Are Dimarzios really that bad?

[ricker]

All I hear from people all over the place is how crappy, harsh and brittle dimarzio pups are.
Are these valid statements?
The Duncans get praised but the Dimarzios .......well.

I have a Dimarzio Airzone in the bridge and I must say I like it.
I haven't tried anything else except the stock pups.
I still have the 490R in the neck..yes it is mushy but it does have alot of character.
Below the 10th fret I use the Bridge pup and higher than 10th I use the neck pup.

Am I missing out on a Duncan Custom custom for the bridge or a Duncan jazz for the neck????????
Maybe If I was to hear the diff I may be converted but I'm not a big pup swapper.....
What you guys think........Some truth to all the Dimarzio bashing?????????

 

[uncouth_rustic]

I have no beef whatsoever with DiMarzio pickups. Al DiMeola and Frank Zappa, two of my favorite artists, each played a Les Paul with a Super Distortion with devastating results. BTW, the SD has been in production since 1972! Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Strat comes stock with 3 Dimarzios, and it's a brain-blistering tone machine.

I have a Dimarzio Airzone in the bridge and I must say I like it.

Good, because that's all that really matters at the end of the day.

 

[tall guy]

i had a dimarzio super dist once, on looking back, i think it was bloody awful.....i use a custom custom nowadays and cannot endorse it highly enough, crushing power and oh so sweet.

 

[gainhead]

Dimarzios are great. I love my Duncans as well.. especially the Custom Custom. But I have the virtual vintage blues in two guitars along with a Breed in the bridge of one and a Norton in the other. These are both trem equipped guitars. None of them is harsh or brittle. Very nice and warm with singing mids. I think Dimarzio offers a very broad range of humbuckers so that you can find the right match for your guitar.

 

[tdavis64]

I have had really good luck with Dimarzios. I have Super Distortions in all my guitars. I have tried others but still like Dimarzios best. Everything is personal taste though.

 

[badmuddy]

i'm with you tall guy! i had sd's back in the late 70's, and they were awful. when i had an endorsement with ibanez (blec-c-h-h!), i went & got an endorsement with duncan as well, so i could get those nasty things outta there! they sound terrible cause they're cheaply made.


ml

 

[refin]

All I hear from people all over the place is how crappy, harsh and brittle dimarzio pups are.
Are these valid statements?
The Duncans get praised but the Dimarzios .......well.


What you guys think........Some truth to all the Dimarzio bashing?????????

I remember being the first guy in town to get Super Distortions...for the time,they were way great.
I have a pair of '70s DiMarzio PAFs that I would never part with---some of the sweetest pups I've ever owned,including original PAFs.

 

[jackdonovan]

Dimarzios .....

I've got a Jap guitar from the 70s with dimarzios humbuckers in it.

It's actually got probably got the clearest, sweetest and best defined sound of the guitars I've got. The top strings sound really very clear. More volume they improve again.
I don't know whether it's the aging factor or not but they sound pretty good to me.

I don't know what the modern ones are like though.

 

[yobdlog]

Every fucking pickup has its application.

Use your ears, take advantage of return policies with retailers and have some time to figure out what sounds good with what.

I own, have owned, or have access to every pickup imaginable. I think Danelectro pickups sound like shit, but Pagey can make them sound fantabulous.

Use your own ears.

 

[Chiba]

Some DiMarzio pickups sound amazing, but some sound like ass.

Some Seymour Duncan pickups sound amazing, but some sound like ass.

Etc. etc.

I've never used a DM Super Distortion, but I've used a lot of their single coil pickups (the Virtual Vintage series) and they sound great. Same with their P-90s. I've got a DM ToneZone that sounds wooooonnnnnnderful.

I think Seymour Duncan singlecoils sound ... weak. Their '59 I love though, the JB, Custom, all are good as well. Don't like the Antiquities or their P-90s though.

My 3 favorite pickups right now are the Gibson P-94, PRS #7, and Rio Grande BluesBar. Great stuff.

--chiba

 

[PRSKILLER]

Dimarzio Paf Pro is amazing in the neck. Warm and sweet.:dude

 

[ricker]

Well nice to hear all your comments.
Sometimes I think there is stereotyping.
Certain pickups get pigeon holed for a certain sound and that's it.
Also Duncans cost more so we also assume that the more something costs the better it is.
As I said earlier ......I haven't tried alot of pickups./
I also don't really plan on swapping pickups too often so I am just interested what's out there or what I'm missing or not missing out on.
One man's bread is another man's poison.
The Airzone that I have sounds pretty cool and does the job but.......there may be something out there that would jump out and say hey ...this is better.........
Adios
Ricker

 

[LarryN]

I love DiMarzio Super Distortions. The sound good clean...big secret!

 

[Bryansamui]

I love DiMarzio Super Distortions. The sound good clean...big secret!

Yep..They were good enough Ace Frehley, Al DiMeola, Tom Scholtz, Randy Rhoads .One can't argue with those players .

 

[renderit]

I used a lot of them back in the 70's and 80's.

Loved them.

 

[corpse]

They will come back in 2027- Nostradamus and corpse say so- therefore it is written. The very next first-born-unicorn PUP builder.

 

[Mr. Papa]

I love DiMarzio Super Distortions. The sound good clean...big secret!

This is true. I would like to keep a Super D in a Les Paul but I would need another one (darn) for that purpose. One of the best pickups I’ve heard was a soap bar sized Super D in a LP Special. It did it all, really well. That might be what I would look for after I get caught up from holiday expenses.

 

[Amp360]

No. Duncan and DiMarzio make great pickups. I think DiMarzio gets lumped into the metal pickups but they make some nice traditional pickups as well.

 

[AA00475Bassman]

Ive never replace a set of pickups = this is fact . Although I'm sure they are fine - your not going to stay in the game making a Sh&t product this long .

 

[Dave P]

I like a few Dimarzios, and have them in a few guitars. I do think the double cream trademark is bullshit.