Seymour Duncan Vrs. DiMarzio

[HMstratocaster]

Hey I'm trying to build the ultimate stratocaster (Aren't we all? :icon_biggrin: ) But this question is what is stopping me from making one. I'm doing an HSS configuration on my guitar and I'm either getting all Duncan or all DiMarzio And I want the neck pickup to be the most bluesy blues possible and the Humbucker to be able to go from some pretty heavy metal but still be able to have the power to be discrete. The body of the guitar is mahogany with a quilted maple top, bird's eye/rosewood neck I play alot of RUSH, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, Blues (not really any specific band just improv), Pink Floyd, Yes, Tool and  Led Zeppelin  (these are just a few) but I really just create my own sound and it tends to be a little more heavy, I guess I'm just looking for versatility.
Please help me with this!  And as always!  :rock-on:

HM

 

[dudesweet157]

I love me some Dimarzios.  For a pretty killer HSS Strat, I would go with Virtual Solos in the neck and middle and an Air Norton in the bridge. 

The VS's are quite a bit hotter than regular Strat pickups, but you almost HAVE to use hot neck/middle pickups in a HSS, otherwise they just won't match the output of the bridge humbucker.  The extra power and midrange of the VS's will give you some killer breakup on a nice tube amp and and some nice fat tones that reek of the blues when you've got the dirt. 
For the bridge bucker I suggested the Air Norton, which is an awesome all around pickup.  I had it in the bridge of a guitar for a while, and it sounded great!  It had loads of snarl and a real ballsy bouncy sort of twang like a good PAF does with low gain, and it could scream as you piled the gain on!  I never went for the super distorted Pantera/DEATH/nu-metal sort of tone, but it could give me that classic 80's tone in spades as well as higher gain stuff ala Satriani and Eric Johnson on his 335.

-Rose

 

[Fish Out of Water]

I am a big fan of Seymour Duncan.  I love the JB and have it in the bridge of all of my guitars (except my Gibson Les Paul.  That giutar I'm keeping stock).  For my strat I picked up a pair of Duncan APS II stacked single coil humbuckers.  Great tone except if you're a strat purist.  These pickups tend to roll off the high end "bell" type chime that alot of single coils get.  I don't perticularly care for that.  I'm more of a mid rangey type of guy and that's what these single coils deliver.  Just one simple guy's opinion... :icon_jokercolor:

 

[tfarny]

I'm just wondering why you're limiting your choices to two companies only, and why they all need to be the same brand? Not that those are bad decisions, of course. I like SD in general and haven't really used Dimarzio, so I won't be of much help.

 

[ildar]

As usual, it depends on amp, guitar, playing style and musical style. I have always gravitated toward DiMarzio. I'm not a metal player, but I am a preamp distortion kind of guy, and some DiMarzios can stand up to that. I also prefer maple necks over most other woods I've tried. You've got to take all of your likes and stylistic tendencies into account.

 

[GoDrex]

In the early 80's I had a Super Distortion in my Gibson V. I used to get bad feedback from it. Later I put a SD JB in a POS Ibanez Iceman I had and it sounded amazing with no bad feedback. I've been a SD fan ever since. But I bet Dimarzio's are just as good, since so many guys I admire use them and they sound fine. But one bad experience is enough to color my feeling about a brand for a long time, since I'm not made of money and swaping pickups around wasn't something I could easily do back in the day. Every SD pickup I've tried sounded great to me. I've had the JB, Jazz neck, '59 neck, Custom and Invader bridge. Love em all.

 

[HMstratocaster]

Thanks for the feedback guys I'm still debating on which I'm going to choose but I'll let you guys know when I choose, I might do as tfarny said and do Duncan's and DiMarzio's. The main reason I want to go with just one brand is because I just wanted it to be symmetrical but you make a good point tfarny I might consider some Lace Sensors...

:rock-on: 

HM

 

[HMstratocaster]

And hey has anyone ever tried these?  http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Lace-?sku=305433

 

[DocNrock]

For the bridge, I would recommend the Norton for the sound you are looking for.  Personally, I would reserve the Air Norton for a neck pup. 

The Norton will give you classic rock tones, the "brown sound," and handles modern high gain applications very well.

 

[Fish Out of Water]

Doc, is the Norton the pickup that Dimarzio developed for EVH?

 

[DocNrock]

Doc, is the Norton the pickup that Dimarzio developed for EVH?

I can't directly answer that.  I've heard yes, and I've heard no, and I have no way to verify one way or the other.  I just think that it is a kiler pup.  Similar in output and EQ to Seymour's JB, but without the "honk."

 

[dbw]

Hey, look at this little argument, Doc... how apropos

FYI, HMStrat, the quote below your avatar was from the Bible before it was from a Rush song.  Also you misspelled inherit.  :doh:

 

[DocNrock]

Hey, look at this little argument, Doc... how apropos

FYI, HMStrat, the quote below your avatar was from the Bible before it was from a Rush song.  Also you misspelled inherit.   :doh:

Yup, I was wamed up.  :icon_biggrin:

"We've taken care of everything, the words you read, the songs you sing..."

 

[shanejw]

I've been a Dimarzio fan for years, my favorite pickup being the Super Distortion.  I recently bought a Seymour Duncan JB/59 set and have been fairly dissapointed.  The 59 is a nice pickup but I don't really care for the JB.  The JB is a little more "crunchy" while the Super Distortion is more "growly".  The Super Distortion is also a little fatter sounding when coil tapped.  JB just has too much high end for me.

 

[HMstratocaster]

Hey dbw, Lol I know that it's from the bible  :icon_biggrin: , but the fact that I put it as "...and the meek shall inherit the Earth" -2112 was supposed to be a joke because most Christians would have put it as  "...the meek shall inherit the earth" -Psalms 37:11 or whatever. And I didn't realize I miss spelled "inherit"  :doh:

P.S. RUSH is one my favorite bands! I'm a BIG Alex Lifeson fan!  :icon_biggrin: 

:rock-on:

HM

 

[HMstratocaster]

Speaking of the "Brown sound" let's talk a little more about that I heard something about how he took a bridge pickup from and old 335 then he took some surf board wax heated it up in a coffee can, dunked the pickup in it, let it cool and then he put it in one of his frankinstrats.

 

[Fish Out of Water]

Yea, I read that some where as well.  The thing about EVH is that very early on in his career he was trying to mislead people about what he was doing to get his "brown" sound because he was trying to prevent other competing guitarists from coping his tone.  He also referenced some mods to his amps other than the Variac that he has just recently admitted were never done.  I guess back in the late 70's guys were much more secretive about their gear and techniquies than they are now. 

 

[ildar]

Doc, is the Norton the pickup that Dimarzio developed for EVH?

That was the Tone Zone.

Hey dbw, Lol I know that it's from the bible  :icon_biggrin: , but the fact that I put it as "...and the meek shall inherit the Earth" -2112 was supposed to be a joke because most Christians would have put it as  "...the meek shall inherit the earth" -Psalms 37:11 or whatever. And I didn't realize I miss spelled "inherit"  :doh:

P.S. RUSH is one my favorite bands! I'm a BIG Alex Lifeson fan!  :icon_biggrin:  

:rock-on:

HM

+1,000,000
My all time favorite rock band.

 

[HMstratocaster]

Alright guys I think I've narrowed it down to these humbuckers for the bridge. Tell me what you think! http://www.musiciansfriend.com/compare?base_pid=300040&base_pid=301006&base_pid=300042&base_pid=300120&base_pid=302000&base_pid=309390&base_pid=302755
Much research went into these I'm really liking the Super Distortion but I still consider these other ones, if I go active the only active pickup I will go with is the blackout, I HATE EMG's they sound so dead they have no character and they're to comonly found.
:rock-on: 

HM

 

[HMstratocaster]

Hey Fish! Yeah I believe that! Eddie did the same thing with the recording of "Runin' with the Devil" "Feel Your Love Tonight" "On Fire" and "You Really Got Me"  Most people commonly think that the sound on those recordings is one of his frankenstrats but on both of those songs it's actually an Ibanez Destroyer with Korina body and neck, the pickups were DiMarzio's (An Ibanez Destroyer is basically a Gibson Explorer) the sound you hear at the opening to Runin' With the Devil that most guitar players think is him strumming behind the nut is actually him strumming upwards behind the tune-o-matic bridge of the Ibanez Destroyer.  Here's a picture of him with the Ibanez Destroyer:

As you can see he made a few "modifications"  :icon_biggrin:

:rock-on:

-HM