Ok--I went ahead and replaced one of the current 12ax7's (V1) with a tung sol in my Triple. I like it--its definatly beefier, but it still didnt remove all of my tonal gripes. For a while now I have questioned weather or not the PRS Dragon II pickups that I have installed in my SG were causing some of the lack of punch and boldness while retaining clarity and not getting muddy even with a great portion of gain. I love the neck Dragon II and it is probably the best I have ever played but the bridge seems a little bit week, but very versatile(just not extream the way I like it). I have spoken with a # of guys out there who have strongly suggested that I try a prs tremonti bridge with the DII neck and it would be a perfect match. I looked around for some and they seem to be getting scarce on ebay. I started thinking a little about all of the pickups that I have tried in the past and what they had in common (why I havent been satisfied with any of them) and I began to find 2 common variables with them all (the JB, 498 T, Custom 5, and the JB). They all had a dip in the mid-range department and they all had relatively low dc resistance levels(which is interpreted to the ear as fat-ness or beefinaess). When I take my amps' tonal controls and dip them allong with the pickup having a dip from an alnico magnet and I dont feed the amp much beef(DC Resistance from the pickup) Im having a hard time coming up with the beef and clarity that Im looking for for a nice tight chunky but singing tone that screams. The super 3 has a tonal range that puts the T @ 5 the M @ 8 and the B @ 6.5 while retaining a DC Resistance of 25.8(the highest they make) and a pretty high output as well @ 435 (second only, I believe, to the X2N @ 510!!). This is known to be a "Metal Work-Horse" according to Dimarzio. I just went ahead and purchased one of these new on ebay instead of the Tremonti as I know that the Tremonti's do sport a pretty huge mid dip and in light of not basicly trying the same thing and expecting a different result=defined as insanity, I decided to go ahead and try one of these pickups. I asked Dimarzio about this pickup and they explained to me that it is a special order Item @ this point only, so when I saw it available on ebay form one of the e-stores I figured Id grab one for $60--they are $90 when ordered direct from Dimarzio. I havent recieved it yet so I havent tried it yey but I should recieve it USPS Priority Mail (2-3 days including Saturday) so I should get it maybe on Monday or Tuesay since it went out today. Anyone have any expiriences with these pickups or this tonal issue?
Tung Sol 12ax7 and now Dimarzio Super 3
- Thread starter Micah
- Start date
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disassembled
Well-known member
Have you ever tried Bill Lawrence pickups? I am talking about the custom pickup maker not the neatly packaged generic brand. I just ordered a couple of pickups for my RG 550 that should be here in a week or so. They seem to always get rave reviews which can be misleading but I figured what the hell? at $50 a pop for a custom built pickup shouldn't be a bad deal. If you're interested the site is billlawrence.com
disassembled said:
Sweet man--let me know how you like them. When I went to the web page I didnt see any products or anything--is this a custom only maker that you call and tell them what your looking for and then they wind them for you? :?:
disassembled
Well-known member
No he only has certain pickups that he makes. Go to the pickup window link at the top of the page for a list of pickups offered. This is the guy that originally made the L500 pickup for Dime. Everyone that has reviewed the pickups have claimed increased sensitivity/dynamics which is what I am looking for now. I ordered the L500R for the neck and a 298m single coil for the middle position of the RG. If I like the tone of those 2 pickups I will replace my Tone Zone with another L500 voiced for lead. I hope I enjoy these pickups since they are really friendly and seem to provide a good service for very little money. They are pretty friendly to talk to so if you are interested you can call up and talk to Bill or Becky to see if they have something you're looking for.
Ok--So I got the Super 3 and put it in my SG...... Wow was that a learning expirience or what! That was nothing like ehat I thought it would be. It was all mids that were so stick you couldnt get away from it--there was no dipping them out or anything. I tried it for a few days before I decided to take it back out and take Dimarzio up on their 30 day return policy if I didnt like the sound...well I didnt like it. After quite a bit of research on their website and the fact that I was able to try a Super Distortion Pickup in one of my friends' sg's I believe I was pointed in the right direction. The Super Distortion was far too bassy and seemed to kind of mud out on the bottom end and slow its response up. The Super 3 had a B-M-T eq of 6.5 - 8 - 5 and the Super Distortion looked like: 8 - 7.5 -5.5. I knew there was too much mids and not enough clarity in the Super 3 and the Super Distortion had too much bass so I went with a Norton. The noton looks like: 6.5 - 7 - 5. I think this will keep things tight and still give me a biger sound--Anyone had any expirience with the Dimarzio Nortons?? :?:
Reese Bobby
Member
i have an air norton in the neck of one of my back up guitars...it sounds really good, but not very versatile. my friend also has a norton in the bridge of his les paul and it too is pretty mid rangey overall decent tone...however, versatility just isn't there. check out rio grande pickups...i just bought two sets for my v and my tele and they are sweet! im going back for a third set in another tele. check out the crunchbox, that might be right up your alley. peece.
Botch
Well-known member
You should really try the Tone Zone, it sounds great in SG's.
