[darkbluemurder]

Inspired by this post of RayBarbeeMusic http://www.dimarzioforum.com/forum/index.php/topic,4434.msg34371/topicseen.html#msg34371

I kept thinking about my double P90 equipped guitar where I could never bond with the P90s - not enough power or punch at the bridge and even though the P90 in the neck was less muddy than most of the neck humbuckers I played it lacked the sparkle on top. So when I saw a used DLX Plus I took my chance, purchased it and installed it in my double cutaway LP Special/Hamer style guitar. Body and neck wood are mahogany (according to the builder swietenia macrophylla), the fingerboard is rosewood (probably Indian). Bridge is a Tone Pros AVT-II. The guitar has a 3-way toggle, one volume and one tone control (nominal 500k log each, volume about 520k, tone about 490k). The tone control is a push-pull which is used to series/parallel switching for the DLX Plus. Tone capacitor is a Xicon MPP 0.0022uf.

I also bought a DP-240 (more on this in a separate thread) for this guitar. EDIT: link is here: http://www.dimarzioforum.com/forum/index.php/topic,4977.0.html

I tested this through my self-modded Marshall and a Bassman converted to a D-style circuit for the clean tones.

The output is strong but not over the top. Clean tones are possible but there is a lot of power available to really push the amp.

Reading the website's description and EQ charts you may think that the DLX Plus is scooped in the midrange, and you'd be mistaken. While the midrange may not be as prominent as on other pickups they are still there and it's not shy in the midrange by any means. If I had to describe the DLX Plus with one word it would be "creamy". Bass response is very good but still tight, no mud to be found. Treble response is smooth but not dull (an important distinction), and it retains the smoothness throughout the fretboard. Even the very high notes sound round and fat, which makes it a lot of fun to play lead stuff.

So far I have been describing the DLX Plus in series mode. In parallel mode it has less output, less bass and more highs, just as expected. It's a bit a thinner tone, not bad but not spectacular either. I have not done any resistor tricks to bring down the load in parallel mode yet - maybe that helps. 

As far as tone caps, I started out with the "standard" value of 0.022uf. This made it too dark, only good if you want to do wha-wha effects with the tone control (which I almost never do). I then tried 0.0047uf but that gave me sort of a cocked-wha tone on both pickups which I disliked. For now I settled on 0.0022uf which is very subtle on the bridge pickup when in series mode. In parallel mode the effect is more pronounced. But I really like the effect this cap has on the neck pickup (more on that here: http://www.dimarzioforum.com/forum/index.php/topic,4977.0.html). Hence I will leave it at that or maybe put the tone control on the neck pickup only.

The DLX Plus is a great replacement for P90 and minibucker equipped guitars where a warmer tone is required without going to really high output pickups such as the SD or TZ in that format. Highly recommended.

Cheers Stephan

[darkbluemurder]

Added the resistor trick for the parallel mode - takes off the excess brightness and makes it way more useable. Great mod.

Cheers Stephan

[darkbluemurder]

I should have noted that I described the bridge version (DP-154) in the first two posts. Meanwhile I also scored one for the neck (DP-162) and wired it in parallel. It replaced a DLX-90 which was also wired in parallel and was good but I hoped to get a tone that was more full. I achieved that with the DLX Plus neck in parallel (load to the pickup was about 250k) but still too scooped in the midrange. I then added a 0.001uf cap from hot to ground. Yes - that's more like a P90 now. Great tone and matches well with the DLX Plus in the bridge (which is wired in standard series mode). Still not quite there - I may have to do a slight tweak to tune the low response - more on that when I get to it.

Cheers Stephan

[darkbluemurder]

Meanwhile I found out that the DLX Plus neck (DP-162) is a great bridge pickup, too. Similar to the DLX Plus bridge but a tad brighter, a tad more high midrange and a bit tighter in the low end. Can be easily tamed with the help of the tone control. Highly recommended.

Cheers Stephan