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The Pickup Place / what do you think of this pickup config?

« on: September 15, 2022, 10:20:08 AM »

Old: SSS Fast Track 1 neck/Chopper middle/Fast Track 2 bridge.
New: HSS Fast Track 1 neck/Chopper middle/Evolution bridge bridge.

Neck has 22 frets.

Height-wise, i have the Chopper and Evolution set to where they sound perfect to me and can blend with each other well, but i'm having a balance problem with the Fast Track 1 in the neck, which is too weak. Raising it to a height where it can  _almost_  match volume-wise brings it really close to the strings and magnetic pull now causes beating at the high frets. I also find i want a more humbucker-y tone in the neck nowadays, and the Fast Track 1 is just too single coil-y.

I've been thinking of replacing the Fast Track 1 with another Chopper, but before i go spending money, what can you say about this config instead:

Move the Chopper to the neck, replacing the Fast Track 1 and bring back the Fast Track 2 and put it in the middle.

I'm thinking that the high-powered Fast Track 2 might be really dark in the neck position (because 22 frets), but in the middle it would be less dark because it's closer to the bridge. Also, it might give me more of a 24-fret neck position tone.

Has anybody tried the Fast Track 2 in the middle?

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The Pickup Place / Re: New Tone Charts!?!

« on: September 08, 2022, 12:36:28 AM »

What i would love for Dimarzio to do would be to publish inductance and resonant peak frequencies instead, together with oscilloscope traces like in the old 1978 catalog that i have.

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Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: Dimarzio DP426 Sugar Chakra Single Coil Pickup

« on: December 09, 2019, 05:22:48 AM »

Seems to be very close to a Fast Track 2.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Larry DiMarzio

« on: December 09, 2019, 05:21:15 AM »

I read that Bill Lawrence taught Larry DiMarzio and Kent Armstrong how to make pickups under his tutelage.  It seems that the Super Distortion, Dual Sound, PAF, FS1 were created by Larry. 

That’s correct. But Steve was in the picture when him and Larry started the company in their basement.  Larry’s dad was the one that actually started the company, and used to be at the shop a lot until he passed away. Larry’s daughter is the current CEO.

There is no Larry on the winding machines or a “MJ” magic winder.   Fender and Duncan put a face to a custom winder, which probably adds value.  DiMarzio is faceless and you dont see any factory videos.  Maybe PG should do a factory tour video.

Of course all the pickup designs are by them, so the winding department winds to their specs. Duncan does hand wind some pickups. DiMarzio doesn’t hand wind at all. They have about a dozen or so people running the coil winders.

You will probably never see a video or photos from inside DiMarzio. Cameras and cell phones are forbidden in the winding area. They are very secretive. I had to sign a NDA.

The place is smaller than you’d expect, but runs very efficiently. I personally would work on a couple of hundred pickups a day.

The thing that impressed me was how many different custom parts they use. Lots of different pole screws, magnets, and things you don’t see.  They also make all the straps and cables in house. Had little old ladies sewing straps. lol.

Cool story!!

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The Pickup Place / Re: high-powered Dimarzio that also has great coil split sounds?

« on: November 23, 2019, 11:12:22 AM »

A few things to consider:
Is your strat routed for HSH configuration, or HSS?
Most humbuckers do not work well with the 250k pots in strats. They need 500k pots.
No normal strat switch will do what you want. You will need a superswitch.
The Super D and Super 2 are a great combo, but sometimes they are so similar that they sound like the extended range of one pickup instead of having a distinct shift in tone from neck to bridge. Only a problem if you want a very distinct shift in tone when switching from neck to bridge.

I plan to enlarge the cavity into a swimming pool route.

I have a 500k volume pot right now. 3 mini switches to do series/parallel/single on each pickup.

Basically i'll be replacing the neck Fast Track 1 and the bridge Fast Track 2 with full-size humbuckers. The Fast Track 1 will move to the middle, replacing the Chopper.

Noted on the Super Distortion and Super 2 similarity, thank you. If i go with the Super Distortion in the bridge, what would make a good neck pairing?

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The Pickup Place / high-powered Dimarzio that also has great coil split sounds?

« on: November 23, 2019, 09:31:31 AM »

I'm thinking of converting my Stratocaster that has an SSS pickup config to HSH but with series/parallel/single coil switching for all pickups. What are the Dimarzio high-powered models that give a nice coil split sound, close to an SSS Strat with true single coils? My Strat is a 21 fret, so the neck pickup position would be as a 21/22-fret, not a 24-fret, and bridge will not be slanted.

I'm also thinking that i would want the coil splits to be such that, for the bridge the coil closest to the bridge would be on, and for the neck, the coil closest to the neck.

I'm kind of leaning towards the Super Distortion or Super 3 for the bridge, and maybe a Super 2 for the neck. Middle would be a Fast Track 1.

Second choice is Evolution bridge and neck, Fast Track 1 middle.

Third choice is Crunch Lab bridge, Liquifire neck, Fast Track 1 middle.

For reference, my Strat has a Fast Track 1 neck, Chopper middle, and Fast Track 2 bridge.

Thoughts and comments please?

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The Pickup Place / Re: New Petrucci pickups - Sonic Ecstasy

« on: July 04, 2017, 10:50:56 AM »

This topic interests me, though i'm with jazzfromhell in that Petrucci's current tone is nothing special. His tone on BCASL was the last one i liked; everything after that, nope.

Does anybody have clips comparing the Crunch Lab/Liquifire, Illuminators, and the Sonic Ecstasys?

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The Pickup Place / Re: How does the Chopper fair when split?

« on: July 04, 2017, 10:42:20 AM »

I have it set up for series and parallel modes. Parallel mode is brighter and lower output - a very useable tone.

So is parallel brighter than split?

Hi. Seems like you didn't get an answer to this question.

The Chopper in parallel sounds as bright as in split, with just a bit more fatness and no hum.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Fast Track II

« on: July 04, 2017, 10:18:51 AM »

Here's my one and only, a '95 Squier Strat:



Fast Track 1 neck, Chopper middle, Fast Track 2 bridge. Back then the Fast Track set was still FT1 neck, Chopper middle, and FT2 bridge (whereas now they switched the FT1 and Chopper).

To be honest though i often entertain thoughts of replacing the FT2 with a full-size humbucker, maybe a Super 2 or Super 3. I was even this close to going FT1 neck, FT1 middle, Chopper bridge; i have a new FT1 which is still sealed and unopened because i didn't go through with the change.