[Strangeman86]

All descriptions are in the context of my guitar (parts-caster: alder body, maple neck, pau ferro fingerboard, SS frets and a hipshot bridge with three tusq saddles for the plain strings).  My guitar is bright and too much treble is my most common problem no matter what pickup I'm using.  The ADM does not have a treble problem.  It certainly has enough to cut through and be heard, but it's one of the 'sweetest' pickups I've laid ears on.  The mids are open, airy, vocal and abundant but NOT HONKY.  The low end is quite powerful for a lower output pickup but firm with just the right amount of punch.  Overall attack is great without being obnoxious and while there isn't much natural compression (at least compared to most of the pickups I've tried) I don't hear a loss in sustain.  The note separation (and the touch sensitivity for that matter) beats every other pickup I've tried, period (the Imperium and a custom Seymour were pretty well tied for first before, but they're second and third fiddle now).  The pickup sounds/feels a lot louder than the specs would indicate (275mV output; the few reviews I was able to find expressed this as well).  While I can understand why this isn't listed on the main site anymore, I'm very surprised it isn't more popular. 

[darkbluemurder]

Thanks for a review on a rather rare pickup.

Cheers Stephan

[marcwormjim]

I’ve always wanted to try the ADM bridge, but they generally come up used for much more than other Dimarzios I’m interested in. I think I’ll finally pull the trigger and bump with my thoughts later on.

[Strangeman86]

I got mine from Mike's Music Shop (banjomikez on reverb and ebay) for $80 (he's a custom shop dealer and can get you whatever color/spacing you want; I've ordered from him a lot and always been happy with the service).

[marcwormjim]

That’s precisely who I was going to buy through. He’s my go-to for new Dimarzios, and one of the last dealers to routinely stock Parker Fly pickups.

[buddroyce]

Thanks for the review! I just realized I still have one sitting around in my parts box that I never touched. Now I'm really tempted to install it.. if I can find a guitar I want to put it in... hmmm... maybe this is the excuse I need to buy yet another guitar.

[marcwormjim]

That or you can sell it to me.

[DavidSchwab]

I have one of these. It really is a great pickup.


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[Strangeman86]

All aboard the modification train again... I got a wild hair on my toe and decided to put a ceramic magnet spacer in my ADM and see what happens.  I imagine that lots of builders have tried this at one point or another (especially given the popularity of pickups such as the Bare Knuckle Juggernaut) with mixed results.  I've tried this on other pickups before and it usually just sounds like one coil is overpowering the other.  In the context of the ADM it did a few things.  The high end, while still just as sweet, has a bit more air to it but is still not anywhere near harsh.  The midrange is still very vocal and bloomy but now it's just a bit more aggressive (great for me, I cut my figurative teeth mimicking James Hetfield's every move).  The low end is really just tighter/snappier... and I can't really think of a situation where that isn't desirable (maybe the jazz guys might not like it?).  Another benefit is that, with the bit of added treble, I don't need a treble-bleed when reducing the volume knob.  All the playing dynamics are still there, and there might be a negligible jump in power (maybe I'm just hallucinating again though).  The only undesirable thing about this for me is that I had to take out the north-side keeper bar to fit the narrow ceramic magnet and I flipped the south-side keeper bar so that there was still solid contact with that row of pole pieces.  Those of you who've performed surgery on Dimarzio's know that at that point I had nowhere to put the wire ends from each bobbin that usually reside on the outside of the northern bobbin; I ended up securing them underneath the frame with some coil tape (the pickup ring helps hide this rather unsightly fact).  While I'll certainly never recommend this mod' for everyone, it worked some wonders for me without changing the core voice of the pickup.  I hope the day finds you all well.

[buddroyce]

Sounds like a pretty cool mod. The real question is... was the mod worth keeping? or are you tempted to go back to the original magnet?

[Strangeman86]

In my case I certainly think it's worth keeping.  It kept all the things I loved about the pickup beforehand, added a bit of aggression/tightness and didn't add anything I find audibly unacceptable. 

[marcwormjim]

Bump. I replaced the Air Norton in the bridge of my Strandberg with the DP202 during the summer.

The Strandberg in question is bright/thin-sounding; and I wanted a pickup in the same output range as the AN but with more beef in the voicing. I’m happy to report that the ADM both fits the bill and doesn’t sound as weak when split as I was expecting. I can’t say how it would sound in a Les Paul, but I found the anecdotal descriptions of it as a lower-output Air Zone appropriate.

[darkbluemurder]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing your impressions. I have a guitar which I believe would benefit from a warm sounding pickup but most of them have higher output which is not beneficial for this particular guitar as it tends to choke the dynamics too much.

Cheers Stephan

[marcwormjim]

I wouldn’t describe the DP202 as warm-sounding - Moreso a PAF with a little push in the bass and low mids just to fill things out. It’s “warm” compared to something like the Air Classic or EJ bridge, but perhaps a neck-designated pickup with a treble rating of 4 would be warm and low enough in voltage? Or even just putting the bridge pickup through a cap?

[Strangeman86]

In the context of my guitar at the time it was warmer and overall better sounding than lots of other pickups I'd tried.  Your mileage may vary.