DiMarzios for an LP

[gerraguitar]

Hey guys,

So I'm pretty much done with the POS pickups in my studio paul, and I still need to own the gtr for tone reasons, so I'm looking to upgrade the pickups.

Although I'm still open to suggestions on brands, I set my sights on DiMarzios.

I NEED these things to be clean, but it won't be my main gtr for the clean/jazz gigs, I have a box for those, but I want the paul to be somewhat of a good backup. Mostly I'm using the paul as a backup to the rock stuff, so I know DiMarzios are good for that. Have any of you guys used Dimarzio pickups and gotten good cleans out of them?

I'm not opposed to other brands, I would switch over to Burstbuckers but they are kind of pricey and I don't think they will get as clean as I want them to be.

Any info you can give me would be great

Thx

[raylinds]

I've played a lot of Dimarzios over the years from single coils to very high output heavy metal shredders and can say that DiMarzio puts out a very high quality product at a good price. It's really just about finding the right model for the tone you are looking for.

Unfortunately, I can't help you pick a specific model for your needs, as I am not familiar with their current clean humbucker models, but I can say that you are probably on the right track with that brand.

Hopefully, someone else can chime in with a specific model.

[stevedenver]

Your studio has 496 500s right?
These are very hi output
and sound a bit brittle-
had some and i changed -just couldnt get them to sound as i like clean -they are better with lots of gain (for which they were designed)
It is my opinion that lower out put like 7.5_8.5 output together with backing off the volume pot a bit helps
I play my lps clean a lot
string height does make a difference-but wont change the sound of the pick up too much-i tried this first with my 496-500s-also tried dialing in the pole pieces-which can make a huge change-not for those 496-500s however

i like burst bckers- i have used 1, 2 and 3 and like them all-they sound great clean-very musical and rich imho

i have found that while overall , pick ups have a identifiable sound-ie classic 57s, shaw, burst buckers, 490-498s etc
some better complimnet certain guitars, as each LP has its own sweet and sour spots-sometimes a rahter middy and focused guitar needs a different pup combination than say one that is lighter and woodier sounding

personally-i think seymour duncan seth lovers or antiquities are excellent both with gain and clean-to my ear -they are sweet sounding and essentially like t tops or paf gibson pick ups -


go to the dimarzio site; use their pick up selector to get what you want-
like i said, lower output i think will give you nicer cleans and sweet mids-and does not rule out gain applications at all-if anything youll be amazed how the use of the volume control can totally change your guitars sound using lower output pick ups into t cranked marshall-from sweet and clean to vintage roar-all with a roll of the volume

[SamBooka]

would just backing off from the strings help?

[Patrick2]

+1 on stevedenver's coments on duncan seth lovers

[cosmic gumbo]

My experience is DiMarzios are made for dirt and crunch.

[mattymel]

supposedly Nash puts Dimarzios in his LP conversions. id say that says something. cheaper doesnt necessarily mean much.

[nado64]

I've the DP-103 (36th anniversary) in neck on a 335-like.
It's the pickup of the sadowsky semi-hollow and the sadowsky ls-17.

I played only jazz, but I think it's good for others styles.
I spent some time to ajust the plots and height. Now, I've an uniform tone for each string.

[Meggy]

A friend has a very nice Musicman Axis Supersport (naff name, lovely guitar) and gets a great clean, modern sounding jazz tone through nothing more fancy than a Roland Cube 30 amp. The pickups are made to spec by Dimarzio for MM, but research indicates that the neck is very close to Dimazio's own "Air Norton" pickup - I think this one may be worth considering.

[Jim Soloway]

Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo

My experience is DiMarzios are made for dirt and crunch.

Then your experience is very limited. DiMarzio makes pickups for every form of music with output levels ranging from very low to very hot and everything in between. the PAF 36th Anniversary is only of the best moderate output humbuckers I've ever played and a wonderful pickup for playing jazz.

[David B]

Have read many good things about the 36th Anniv PAF set. As mentioned above, you'll find them stock in the Sadowsky semihollow. I think that says something.

[Funkwire]

Originally Posted by stevedenver

Your studio has 496 500s right?
These are very hi output
and sound a bit brittle-

Most Studios have the 490R/498T set. The 490 has an Alnico 2 magnet, the 498 an Alnico 5. The 496 and 500 pickups are high-output ceramic pickups.

Some people find the 490/498 pair to sound dark, but I like them. Basically a PAF-voiced set with a little more oomph. I've had good results by lowering them to tame some of the output.

[stevedenver]

by george your right-what was i thinking of-?les paul pro???

i like 490-498s for jazz

[Help!I'maRock!]

i'm a big fan of the Dimarzio PAF and the Air Norton.