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The Pickup Place / Re: Rick Derringer pickups description from Steve Blucher

« Last post by JohnnyGtar on July 10, 2024, 06:53:41 AM »

Thanks for posting info on a very rare set, really appreciated.

Cheers Stephan

Glad to do it. :-) I think I may get a set of those sometime down the road.

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Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: DLX Plus

« Last post by darkbluemurder on July 09, 2024, 09:00:50 AM »

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

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by darkbluemurder on July 08, 2024, 05:40:26 AM »

I have a guitar that was dark with almost all pickups I tried. The big problem was the neck spot - everything PAF and remotely PAF sounded like a big mudfest. Bridge pickups were less of a problem - most I liked though none I loved.

The first marked improvement I got with a Lollartron (bridge) in the bridge and a Lollar Firebird in the neck - much clearer overall. The set I ended up with in that guitar was a set of Fralin Twangmasters which are split coil humbuckers (just like Precision bass pickups). That cured the muddy neck pickup syndrome for good. The bridge, however, is a lot brighter than a typical PAF - sounds more like a hot rod tele so if you are going for a humbucker tone that would not be my recommendation.

Full shred neck model works well in some guitars but I disliked it in others.

Cheers Stephan

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The Pickup Place / Re: Rick Derringer pickups description from Steve Blucher

« Last post by darkbluemurder on July 08, 2024, 05:32:11 AM »

Thanks for posting info on a very rare set, really appreciated.

Cheers Stephan

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by nienturi on July 08, 2024, 04:57:46 AM »

Good luck making an educated purchasing decision based on DiMarzio’s DCR specifications. Thankfully they provide really good and reliable product information. Seymour Duncan should take notice. 

I agree with Duncans. In the timeline they change some specs or re-calibrate, i'm not sure what it is but the values may change. The real problem is inconsistancy. I have seen many DCR values in a huge range, especially overwound humbuckers like JB. On the other hand i have seen Dimarzios from 80s, 90s or 2000s and specs are in a much narrower range and totally understandable.

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The Pickup Place / Rick Derringer pickups description from Steve Blucher

« Last post by JohnnyGtar on July 07, 2024, 10:48:43 PM »

I wrote DiMarzio a few years ago, asking what the Rick Derringer Signature pickups sound like.

Steve's reply:
1)      The bridge model (DP204) resembles the Steve' Special, although it is a little brighter-sounding and not quite as loud.

 2)      The neck model (DP203) is fairly comparable to the Air Classic (DP190) in terms of output and overall sound.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by JohnnyGtar on July 07, 2024, 10:46:55 PM »

Duncan SH2n Jazz neck model or SH10n Full Shred neck model

DiMarzio DP153 FRED.

Boom. Done.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Al Dimeola Bridge

« Last post by JohnnyGtar on July 07, 2024, 10:43:59 PM »

The more I play this, the more I like it.  The extra tightness on the wound strings vs. a 36th and the way artificial harmonics just jump out are great.  No idea why it's discontinued, IMO it's one of their best pickups for sure.  Not thin in the bridge like a PAF Pro can be, not as middy as a Breed Neck in the bridge can be, a little more interesting harmonically than a Mo
Joe.  Really, really cool member of their PAF family.   Also, when split, the split coil sound is more robust than a 36th. 

Ignore everything else you read on the web RE these (and there isn't much).  It is NOT a high output pickup, and it does not sound anything remotely like a Tone Zone or Super D.  It's like a modded 36th.

Are you referring to the Rick Derringer bridge pickup or the Al DiMeola bridge pickup. I had the ADM bridge but didn't like it at all. The most boring pickup I've ever played. I traded it with Bud and got a Suhr Aldrich. The Aldrich SLAYS. I'm really interested in the Rick Derringer pickups.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« Last post by gregr on July 06, 2024, 05:47:33 PM »

Good luck making an educated purchasing decision based on DiMarzio’s DCR specifications. Thankfully they provide really good and reliable product information. Seymour Duncan should take notice. 

40

The Pickup Place / Re: PAF pickups that are close in brightness to singles?

« Last post by andrus108 on July 06, 2024, 06:33:21 AM »

Bridge EJ seems to be nearly identical specs and EQ of neck AC according to Dimarzio website, aside from being brighter, so was wondering how both would work together, but neck EJ probably does sound like a natural fit.

The EJs were designed to sound like Filtertrons but in a humbucker route. The neck and bridge are the same basic recipe, just calibrated for each respective position. Personally, I would not look to the EJ Custom if I wanted the sound of a full-size humbucker, at least not in the bridge position. If you’re happy with the Air Classic Neck in the bridge I would stick with that.

It was mentioned that a 1M tone pot can be useful in getting more brightness out of a pickup. Choosing a smaller tone cap can also make a marked difference, even with a 500k pot turned all the way up, I would try 15nF or 10nF.

I tried searching more for what Filtertrons generally sound like, and I must say, I think I like this direction more. I've never been happy with any traditional humbucker in the neck, and I tried plenty of them. So if the EJ Custom sounds closer to a single coil than PAF, I'd probably like that more.

I don't know. I have the Air Classic set in 2 guitars, one Les Paul and one Paul Gilbert Ibanez RG. That humbucker set is very bright in both guitars, rivaling the single coils in my Strat.
Have you checked the pot values in your guitar with a multimeter?

Would you say then that even Air Classic Bridge is close enough to single coil, especially overwound models like Heavy Blues 2?