The Pickups Thread

[Jarick]

I just got a CE22 stoptail in the mail that came with Dimarzio Fortitude pickups in it, they are Joe Duplantier from Gojira signature humbuckers. Based on the PAF 36th anniversary, with very specific tweaks, like a mild bass boost at 160Hz, and a slight scoop in the mids. So PAF tone with a bigger butt and smaller waist

I've been chugging on a Seymour Duncan SH-14 Custom 5 for the past 20 years for the same similar qualities, it's self described as a higher output 59 with more bass and scooped mids.

But Duncan's are i think vacuum wax potted and machine wound, tone is super consistent and super quiet.

Dimarzios like to do this scatter wind thing, and if potted at all it's some proprietary stuff and/or process. I mean to say, with Dimarzios you can hear the air gap between the wires! Like old Zeplin tone. The pick attack is more present, sounds faster, distortion is clearer, note separation is more defined. If Duncan's are like a clinical lazer, Dimarzios are like a kaleidoscope of harmonics. They seem too add actual harmonic content to the signal like all the copper wire windings in real studio rack gear does. Dimarzio to Duncan is to me like Passive to Active. On a smaller window of cable sniffing

Fortitude is a really cool pickup! I'd totally through those in a guitar (I think the neck is just a standard PAF 36th). You're right, you can hear and feel that air gap, it's pretty cool to play with the right guitar. The Fortitude is also crazy as it has MASSIVE screws (if you look at the bottom of the pickup you can see they're way bigger than normal).

 

[0XI0]

You're right, you can hear and feel that air gap, it's pretty cool to play with the right guitar. The Fortitude is also crazy as it has MASSIVE screws (if you look at the bottom of the pickup you can see they're way bigger than normal).

that's pretty crazy about the screws, I didn't notice when I pulled them up to see what they were.

when I first tuned it to drop C with 10s they actually kind of sounded really bad compared to dragon IIs I was expecting, they aren't automatically juicy like dragons. i was going to gut them immediately.

but i tuned it to drop A with 10s and omfjc, a non adjustable stoptail core PRS at drop A with 10s, and these fucking pickups, there is so much low tension string movement it puts out like double the voltage and all of a sudden it's akin to the lundgren M8 in the M80M/M8M, just a huge tanker barge of balls, but the top end dimarzio crunch sounds like the SLO/Rectifier buzz, just coming out of the pickups now. bass is huge and hollow and tight af and the mids scooped and airy. there is so much more dynamics you get from PAFs into high gain compared to actual "high gain" pickups.

I'm really looking at swapping the magnets in these to ceramic, they just came out with a Super PAF ceramic last year but it's way higher output and I want to keep this PAF voicing with ceramic clarity

 

[GTR37]

Looks like Seymour Duncan just released the Slash 3.0 and they sound great , tighter lows and attack , softer top end
Mean AF

 

[Jarick]

Looks like Seymour Duncan just released the Slash 3.0 and they sound great , tighter lows and attack , softer top end
Mean AF

Wow that's a real deviation away from the old ones. Really high wind with alnico 5 magnets. I would worry the neck pickup at that output will be super tubby. The Slash were already pretty warm sounding compared to A2 Pros IMO.

 

[Jarick]

Been a bit but I did a pickup swap on my PRS McCarty, replacing the Wolfetone Dr Vintage / Marshallhead combo with a pair of Suhr SSV's. I found the Wolfetones were sounding a bit mushy and tame and was thinking about putting the USA 85/15 pickups in the McCarty but decided on the SSV's instead. They do seem to have woken up the guitar adding some more punch and clarity. It's less of the Tele on steroids thing and more like a standard humbucker tone.

 

[GTR37]

Wow that's a real deviation away from the old ones. Really high wind with alnico 5 magnets. I would worry the neck pickup at that output will be super tubby. The Slash were already pretty warm sounding compared to A2 Pros IMO.

Perhaps I would probably pair it with something different I the neck
Like a Area or maybe Cool Rails
A higher output strat variety

But that bridge sounds great it’s big open and tight on the drop tube it sits around a fortitude albeit a bit more classic to my ears