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The Pickup Place / Rick Derringer pickups description from Steve Blucher

« Last post by JohnnyGtar on July 07, 2024, 10:48:43 PM »

I wrote DiMarzio a few years ago, asking what the Rick Derringer Signature pickups sound like.

Steve's reply:
1)      The bridge model (DP204) resembles the Steve' Special, although it is a little brighter-sounding and not quite as loud.

 2)      The neck model (DP203) is fairly comparable to the Air Classic (DP190) in terms of output and overall sound.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by JohnnyGtar on July 07, 2024, 10:46:55 PM »

Duncan SH2n Jazz neck model or SH10n Full Shred neck model

DiMarzio DP153 FRED.

Boom. Done.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Al Dimeola Bridge

« Last post by JohnnyGtar on July 07, 2024, 10:43:59 PM »

The more I play this, the more I like it.  The extra tightness on the wound strings vs. a 36th and the way artificial harmonics just jump out are great.  No idea why it's discontinued, IMO it's one of their best pickups for sure.  Not thin in the bridge like a PAF Pro can be, not as middy as a Breed Neck in the bridge can be, a little more interesting harmonically than a Mo
Joe.  Really, really cool member of their PAF family.   Also, when split, the split coil sound is more robust than a 36th. 

Ignore everything else you read on the web RE these (and there isn't much).  It is NOT a high output pickup, and it does not sound anything remotely like a Tone Zone or Super D.  It's like a modded 36th.

Are you referring to the Rick Derringer bridge pickup or the Al DiMeola bridge pickup. I had the ADM bridge but didn't like it at all. The most boring pickup I've ever played. I traded it with Bud and got a Suhr Aldrich. The Aldrich SLAYS. I'm really interested in the Rick Derringer pickups.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by gregr on July 06, 2024, 05:47:33 PM »

Good luck making an educated purchasing decision based on DiMarzio’s DCR specifications. Thankfully they provide really good and reliable product information. Seymour Duncan should take notice. 

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The Pickup Place / Re: PAF pickups that are close in brightness to singles?

« Last post by andrus108 on July 06, 2024, 06:33:21 AM »

Bridge EJ seems to be nearly identical specs and EQ of neck AC according to Dimarzio website, aside from being brighter, so was wondering how both would work together, but neck EJ probably does sound like a natural fit.

The EJs were designed to sound like Filtertrons but in a humbucker route. The neck and bridge are the same basic recipe, just calibrated for each respective position. Personally, I would not look to the EJ Custom if I wanted the sound of a full-size humbucker, at least not in the bridge position. If you’re happy with the Air Classic Neck in the bridge I would stick with that.

It was mentioned that a 1M tone pot can be useful in getting more brightness out of a pickup. Choosing a smaller tone cap can also make a marked difference, even with a 500k pot turned all the way up, I would try 15nF or 10nF.

I tried searching more for what Filtertrons generally sound like, and I must say, I think I like this direction more. I've never been happy with any traditional humbucker in the neck, and I tried plenty of them. So if the EJ Custom sounds closer to a single coil than PAF, I'd probably like that more.

I don't know. I have the Air Classic set in 2 guitars, one Les Paul and one Paul Gilbert Ibanez RG. That humbucker set is very bright in both guitars, rivaling the single coils in my Strat.
Have you checked the pot values in your guitar with a multimeter?

Would you say then that even Air Classic Bridge is close enough to single coil, especially overwound models like Heavy Blues 2?

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by nienturi on July 06, 2024, 04:59:38 AM »

I remember that chart and all of the Nazgûls being 666 mV. I also remember questioning the Full Shred Neck at 709 mV. I don’t have much confidence in any of it, to be honest. I’m not confident about SD’s published resonant frequency specifications either.

The list is not something you can trust fully. But it still is moething at least Nothing more.

The magnet, wire gauge and TPL are far more critical than DCR. DCR needs to die a slow painful death.

If it dies, pickup companies can't give any data. That's all they serve, unfortunately even for Dimarzio.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by HeyNorton! on July 06, 2024, 01:01:50 AM »

Full shred set, most definitely.

I bought a set that was useless to me until I tried it in my rg520qs (sapele body), and my ltd ec256.

The fuller and fatter mahogany signature balances with the full shreds nicely. 

You'll not be happy with them until you boost the bass at your amp a bit.  Doing this makes them thump and be super tight as the same time.

This is a great set of pickups.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by gregr on July 05, 2024, 11:50:53 AM »

I remember that chart and all of the Nazgûls being 666 mV. I also remember questioning the Full Shred Neck at 709 mV. I don’t have much confidence in any of it, to be honest. I’m not confident about SD’s published resonant frequency specifications either.

With that in mind I’m willing to believe that the PATB-3 is warmer than the SH-1 (and the TB-59 as well). I can’t believe it is less suitable than a Full Shred, however, especially considering the OP is interested in the cleaner end of the spectrum.

The magnet, wire, and wind are far more critical than DCR. DCR needs to die a slow painful death.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by nienturi on July 05, 2024, 07:10:40 AM »

Just to be clear, the PATB-3 is the lowest output version of the three bridge models. The published specs show 9.8k DCR (42AWG) and 6kHz resonant frequency (same Fr as the SH-1 59B).

Hey buddy, PATB-3 has more output than 59. Okay not the double of '59 but still has more meat than the '59
There was once a project at Duncan about achieving output values in milivolts;
https://www.tonejourney.com/post/output-levels-of-seymour-duncan-in-milivolts
According to the values published (which i accept the result table is not all okay) TB-59 has 593 milivolts and PATB-3 has 694 milivolts.

And in search for a bright pickup, lower the DCR, higher the res. freq., better the results

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by gregr on July 04, 2024, 01:12:05 PM »

Just to be clear, the PATB-3 is the lowest output version of the three bridge models. The published specs show 9.8k DCR (42AWG) and 6kHz resonant frequency (same Fr as the SH-1 59B).