Unrelated to the pickup question but that sounds like the neck has a hump or a rise and needs fretwork - best to have the guitar looked at by a qualified repairperson.

I have a repair tech that I've been going to for quite a while, he was the person that showed me what was going on when I complained about the fret buzz. There is a hump around the 15th fret, where the neck joins the body. My tech says he'd have to pull the frets and plane down the fret board to get rid of it. Even with the action fairly high - which I don't mind - it still frets out a smidge on the wound strings. Still playable but I don't think I'd have the work done. I bought it for $300 about 10 years ago. ( late 90's RG550) It has a Fred in the bridge and a PAF Joe in the neck that I could always use elsewhere since I have the original Ibby pickups.
Oh and wouldn't you know it, I have a Breed set in my parts drawer as well.

I feel like I am going down a rabbit hole now with this pickup quest. LOL

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

« Last post by darkbluemurder on August 19, 2025, 04:44:33 AM »

That guitar is still playable, but even with nut shims and a lot of truss rod and bridge adjustments it buzzes on the higher frets and barely doesn't at the lower frets.

Unrelated to the pickup question but that sounds like the neck has a hump or a rise and needs fretwork - best to have the guitar looked at by a qualified repairperson.

Cheers Stephan

48

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

« Last post by darkbluemurder on August 19, 2025, 04:42:07 AM »

Since the AT-1 was mentioned I think it’s worth noting that The Breed set is back on the website. Personally, I would opt for the more balanced Breed Neck (DP165) in the bridge over the AT-1.

+1

Mo' Joe, Breed neck and FRED are all about the same output level.

49

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

« Last post by gregr on August 18, 2025, 05:59:57 PM »

Since the AT-1 was mentioned I think it’s worth noting that The Breed set is back on the website. Personally, I would opt for the more balanced Breed Neck (DP165) in the bridge over the AT-1.

50

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

« Last post by Zoo Keeper on August 18, 2025, 08:20:12 AM »

Thank you both for replying!

gregr- Funny you mentioned the Fred. I have an older Ibanez that has a neck that over the years ( I am at least the 3rd owner and can't vouch for how well the guitar was taken care of before me) has gotten to the point where it will need a lot of work to straighten out. It has a Fred in the bridge and a PAF Joe in the neck. That guitar is still playable, but even with nut shims and a lot of truss rod and bridge adjustments it buzzes on the higher frets and barely doesn't at the lower frets. I could use the Fred in the bridge.  Not sure how much less lean the Fred would be in the bridge than the Air Norton.

darkbluemurder- thank you for the great scouting report on all the pickups you mentioned. It's funny how Dimarzio's tone rating has the Bass on the AN a 6 but it is still a bit lean. Goes to show that specs don't tell the true story sometimes.  Based on your kind reply, I think the Bluesbucker would be a great choice if I kept the AN.  If I wanted to keep the 36th in the neck, and I'm kinda leaning ( no pun intended!) that way now, a Norton or Mo'Joe have been pickups I have wanted to try in the past. The AN could go back in the old Ibanez neck. Based on the Mo'Joe not being too much hotter than the AN, the Fred might not be a good choice in the bridge with the 36th neck, eh? 
Just a last question, is the matching 36th bridge a warmer option than the AN? I am assuming that as a set the bridge would play nice with the neck.

Thanks again!