Dimarzio Area T

[Doughboy]

Does anyone here have the Dimarzio Area T PUs in their tele?

I'm cusrious as to how good they sound & if there is much of a volume drop between the neck & bridge PUs, since the neck's output is 95 & the bridge is 175, which is a huge difference.

Also, does the Area T fit in an Ashtray bridge properly?

I'm torn between the Dimarzios & the Joe Bardens.

 

[tfarny]

Just put some area Ts in a tele, they replaced Bill Lawrence keystones. So far, LOVE them. But haven't played enough to give a full review. Neck and bridge are very volume balanced and well matched, not sure what you read. There are rave reviews for these everywhere, though, I'm not sure I will have too much more to add. Yes they fit in a tele bridge and look like normal tele pickups.

 

[Doughboy]

I have Area 58, 61 & 67s in my other guitars & like them a lot. Infact, I like all the Dimarzio PUs I have, so the teles should be good as well.

I really would like to an opinion on the Joe Barden Modern Nashville set as well before I make up my mind. I have their strat PUs & they sound amazing, but who knows about their tele PUs.

 

[m4rk0]

Luke has one in his W tele.. nice n quiet tele sound..

 

[Soylent]

Luke has one in his W tele.. nice n quiet tele sound..

That's the Area Hot T that I have, and  yeah, Marko's description is spot on.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Doughboy]

Do the Area Ts sound authentic & tele like? Is there any sonic difference between them & a regular tele PU?

I'm torn between the Area T bridge & neck & the Joe Bardens.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

The Area T goes after the "Tele" sound w/out the hum, but still does a single coil sound.  The Joe Barden, while sounding great, I wouldn't think is the traditional Tele tone.

 

[Doughboy]

The Area T goes after the "Tele" sound w/out the hum, but still does a single coil sound.  The Joe Barden, while sounding great, I wouldn't think is the traditional Tele tone.

How different than a traditional tele tone are the Bardens? Do they still sound tele like? I wouldn't mind a but less icy picky high end & a little more bass, but still have the PUs sound tele like.

 

[tfarny]

I was just playing my Area T guitar this morning. It's the least traditional tele you could imagine - chambered mahogany body, 24.75 scale rosewood neck, 6 saddle bridge. Yet it sounds like a slightly warmer version of a classic, absolute classic, tele. It doesn't quite get to "harsh" treble, but I can definitely get some good bitey treble tele sounds by digging in a bit on the treble strings. If you want no noise and traditional tele sound, I would recommend these highly. Plus, they are far cheaper than the Bardens.
BTW, have you considered Roadhouse specials? Not noiseless but darn good, really impressive.

 

[Doughboy]

I was just playing my Area T guitar this morning. It's the least traditional tele you could imagine - chambered mahogany body, 24.75 scale rosewood neck, 6 saddle bridge. Yet it sounds like a slightly warmer version of a classic, absolute classic, tele. It doesn't quite get to "harsh" treble, but I can definitely get some good bitey treble tele sounds by digging in a bit on the treble strings. If you want no noise and traditional tele sound, I would recommend these highly. Plus, they are far cheaper than the Bardens.
BTW, have you considered Roadhouse specials? Not noiseless but darn good, really impressive.

I'm definitely leaning towards the Dimarzios. I have their Area strat PUs & absolutely love the tone, so I'm assuming the Area Ts will be similar in quality.

I have Barden PUs in my strat, & although they sound fantastic, they don't sound as authentic as the Area PUs. They sound like a Hi Fi version of single coils. They definitely have a unique sound of their own. Plus, the Bardens are ceramic & the Area PUs are alnico 2, hence the Area PUs sounding more authentic & straty.

I'm only looking for noiseless tele PUs, so I haven't bothered looking into anything that isn't hum cancelling.

The one thing that has be worried is the output of the Area T neck. It's 95 as opposed to 175 for the bridge. That's a HUGE difference. I'd hate to have the dreaded tele volume drop when changing positions. The Bardens compensate for this by making tthe PUs to be more even in output.

 

[AprioriMark]

BTW, have you considered Roadhouse specials? Not noiseless but darn good, really impressive.

Best Tele pickups I've ever played.  Barden, Lollar, etc sound different (and also very good), but these things make my Tele sing.

-Mark

 

[Doughboy]

I decided to go with the Area T Bridge, Area T Neck & an Area 58 for the middle position.

As good as the Joe Bardens are, they don't quite sound authentic enough. They sound like souped up super tele PUs & not as warm or vintagey sounding.

Now I await the delivery of my Super Tele from the fine folks at Warmoth.  :hello2:

 

[JaySwear]

I decided to go with the Area T Bridge, Area T Neck & an Area 58 for the middle position.

As good as the Joe Bardens are, they don't quite sound authentic enough. They sound like souped up super tele PUs & not as warm or vintagey sounding.

Now I await the delivery of my Super Tele from the fine folks at Warmoth.  :hello2:

awesome! i want a full review :icon_biggrin: you've hit my dream-tele set up EXACTLY. area t bridge and neck with a 58 in the middle. maybe a virtual solo in the middle (since i already have one) but might end up changing my mind on that one.

 

[Doughboy]

I decided to go with the Area T Bridge, Area T Neck & an Area 58 for the middle position.

As good as the Joe Bardens are, they don't quite sound authentic enough. They sound like souped up super tele PUs & not as warm or vintagey sounding.

Now I await the delivery of my Super Tele from the fine folks at Warmoth.  :hello2:

awesome! i want a full review :icon_biggrin: you've hit my dream-tele set up EXACTLY. area t bridge and neck with a 58 in the middle. maybe a virtual solo in the middle (since i already have one) but might end up changing my mind on that one.

There will be sound clips, reviews & twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as....  :laughing7:

 

[dNA]

are you gonna wire the switch so you still get the neck+bridge combination? I feel with that pickup set you kinda have to, but I don't know what the standard approach is on the Nashville Tele.

 

[Doughboy]

are you gonna wire the switch so you still get the neck+bridge combination? I feel with that pickup set you kinda have to, but I don't know what the standard approach is on the Nashville Tele.

I always put in a push/push pot in my guitars so I can have the bridge & neck PUs on at the same time, but this time I'm going all out. There will be 3 push/push pots. 1) neck & bridge. 2) Series / Parallel. 3) Out of Phase.