The Humbucker Archive: DiMarzio, EMG, BKP, Suhr & Duncan Tested – My Notes & Comparison, Samples (Long Read Beware)

[charliechitlins]

That is a magnum opus!
I didn't have the wherewithal to read it all carefully, but I did skim most of it.
I found a couple things to be conspicuously absent.
1-height adjustment
2- (even more important) the guitar's volume knob.
I am mainly a P90 and Tele guy and, if I am going to play humbuckers, low output is necessary for me.
I am the fortunate owner of an unmolested 58 PAF that lives in the ES175 in which it was born, and it lives up to the hype.
That being said, one of the most satisfying "woody" "reedy" PAF tones I have ever heard was from a LP custom that weighed as much as a Buick Dynaflow, with DiMarzio Super Distortions WITH THE GUITAR VOLUME ROLLED OFF.
It's one of those lessons I always think that I'm glad I learned early.
I spend a lot of time tweaking my guitars.
I can refret, make nuts, rewire, change pot and cap values, obsessively tweak action, truss rod and string spacing...but, of the dozens of guitars I've had, I've only changed pickups a handful of times.

 

[belensky]

Belensky - I made a sacriligeous move and replaced the replica T-Top in the bridge of my '72 LP Custom with a spare Dimarzio PAF. I'm happy with it as it balances out with the neck better but I'm wondering about giving it even more push and taming some of the highs by using a spare Tone Zone I have. Having compared the two closely what do you think of that move?

If you already have a spare Tone Zone, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to try it,. Personally, though, I’m not a fan of the Tone Zone, Suhr SSH, Aldrich, or other JB-esque pickups in a Les Paul.

A Les Paul is already a loud guitar with plenty of lows and low mids. With a Tone Zone, you’re essentially doubling down on that low-mid emphasis. That said, there’s no right or wrong here. Plenty of people love high-output, bass-heavy pickups in their Les Pauls, so who am I to say they’re wrong?

If I were going in that direction, I’d choose the DiMarzio Air Zone over the Tone Zone. To me, the Air Zone is like a Tone Zone wrapped in velvet gloves —more refined, more responsive to your picking, more clarity, less chaotic, while still retaining the same overall character.

 

[belensky]

That is a magnum opus!
I didn't have the wherewithal to read it all carefully, but I did skim most of it.
I found a couple things to be conspicuously absent.
1-height adjustment
2- (even more important) the guitar's volume knob.
I am mainly a P90 and Tele guy and, if I am going to play humbuckers, low output is necessary for me.
I am the fortunate owner of an unmolested 58 PAF that lives in the ES175 in which it was born, and it lives up to the hype.
That being said, one of the most satisfying "woody" "reedy" PAF tones I have ever heard was from a LP custom that weighed as much as a Buick Dynaflow, with DiMarzio Super Distortions WITH THE GUITAR VOLUME ROLLED OFF.
It's one of those lessons I always think that I'm glad I learned early.
I spend a lot of time tweaking my guitars.
I can refret, make nuts, rewire, change pot and cap values, obsessively tweak action, truss rod and string spacing...but, of the dozens of guitars I've had, I've only changed pickups a handful of times.

Thanks! I actually agree that pickup height and the guitar’s volume control have a huge influence on the final result.


For the sake of consistency, all of my comparisons were done with the pickups set to the same height: 2.0 mm (5/64”) from the high E and 2.5 mm (3/32”) from the low E, measured with the strings fretted at the last fret. Those are the settings I naturally gravitate toward with most humbuckers, so I kept them constant to compare the pickups themselves rather than the setup.


Personally, I’m not a big fan of running pickups very low. I play mostly high-gain, and I prefer getting a bit more output from the pickup while using less gain at the amp. In my experience, that gives a slightly better signal-to-noise ratio. There are exceptions, though—the EMG Het Set, for example, is so hot that I actually prefer it lower.


One thing I’ve learned over the years is that I don’t match pickups just by output anymore. I set the bridge pickup first, since that’s where I spend most of my time, then I adjust the neck while playing along with a backing track or a full mix. I usually end up with the neck slightly louder because, although it’s fatter, it doesn’t cut through a mix as easily as the naturally brighter bridge pickup. The goal is for both pickups to have the same perceived loudness in a mix. When you listen to the guitar by itself, the neck pickup will usually sound a little louder.


As for pots, I’ve settled on 500k or higher with 50s wiring. After measuring a lot of guitars over the years, I noticed that the ones I consistently liked tended to have pots measuring above 500k, while many of the guitars that felt dull or lost their sparkle as the strings aged had pots measuring closer to 400k. That doesn’t mean lower-value pots are “wrong,” but it was a consistent enough pattern that I now always measure them and replace them if needed. For these pickup comparisons, I used a measured 500k pot specifically to keep that variable consistent.

 

[metropolis]

If you already have a spare Tone Zone, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to try it,. Personally, though, I’m not a fan of the Tone Zone, Suhr SSH, Aldrich, or other JB-esque pickups in a Les Paul.

A Les Paul is already a loud guitar with plenty of lows and low mids. With a Tone Zone, you’re essentially doubling down on that low-mid emphasis. That said, there’s no right or wrong here. Plenty of people love high-output, bass-heavy pickups in their Les Pauls, so who am I to say they’re wrong?

If I were going in that direction, I’d choose the DiMarzio Air Zone over the Tone Zone. To me, the Air Zone is like a Tone Zone wrapped in velvet gloves —more refined, more responsive to your picking, more clarity, less chaotic, while still retaining the same overall character.

Thanks, appreciate your perspective. I had the same worries because although the Tone Zone isn't too extreme for now it's essentially in a strat-style guitar and I think in a 70s Les Paul Custom it might just be too extreme! It's a fast change if i want to test it so maybe one day soon I'll do it just to see and report back.

 

[belensky]

Thanks, appreciate your perspective. I had the same worries because although the Tone Zone isn't too extreme for now it's essentially in a strat-style guitar and I think in a 70s Les Paul Custom it might just be too extreme! It's a fast change if i want to test it so maybe one day soon I'll do it just to see and report back.

Also, if the pickup is too bassy, lower it a bit, but adjust the pole pieces so they’re closer to the strings. This can help with fine-tuning and squeezing out that last 3%.


The thing about DiMarzio EQ charts is that they look a lot scarier than they actually sound. When I tried the Tone Zone, I looked at the EQ chart and expected it to be really boomy, but it’s actually a very balanced pickup. If anything, I’d say the “bass” on the DiMarzio chart is more like juiciness versus dryness.


The treble rating is more like the presence control on an amp. The upper mids are closer to what most people think of as treble, while the lower mids represent a mix of bass and lower mids, if that makes sense.


For example, I got myself a DiMarzio Sonic Ecstasy pickup. Looking at the EQ chart, it seems like it has almost no treble and a huge amount of lows, low mids, and mids.

In reality, though, it feels like a fairly balanced pickup. The lack of treble just takes away the hard edge, and those huge lows shown on the chart are actually very tight. It seems like DiMarzio’s EQ chart is more abstract than literal, since the pickup still goes into an amp, which does most of the heavy lifting.

 

[metropolis]

I came to the same conclusion on their EQ charts - the mids are really the bite in the treble for me.

Totally with you on lowering the pickup and raising polepieces, I've used that trick on neck pickups forever. I just had to put some back to stock because I'm trying to sell and don't want to freak anyone out!