Finally got a set of these Dimarzio 59 PAF's and have had a few days to play them. I have the Uncovered versions, so keep that in mind. So far, I have only tried them in my SG. They are very similar to Duncan 59's since that is what I'm sure they were meant to compete with. Overall, they do feel like a tightened up set of Duncan 59's.
The neck pickup is very similar to the Duncan 59, but may be a tiny bit clearer, and has a little less bass. Maybe a little tighter in the bass end, and a little less warm and round. These sound like slight tweaks, not big differences. Like taking a Duncan 59 neck and tweaking it a hair toward a Duncan Jazz neck.
The bridge feels a little further away from the Duncan version. It has a focused, present, and clear tone, maybe not as "fuzzy" as the Duncan with higher gain. Not saying that is good or bad. I love the fuzziness of the Duncan 59, this is just a bit clearer with gain. Maybe not as open and airy sounding when played clean. The EQ numbers from Dimarzio made it sound like it was going to have a lot more mids than the Duncan, but I didn't really hear that much difference. What I do hear is treble that has been pulled back a bit. If you really like the bright treble bite of the Duncan 59, it is not as abundant in the Dimarzio bridge. Then again, if you find the Duncan 59 to have too much biting treble, this EQ might work for you. Still has tight bass. Still has that A5 magnet character. May be a tiny bit more aggressive than the Duncans, but not much. Definitely still a vintage output pickup. Like taking a Duncan 59 bridge and tweaking it a tiny bit toward a Whole Lotta Humbucker Bridge.
I may try them in my mahogany PRS next.
