1

The Pickup Place / Re: Red velvet in neck?

« on: May 15, 2020, 08:38:14 AM »

Update: I finally installed the Red velvet in the neck of my strat and it is exactly what I wanted and imagined that to be. Big fat straty sound with a little more output and fast attack.
It has great balance with the Injector in the bridge and the true velvet that I finally decided to go for in the middle.
I highly recommend this combo (Injector/true velvet/red velvet) if you are in favor of a more fat sound from your strat without losing the guitars character.

My next strat project plan though goes for the HB2/54 Pro/area 61 combo. Just out of curiosity and to explore things some more.

2

The Pickup Place / Re: Red velvet in neck?

« on: May 07, 2020, 06:01:17 AM »

Thank you Stephan. I might go for the 58 middle then 

3

The Pickup Place / Re: HFH vs Super 2 vs 36th

« on: May 06, 2020, 03:36:45 PM »

Hope I can help here
I have 3 set neck guitars with different Dimarzio HB combos. And since I don't like muddy neck humbuckers I use the EJ custom , Bluesbucker and HFH.

The EJ custom is n the neck slot of my SG paired with the EVO2 . Both great and unique pickups. Didn't face any output balance problem. The EJ custom neck has a really open and sweet clean sound and the more you distort it the more it likes it. I didn't expect that. In medium gain (blues/alt) it has a gretschy character like you would play a cabronita Tele , and on more distorted settings it goes violin like sustain. Awesome pickup but not the standard neck humbucker sound

Bluesbucker neck. Hello pleasure! I got this one in the neck of my Les Paul paired with the air Norton in the bridge. Air Norton was just gone out of the guitar yesterday (will replace it with the PAF Pro) the Bluesbucker stays. As for the output of the Bluesbucker it's shocking how loud that thing is. Says like 220mv and the air Norton 280mv but I had to lower the BB quite down and raise up the Air Norton to balance well. Good combo but there was something in the high mids of the air Norton that I didn't like much. As for the Bluesbucker is fat, really fat but not muddy at all. It has a nice snap too! Will definitely pair well even with high output pickups.

HFH is the other neck pickup I have in my Hamer Vector with the Air Zone in the bridge. I have set up this guitar as a tribute to my huge teenage love Judas priest . I can understand what you don't like..to be honest I mostly prefer to use it clean so it might go soon in another guitar . And compared with the other two I would first propose you the EJ Custom and then the Bluesbucker. Both great but different . EJ custom more gretschy sounding , crystal clean sound not fat but definitely not thin, likes distortion more than you can imagine.
Bluesbucker is fat, fast attack (snappy) probably due to the ceramic magnet but not muddy. When my luthier put it on the first time was like "what the hell why I never tried that in the past " ...and he has tried dosen of pickups .
That's from my experience
The only hb I haven't tried yet but I will soon is the oaf master neck. But from the sound examples I have checked is a good ol PAF style pickup. It reminded me of the early black crows type of LP sound. Will try it soon. Different from the Dp103 which I didn't like at all in the neck of my SG (muddy) but I love in the bridge position of a Junior.

Cheers

4

The Pickup Place / Red velvet in neck?

« on: May 06, 2020, 11:36:48 AM »

Hi guys. Any help would be really appreciated.
I got an sss basswood strat w/ rosewood fingerboard and I have the Injector in the bridge which I love. I want to replace mid and neck pickups (some ceramic wilkinsons) and I got for really cheap a red velvet in hand so I am thinking to install it in neck position. I am looking for a fat sound slightly more power than typical vintage pickups. I am playing heavy blues , rock, alternative.
I haven't found anywhere any useful info on how the red velvet sounds in the neck. Anybody here with experience?
My concern is that it has (according to Dimarzio site) the same output with the Injector bridge. Do you think that it will overpower in the neck?
As for the mid position  I was thinking for the area 61. So to go the Injector/61/red velvet combo. Would it make more sense to have the red velvet in the mid and the 61 in the neck?
Thank you for your time

5

The Pickup Place / Re: Favorite Dimarzio humbuckers (blues to hard rock sounds)

« on: July 09, 2016, 08:36:07 AM »

Thanks for the reply and your kind words Stephan. Havent tried the AT-1 yet but I ve heard good words from a friend having it.

@DarthPhineas: Hadnt checked those reviews before...very good job!
Now I m definately sure the first combo i ll try next will be the Dominion set. I already have a cheapo in mind to buy at first chance, an Ibanez GAX30 in wine red (cost about 180€). They ll fit in there.

Another idea i have is to grab a Kramer baretta special which has just one humbucker and put it on the Mo Joe. I always wanted that early 90s Ugly Kid Joe vibe 

6

The Pickup Place / Favorite Dimarzio humbuckers (blues to hard rock sounds)

« on: July 05, 2016, 08:06:09 AM »

Hello, i'm a newbie so i'd ask for your understanding if i'm posting anything the wrong way here.
The last 4-5 years I've tried about 10 dimarzio humbuckers plus some more seymours, toneriders etc while seeking for my ultra guitar mojo. My intention is to help somehow myway people with similar tastes in tones etc.

Playing guitar about 15 years now.
Bands-tones I m into: The Black Crowes, Oasis, Qotsa, Black Keys, Pearl Jam, The Soundtrack Of Our lives, The Hellacopters, Stone Temple Pilots (to name a few).

All humbuckers tried on set-neck mahogany guitars such as an epiphone les paul an sg and a Hamer Vector. My amp is a Peavey Delta Blues 210 which I mostly drive on clean with OD pedals and Fuzzes.

Dimarzio's:
-Air Norton (Bridge)
-Air Zone (Bridge)
-Transition (Bridge)
-DP103 36th ann. (Bridge and Neck)
-Tone Zone (Bridge)
-Bluesbucker (Neck)
-Humbucker from Hell (Neck)
-EJ Custom (Neck)

Dissapointments:
The only ones that didnt do for me were the Transition and the Tone Zone. The first one was quite of a disappointment for me. Sounded kind of a bad quality ceramic thing to my ears (tried on the epi sg bridge). No good note seperation, I was hearing a harsh thing between the notes when playing chords. The Tone Zone is cool for what it is (maybe heavy metal players will dig it more), but its quite more bassy from what I need and less expressive-dynamic.

Best combos:
1. DP103 36th ann. (B) - EJ Custom (N):  My vintage rock combo. Stays on my SG.

2. Air Norton (B) - Bluesbucker (N):  Probably my favorite neck pickup. A killer combo. More bite from the Air Norton (compared to the DP103) which always cuts through, plus it is great for cleans too! Stays on my LP.

3. Air Zone (B) - Humbucker from hell (N): Things get more heavy here but still dynamic. Air Zone kills for that Marshall hard/heavy rock styles. Fat Paf sounds. Humbucker from Hell is like a supercharged ballsy single coil. Both make a great match and you get a great sound out of the mid pickup position. Stays on my Hamer Vector.

The ones I ve never tried but I d like too (please share your opinions if you have):

- Dimarzio Mo Joe (Bridge) with Air Classic (Neck)
- Dominions (set)
I know they sell those Dominions mostly for the metal players but something tells me that would do great for classic rock/bluesy/alt styles.

Hope my first post helps. Looking for your feedback

Cheers