Dimarzio D-Sonic & Air Norton

Malkav · 2009-03-19T17:45:00+00:00

Recently I upgraded my prized Japanese RG and I exchanged the Tone Zone (bridge) and PAF Pro (neck) combination that was originally in the guitar with a D-Sonic (bridge) and Air Norton (neck) and I have never been happier with my tone, they sound articulate and full and huge. They have the exact responsive characteristics I've always wanted and I was rather surprised to find that even as a neck pickup the Air Norton has some very nice harmonic response and though it's warm sounding and full it still gets very good articulation. I've always wanted an air norton ever since my younger days of listening to Cradle Of Filth and finding out that their guitarists use em, of course I grew up and now listen to decent music but still it stands that the air norton is proving to be an amazing pickup for my style of playing and it has one of the most versatile tonal pallets I have ever experienced ? The D-Sonic however screams like nothing else I have ever played on, I had to route out some wood in my pickup cavity to get it to sit low enough seeing as it has a ridiculous output but it was worth it. It sounds huge like nothing else I have ever heard, it has super fat highs which is why I wanted it but still retains some massive bite and one can't even begin to describe all the harmonics that the thing gives you when playing chords or single notes, it's got layers upon layers of harmonics that just jump out of the damn thing with minimal effort. It's also got incredible dynamic range and cleans up beautifully when you turn down the gain or switch to a clean channel. The D-Sonic has ceramic magnets in it which to me normally translated to brittle tone but when I saw that John Petrucci uses one I just had to be a sheep like noob and try it and was pleasantly surprised to find out that instead it just sounds thick and full and downright yummy ? So a massive thank you to Gareth (vintage vibes) for putting in the effort to make sure mine were put on the order form and for keeping them aside for me ? now I just gotta wait till the end of the month and I'll be putting the same set in my seven-string ? and then proceed to enter into a state of comatosed bliss as I will finally have the sound and response I've always wanted from my guitars. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Clint-Green

Julian Emdon (LooneyAtTheGate) wrote I don't want to mess with ur bank balance but yes, extended range gtrs - always a good idea!

I'm putting an SD Invader in my RGR321 (bridge), spent a lot of time considering over the Dimarzio's and other Seymour Duncans.
I'm hoping the basswood/Invader won't be too muddy, but this will purely be an extreme metal guitar, not really about subtlety 8)
My next step is deciding on a neck pickup, for most of my leads. Anybody got ideas?

I must say choosing a pickup is cause for considerable computer eye strain, i don't know what they did before guitar internet forums. ?

+1 on the eye strain, I can definitely sympathise!

I have an Invader in my Epi Les Paul and it sounds killer in there imo, not so great for cleans or mild overdrive but awesome for high gain brutal stuff.

LooneyAtTheGate

Yes thats the idea! ?
I have an Epi LP Standard, putting a Seymour JB in the bridge next week. That's my more 'rock' guitar, more versatile.

Clint-Green

Julian Emdon (LooneyAtTheGate) wrote Yes thats the idea! ?
I have an Epi LP Standard, putting a Seymour JB in the bridge next week. That's my more 'rock' guitar, more versatile.

Nicely! I'd like to get a JB/59 combo for my Les Paul down the road once the RG has some shiny new pickups. Same idea, my RG will be used for the shred/metal stuff and the LP for more classic tones. Then to find an affordable Strat to cover my blues moods...hmmm...

Clint-Green

Erm...sorry for the thread hijack, Chad :-[

ZarK

Some argue that RG's can be thin/treble sounding... Tone Zone's emphasize bass and lower mids which to me makes them ideal for basswood RG's. In my experience they'll give an RG a fuller sound without adding mud. Even in my J-Custom RG's that have mahogany bodies, the TZ still doesn't add mud... Definitely provides a fuller sound to the axe. I like them... They're not as hot as a D-sonic and Chrunchlab but offer more than enough for styles up to and including metal. Best is to try them for yourself, unfortunately. ($$$)

Clint-Green

ZarK wrote Some argue that RG's can be thin/treble sounding... Tone Zone's emphasize bass and lower mids which to me makes them ideal for basswood RG's. In my experience they'll give an RG a fuller sound without adding mud. Even in my J-Custom RG's that have mahogany bodies, the TZ still doesn't add mud... Definitely provides a fuller sound to the axe. I like them... They're not as hot as a D-sonic and Chrunchlab but offer more than enough for styles up to and including metal. Best is to try them for yourself, unfortunately. ($$$)

Thanks Zark, I'll definitely keep that recommendation in mind! Has anybody checked out the Seymour Duncan PAtb pickups? They're also specifically designed to make floyd-equipped guitars sound fatter. I've even heard some say that the PAtb-1 sounds pretty close to a JB-equipped Les Paul in some floating trem axes.

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