DiMarizo Pickups

[Ermz]

As you can see by my avatar, I own an Epiphone SG Special, which I think has a great feel but quite shitty tone... so the other day I went in and ordered 2 pikcups... both Dimarzio, a Steve's Special for the bridge and an Air Norton for the neck.. I figured this would give me a good balance in tone between riffing and lead.

So to all you guitar pros out there, did I make a good decision? Have any of you ever tried out any of these pickups, been satisfied, unhappy etc.?

 

[bleed for me]

i have an ibanez rg570 which i replaced the stock pup with a steve's special...it sounds really good. You get a lot of clarity with heavy distortion because the mids are brought down a bit. Really good for death metal riffing IMO. When i have money i'm going to replace the neck with an air norton as well, so tell me how that goes.


btw. that's the same pup combination as john petrucci, if you didn't already knwo that

 

[Ermz]

*wets self*. thanks so much man, you just made my day .

 

[Fifth_Horseman]

I haven't been able to try any DiMarzios yet, but I've heard great things about them.

I've ordered the Seymour Duncan JB/'59 combo for my Jackson. I love that combo...

 

[Nico16]

I plan replacing the bridge jazz-pickup, that came with my Squier Precision Special bass, with a dimarzio ultra-jazz one - when I have the money.

Does any of you bassists here have experience with those DiMarzio ultra-J's??

 

[Morgour]

i got emg's 85-81 in my jackson, they fucking rule, the guitar was 2nd had and when i took out the bridge pickup i found out it was a dimarzio which was wierd because it sounded like shit.

 

[newbreed99]

As for pickups, I guess DiMarzio makes decent pickups, I wish I would have read this earlier, I would had advised getting EMG pick ups. Most metal guitar players in the upper echelon, use EMG 81's in both neck and bridge, some use a EMG an 85 in the neck. Me Personally, cos it's an Epiphone, I probably wouldn't of even bothered replacing the pickups without hope in selling it to get a better one. To each his own, but personally, if the sound wasn't there I would have just saved up for a new or Used Gibson SG or thier Flying V (not gothic v mind you) sound great, I know their a bit pricey. Another thing that could be affecting your sound is your ampliefer and or EQ settings... I can talk all day on this. The Dimarzio Pickups you picked out were okay, no complaints I guess...I just would have picked different ones.

As for the replacing Bass Pickup,
Generally I wouldn't do that anyway unless there was something wrong. And since you have a Squire p-bass, I would DEFFINATLY recommend getting another one, those basses suck shit. Ibanez makes relativly inexpensive bass, mainly their SR series. They all sound half way decent especially for the price.

Those are my recommendations.
I do hold a sound Engineering degree and I used to play in an Orchestra, so those are my creditials.

 

[Ermz]

I was under the impression that EMG's are active pickups and I would need to carve a battery slot into the guitar or something, which would be more money than it's worth.

 

[Autumn Falls]

I for one think the air norton is the greatest neck pickup EVER made...

Other then that I've heard the Steve's Special is weak.. yes Petrucci had AMAZING tone when he played one.. but he also went through 10,000 dollars of equipment designed for him.

I pair mine with the Tone Zone and I F-ing love it in my RG3120..

Other then that I just got my RGT3120TV and it has two PAF Pros in it.. Dimarzio... I think I might change them because they sound a bit thin to me..

Other then that my credentials are I work in a music store hah... credentials are bullshit dude it only matters about what sounds good...

EMGs are great ... but for what they do. You put EMGs in a guitar and it sounds like it has EMGs.. that's why I would probably only put them in a mid-ranged axe and probably never in a higher end one unless I REALLY only used them.. my buddy swears by them though.

Good combination for the Duncans whoever posted it.. real popular and sounds great.

Brandon

 

[newbreed99]

I dunno about a mid-range guitar.. kirk Hammet put EMG's in his Gibson V, and it sounded mint. Eventhough a Gibson V by itself sounds great though. That duncan combo, I agree was pretty good. Adn your right about the Active pickups, needing an extra battery compartment, you could probably get one carved out for about $50, just ask a local luthier if he'll do it. I know how... but I would still go to a luthier just because I screw up from time to time.
I'd still get a new guitar though.

 

[Manbient]

GOOD CHOICE... i've got basically those same pickups, just a little hotter in my guitar, and i love them with all my body (even my peepee) EMG are also good... i had 81's in my old guitar and they sound alright, BUT i just don't think they have the character of the Dimarzio ones. It is all personal preference, but i think Dimarzio makes the best pickups, particularly the Evolution, Steve's Special, and the Air Norton... all such lovely pickups!

 

[Pseudonym]

EMGs are a little too much "ooomph" for me, I like my one thick and juicey, not midless. Dimarzios do indeed make the best pickups on the market, I have BLAZE pu's in my Ibanez, and they sound sweeeet. It looks like you went for the old Petrucci configuration, awesome, that steve special crunches like mo' fucka. I'm not sure how they would sound in your Epiphone though, an evolution may be a better choice for that specific guitar. Good luck.

 

[Nico16]

Originally posted by newbreed99
As for the replacing Bass Pickup,
Generally I wouldn't do that anyway unless there was something wrong. And since you have a Squire p-bass, I would DEFFINATLY recommend getting another one, those basses suck shit. Ibanez makes relativly inexpensive bass, mainly their SR series. They all sound half way decent especially for the price.

Well actually it's a bastardisation between a Jazz and a P-bass. So, I'd like to know _what_ makes them sound shit in your opinion? Is it the pickups or is it the whole construction?

I'm just a total bloody bass newbie and know almost nothing about all this stuff (I never have any money, so I can in no way afford a new bass, so much for buying an Ibanez )

The strange thing is that, before I bought it, I did some research on this Squier bass I have now - it was reviewed by hundreds of people on different sites in the net ...almost all of them wrote that the bass sounds really damn good... so were they all wrong and/or sponsored by Squier? You can't tell me that they all have no clue...

 

[Nico16]

BTW: It's exactly the bass Mendez uses in the guitar lesson video from guitar.com ...even the color is the same

 

[newbreed99]

why "Squire" basses suck ass, where should I start,

Construction,
on all their basses, they use third rate wood, and have it manufactured in Korea and or Mexico. Although it looks good on the outside, I'v heard horror storeys on the inside electronics area.

Necks,
on occasion when they come out of the box, the necks arn't even close to be being alighned.

The Pickup's themselves again cheaply manufactured almost no care went into them.

Also, compare ANY bass, even a cheap Washburn bass with Bartoloni pickups, and they would smoke a Squire ANYDAY.

If it were an actual Fender Bass made in the Good ol USA, that would be a different story alltogether. Fender Basses made in US, are of top notch quality.

Also Read Bass Player magazine, even when they rate "Affordable" basses they rate Squire as being amongst the lowest.

The best way to find out how a bass sounds, is by playing them in person on a amp, not so similar to your own. Like Modulus's "Flea" Bass, looks almost Blasphemous to the Ernie Ball Stingray, witht he same pick up configuration, but when you play it, it sounds great. But then again, I havn't played a Modulus bass I didn't like.

As for an Ibanez bass, That was just a meer suggestion. I owned one, I payed $550 for it it was a SR885 (I was 16 also 7 years ago) and at that time EVERYONE was playing that bass and was endorsed by them. It was the popular bass of that glorius time in music when Metal was still underground.

I know Washburn makes a decent bass at a reletivly cheap price.
so does Fernandes and Yamaha.

Does this answer your question?

BTW they all have no clue, take it from someone who's been playing bass for 9 years and ask ANY semi-pro bass player about Squire and they'll all say that their no good, only if your just starting out.

BTW#2 Mendez is one person, you want to see a bad ass bass player, check out Victor Wootan's video or John Myung. Wootan plays a Fender I think, myung has a custom shop 6 string from Yamaha.

 

[Hondo]

I think that interview said the bass was just handed to him.. where's the part.. here.

"Then Martin or Mike would reply, “Spiele?” Peter would nod and soon we had the three of them, Michael, Martin, and Peter along with two guitars (Martin used a cheap bass from our office) and we were ready to go. I hailed a cab and we were off."

 

[Nico16]

Originally posted by newbreed99
BTW they all have no clue (...)

heh, ok I expected something like this

Well, seriously, if dozens/hundreds of people say that it sounds good, then it will sound good to thousands of non-bass players and music listeners in general as well. Hell, the bass even sounds good to me - I have heard far worse sounding ones. There's a slight possibility that I could care about this in a few years time and maybe even buy another bass, but for now I simply don't give a _shit_ .
(Would be pathetic to spend the double amount of money on a bass just to please the ears of (semi)-professionals...)

 

[bleed for me]

well i agree with putting emgs in a mid range axe only coz the active pickups sound really sterile and you lose all the qualities, contructions and building materials-wise, of your axe...so don't ruin a good high-end guitar that's built really well by putting active pups in them.

 

[ddicosmo]

Just for the record, Martin Mendez plays Fender Custom Basses, not Fender Squire Basses. The Squire in the video lesson was borrowed as stated by Hondo. As for the Squire Bass, don't worry too much about what newbreed99 says. If it sounds good to you, then its good. Take everyone's opinion (even mine) with a grain of salt because music is so subjective. What sounds good to someone may not sound good to someone else. Squire basses are inexpensive and therefore, they will not be of the highest quality but they are still playable and will sound decent through a good bass amp. It sounds like you haven't been playing the bass for a long time so don't go spending tons of cash on an expensive bass until you become a better player and will appreciate and understand a better instrument. Good luck!

 

[ddicosmo]

As for the EMG-81's, I would not put them in an expensive guitar like a Fender strat or Gibson Les Paul (even though Zakk does! He gets his Paul's free and he can afford to!). The EMG-81 and 85 active pickups are pure shred and metal pickups and will not allow the exceptional tonal properties of a high quality guitar shine through like a Dimarzio, Fender, Gibson or Seymour Duncan PUP would. The EMG-81 is a great pickup if you want tons of gain and play metal. They will sound very good in a mid-range guitar like an ESP, Schecter, Fernandez, Jackson, etc. By the way, a better guitar for the money than the Epiphone SG is the ESP LTD EC-300. It has a les paul shape and is made of mahogany with a set neck. It comes with EMG-HZ pickups but if you put EMG-81s in it, it will scream. Much better quality guitar than the Epiphone SG in my opinion.