[greenlion]

Any bridge humbucker is going to overpower an SSL-1 single coil. If you did not like the 59/custom hybrid, I don't think you will like the AT-1 either. Those seemed similar to me, and I did not like either, although I do love what Andy Timmons does with his AT-1. Are you going to run the SSL-1 with a 500K pot? Its gonna be bright. Something like a 54pro or Area 61 would probably keep up with the humbucker better, and be hum cancelling.

[Shooweri]

Yeah, SSL1 is bright with 500k pot but it's not problem. It sounds perfect to my liking and Paf Joe with A2 magnet has kinda YJM vibe. Those two pair perfectly but Norton seem to have less output and narrower frequency range.

[darkbluemurder]

If you did not like the 59/custom hybrid, I don't think you will like the AT-1 either. Those seemed similar to me,

I have both pickups. Even though I have not tested them in the same guitar they sound completely different to me. I would describe the 59/custom hybrid as a louder PAF with a bit of P90 vibe thrown in whereas the AT-1 to me is definitely in the more midheavy category. So if you did not like the hybrid because it did not have enough midrange for you, the AT-1 would be a good choice.

Cheers Stephan

[greenlion]

I would not say that the AT-1 and 59/custom are EQ'd the same, but to me they both had a gritty annoying feel to them. The 59/Custom had the bottom end of the Duncan 59, the puffed up mids of the Custom, and the shrill/thin/brittle highs of the 59 bridge with some grit to it, like the Duncan distortion has.
The AT-1 sounds thin to me, like the entire tonal spectrum is piled up in the high mids. I had to adjust the bass side screws raised a little and the pickup lowered. The treble side was the opposite. I had the screws flat with the bobbin and the pickup raised up on the treble side. If you try to do them evenly, you have this hard boomy bottom end and a weak thin treble end.

[DarthPhineas]

If you did not like the 59/custom hybrid, I don't think you will like the AT-1 either. Those seemed similar to me,

I have both pickups. Even though I have not tested them in the same guitar they sound completely different to me. I would describe the 59/custom hybrid as a louder PAF with a bit of P90 vibe thrown in whereas the AT-1 to me is definitely in the more midheavy category. So if you did not like the hybrid because it did not have enough midrange for you, the AT-1 would be a good choice.

Cheers Stephan

Yeah

That hybrid is jangly and a little better for rhythm or lead work where you can get by with a little less “push”. Both coils come from models that are scooped in the mids.

The AT1 is a lot like a JB with a 250 pot. End of story.  Plenty of mids and a little beefy without getting tubby.

[corypheus]

If you did not like the 59/custom hybrid, I don't think you will like the AT-1 either. Those seemed similar to me,

I have both pickups. Even though I have not tested them in the same guitar they sound completely different to me. I would describe the 59/custom hybrid as a louder PAF with a bit of P90 vibe thrown in whereas the AT-1 to me is definitely in the more midheavy category. So if you did not like the hybrid because it did not have enough midrange for you, the AT-1 would be a good choice.

Cheers Stephan

Yeah

That hybrid is jangly and a little better for rhythm or lead work where you can get by with a little less “push”. Both coils come from models that are scooped in the mids.

The AT1 is a lot like a JB with a 250 pot. End of story.  Plenty of mids and a little beefy without getting tubby.

I’d agree, which is why I told him to try to find the cheap route and get a used JB locally, which anyone can find virtually anywhere, and try it out with 250kohm pot, even if he wants to use 500 for rest of pickups he can solder in a resistor quick only for his bridge pickup, this way he’d get 95 % AT-1.

JB with 250 kohm load is also slightly quieter output-wise then an at-1 on 500 kohm load so would balance with singecoils a bit better (although I think both will overpower them anyway).

[Shooweri]

Today I had an opportunity to visit local DiMarzio/Ibanez retailer in order to test out some pickups. Naturally the pups were in different guitar models so keep that in mind. They all had basswood body/maple neck and equipped with floating tremolo.

AT-1
Rich midrange and smooth highend made it sound rather thin for rhythm playing but it sounded pretty nice for leads. Had good amount of articulation so it was pleasure to shred on. Nice and juicy but overall just a little too smooth for my playing style.

Gravity Storm
Pretty similar to AT but with smoother highend, bit more bass and more output. Definitely a shredders pickup with a fluid sound and feel. Had very thick and focused midrange so it was nice for leadwork. Rhythm tone had more body but since it had more gain it sounded quite undefined to me.

Satchur8
Very different sound compared to mentioned above - very broad and big sounding pickup with pretty smooth highend, rich mids and good bass response. Pretty similar to AT in terms of output but with bigger and fuller sound and more articulation. Definitely most articulate of the bunch which made this my favourite. Broad rhythm tone with good articulation and fast tracking. This might be the one.

I'm still open for suggestions and opinions about which pickups I should test. I'll buy two pickups in next month (Sathur8 being one of them) and need an alternative if the satch is too big for me.

[DarthPhineas]

I think you just need to pull the trigger on something and try it in your own rig. If you buy new, you can use the exchange program to swap it if you don’t like it.

[jazzfromhell]

I think you just need to pull the trigger on something and try it in your own rig. If you buy new, you can use the exchange program to swap it if you don’t like it.

I believe the exchange program only applies if you're in the US, correct?

[jazzfromhell]

To the OP:

I had the Norton in an Ibanez RG550 and I agree that its a bit thin and bright in basswood. I'd suggest you try the Transition which I have in a couple guitars now. It's everything I wanted the Norton to be but wasn't. Cleans up pretty well and roars and punches when you turn up the gain. It can handle pretty much anything style-wise and it will balance well with your other pickups.

Another one you could try is the Virtual Hot PAF. It pops up used quite often on ebay etc. It's slightly lower in output if you look at the numbers but it doesnt really feel that was under your fingers and it will balance perfectly with the SSL and PAF Joe. I'm not the only one who'd love to see DiMarzio bring that one back.

[DarthPhineas]

I think you just need to pull the trigger on something and try it in your own rig. If you buy new, you can use the exchange program to swap it if you don’t like it.

I believe the exchange program only applies if you're in the US, correct?

The official site should have it detailed. No clue how it stands as of now. They have been known to get a little snotty about exchanges, but it is offered nonetheless. Also, some retailers might work with customers on exchanges and returns without having to get DMZ involved.

[DarthPhineas]

Another one you could try is the Virtual Hot PAF. It pops up used quite often on ebay etc. It's slightly lower in output if you look at the numbers but it doesnt really feel that was under your fingers and it will balance perfectly with the SSL and PAF Joe. I'm not the only one who'd love to see DiMarzio bring that one back.

No doubt.

A little off topic, but.....  It’s silly that they discontinue products like that. If they are selling, let them be.

For that matter, even if they don’t sell.... consider the life span of the poorly named Full Shred from the Duncan Company. It withered for many years and has found a new audience the past several years.

Then there are models like the Al DiMeola set that gets blips of interest here and there. They offer it,  it it’s a special order. People have way too many options these days to jump through hoops.

[Shooweri]

DMZ exchange policy is for US residents only. I've asked the local retailer but they don't offer any exchanges either. I live in Finland and therefore need to buy pickups in order to try them. It's not big deal, I need to spent my money somewhere anyway.

I believe that Transition has ceramic magnet. I usually don't like the way how ceramic magnet pups feel and sound under gain but might need to think this one. I'm certainly trying Satchur8 and Prepetual Burn first when they arrive.

I've heard good things about Virtual Hot PAFs but they are hard to find used in here. Definitely looking to find one on eBay.

This would be a lot easier if we wouldn't have so many products to choose from. It's really hard not to get lost in options.

[Shooweri]

So I finally got the pickups I ordered. I received DiMarzio Satchur8, D Activator, Duncan Perpetual Burn and also second hand Full Shred, which was suggested on another forum. I took couple of days with each pickup to really know them sonically and also took time to tweak the pickup/pole piece heights. The pickups are in order I tested them.

-D Activator
Easily the brightest and had most output of the pickups I tried. It had pretty good metal tone, but wasn't versatile enough. Too compressed for my taste and had sharp pick attack that was accentuated by PGM's overall bright tone. It also overpowered the middle SSL1 too much. Sounded a bit bland and dull on clean amp.

-Satchur8
I was quite surprised how much this had output. The tone and feel was nice, a bit like a Norton but way bigger sounding, more low end and less mids. It had strong emphasis on low mid frequencies that gave it nice thump when palm muting and natural harmonics when sustaining single notes with high gain. Cleans had cool broad tone and it had nice split tone. It was too big and broad sounding compared to SSL1.

-Full Shred
I was pretty sure I wouldn't like this one, but had to try it. It had similar amount of output compared to Satchur but was a lot more focused and compressed. It had kinda weird pick attack and hollow mid-mids which made it super smooth to shred on. It proceeded to have same hollow mids and pick attack for rhythm playing and I wasn't pleased on it's tracking while playing riffs. On clean it sounded very thin and unnatural, even more so when split and it didn't work well with the middle single coil.

-Perpetual Burn
I felt most confident about this one as it shares so many qualities I look for in a bridge humbucker. Nice attack, present high mids, tight low end and dynamic for medium output pickup. It has similarities to Pegasus (that I've in my 7-string Ibby RGD) and therefore felt like home for me. Low end is pretty tight but present and mids have nice grind to them when playing rhythms. Pinch harmonics are easy to get and single notes are followed with natural overtones. This one is really close with Norton, both in output and overall tone, but has a tad less mids and less picky high end. I think this one's gonna be my new favourite.

As I tried different bridge pickups I found out that I didn't like the Paf Joe anymore. It had too sharp high end that got ice picky when playing with distortion. However it had nice clean tone and exceptional split tones, I needed to find a new neck humbucker. After couple days of research I narrowed my choice between DiMarzio Air Norton and Liquifire. I ended up getting the Liquifire, since it is a bit brighter than the AN. It works really well with the PB and doesn't overpower it that much and they match extremely well tonally.

Hope you find this info useful in your own tone chasing!

[5150]

I should really give the Satur8 and Perpetual Burn a shot. They sound like pickups right up my alley.