[RayBarbeeMusic]

Anyone tried it?  Can find very little info, some compare it to an Air Zone but I find that a little difficult to believe given specs.

[mmmguitar]

Warm-voiced, fat PAF good for thin-sounding guitars.

[buddroyce]

That reminds me that I have one sitting around that I haven't fully tested.

[RayBarbeeMusic]

That reminds me that I have one sitting around that I haven't fully tested.

If you do, let me know what you think.  If you want to get rid of it and it's an F spaced Bridge, let me know!

[darkbluemurder]

I remember  that they came out in the mid or late 80s together with the Steve Morse and Rick Derringer sets. The Al di Meola and Rick Derringer sets are available from the Custom Shop only.

I was actually always interested in the Al di Meola neck model - any experience on that one?

Cheers Stephan

[RayBarbeeMusic]

I have a bridge coming next week so I guess I'll find out first hand.

[buddroyce]

I have a bridge coming next week so I guess I'll find out first hand.

Let me know what you think of it. I'm still trying to find mine. I know I never got rid of it but where it's hiding at is another story. Should have never cleaned up my workbench.

[HeyNorton!]

I thought Al used the super distortion,  and that his siggy pickups were a variation thereof

[darkbluemurder]

That is what I read as well. Nevertheless, the signature pickup has much different specs than the Super Distortion. Could be that Al wanted something with a warmer tone but not as much output.

[RayBarbeeMusic]

To my ear it's a pretty traditional mid wind PAF. 

To compare it to the 36th bridge: 
Similar output, maybe a tad less perceived. 
More thumpy lows, more hair on the top of the wound strings.  Wound strings don't get dark, which seems like something Al would like as it maintains articulation on wound strings better than a lot of similar pickups.
Less vocal mids, but still plenty, and less air on the highs but maybe more bite. 

Nothing whatsoever like a Super Distortion.

To sum up, it's another viable flavor in the ever growing line of DiMarzio PAFs.  It's closer to a 36th bridge than a 36th bridge is to an Air Classic bridge or a PAF Master bridge. 

[darkbluemurder]

Wound strings don't get dark, which seems like something Al would like as it maintains articulation on wound strings better than a lot of similar pickups.

First of all, thanks for the description.
I understood you only have the bridge pickup but if the articulation on the wound strings was also a feature of the neck pickup that would make it interesting to me.

Cheers Stephan

[RayBarbeeMusic]

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.   

[mmmguitar]

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. 

That’s been my experience, as well. I put the DiMeola bridge in a guitar to replace an Air Norton and loved it, tried the Breed neck in another guitar and only liked it, then put a tweaked DiMeola (nickel covered, with a row of fillisters) in the next guitar and found I still prefer it to the Breed. I can see where Larry’s coming from when he said “that’s the most misunderstood pickup we ever made.”

[darkbluemurder]

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. 

Did you use it with a 500k or 250k load or something in between?

Thanks, Stephan

[mmmguitar]

I’m not Ray but FWIW I use 500k volume and 250k tone in 50s wiring.