Why Do Satch & Vai Play DiMarzio (for example) Instead O

[crestwood1972]

Bareknuckle or Swineshead or some other make?

Is it strictly for the endorsement deals? This doesn't make sense to me. I would think that their tones were extremely important to them. They are musicians after all, not politicians.

I myself prefer Swineshead. I find them superior to DiMarzio, Duncan, and the other mainstream manufacturers. Many players agree.

Don't you find it odd that all three of these guys favor DiMarzio? And that most major players favor the usual suspects as far as pickups go?

Why?

 

[Rocky]

If they like the sound of them and get a good paycheque then I suspect the reason is twofold.

I think people put to much weight into boutique pickups, I have some Fralins in a Les Paul. They arent any better than the Duncan Antiquities in another Paul and the Fralins cost me more dough.

Think about what makes up a pickup.....smoke and mirrors and people hearing what they WANT to hear is a huge part of the pickup business in my opinion.

 

[crestwood1972]

Yes but not all boutique pups are expensive. Swineheads for example. Bill Lawrence. etc.

 

[Rocky]

WHen dealing with large contracts you need large production. That is why you dont see Vai endorsing Swinehead or whatever.

 

[ursinus]

some large manufacturer pups sound great! There are many DiMarzio and Duncan pups that I love as well as Fralin's and Suhr's.... 8)

 

[devilrob1979]

I have 2 Area 58s from Dimarzio in my Strat and a couple of Duncan '59s in my Hamer. I love them.

 

[Guitarzan]

DiMarzio makes good stuff. I love the single coil pickups! Not to mention that if Steve whines about someting Steve Blucher is there to not only give him a kleenex but make him a new pickup on demand.

 

[ToneAddictJon]

If everyone liked the same tone and wanted the same setup we wouldn't have as many choices as we do. I absolutely love my Dimarzio Evo 7's and PAF 7's, but that's my preference and works with my amps and guitars for the tone I'm after. I have friends that love all things EMG and they have great tones that fit them, but I can't stand using EMG's myself. Be glad we're all different or there would never be innovations and people striving for something new and we wouldn't have companies like Mesa, Soldano, or even Line 6 (with enough tweaking they sound pretty good, especially for recording). The question isn't why whoever else chose the setup they did, it's are you happy with your tools and tone? 8)

 

[Dreads]

I bought some Bareknuckle Steve Stevens Calibrated p'ups and they don't sound any better than any other pick-ups I've tried or own. They're not bad, just twice the price and not better than my Dimarzio's. By the way, I love my dimarzio super distortion p'ups.

 

[crestwood1972]

I agree. I was not impressed with any of the Bareknuckle sound bytes I listened to on their forum.

But swineshead is another matter. By all means check them out. Excellent website with great samples. And they're reasonably priced too.

 

[Dreads]

Swineshead! hehe.. love that.

 

[Guitarzan]

Have you guys heard the WCR Goodwoods?

 

[scottkahn]

If they like the sound of them and get a good paycheque then I suspect the reason is twofold.

Artists typically do not get paychecks with their endorsements, though they *might* be compensated for appearing in an advertisement. The best most endorsed artists get are free instruments, customized where applicable. The majority of endorsed artists just get deals on the pricing of their gear, but they don't all get free gear. MOST of them don't get the gear for free, at least not with expensive items like guitars and amps.

DiMarzio pickups are my favorites, and if players like Vai and Satch didn't love the sound of their pickups, they'd play other pickups. No endorsement for these guys would pay nearly enough money to make them compromise their tone.

 

[ToneAddictJon]

+100 to scottkahn.

 

[Rocky]

If they like the sound of them and get a good paycheque then I suspect the reason is twofold.

Artists typically do not get paychecks with their endorsements, though they *might* be compensated for appearing in an advertisement. The best most endorsed artists get are free instruments, customized where applicable. The majority of endorsed artists just get deals on the pricing of their gear, but they don't all get free gear. MOST of them don't get the gear for free, at least not with expensive items like guitars and amps.

DiMarzio pickups are my favorites, and if players like Vai and Satch didn't love the sound of their pickups, they'd play other pickups. No endorsement for these guys would pay nearly enough money to make them compromise their tone.

High end names like Vai and Satriani that are lending their names to products are ABSOLUTELY being paid to do so.

Remember that it is the music BUSINESS, in business one doesnt give ones name away for free....and there are only so many free guitars that a guy like Vai or Satch need to get. Income on the other hand? that is what it is about.

 

[ToneAddictJon]

like scottkahn wrote, regardless of whether or not they are making money off the endorsements, I'm fairly certain that satch and vai both are more interested in the perfect tones for them, rather than a few dollars (I'm sure they make plenty off of tours to allow them to endorse and use only products they are happy with). That said, they actually use quality equipment as well, and aren't endorsing just anything. And petrucci also endorses dimarzio, would you say he would compromise his his tone for a few dollars??

 

[nomad100hd]

they have good tone and use those products, sounds simple enough.

 

[Rocky]

like scottkahn wrote, regardless of whether or not they are making money off the endorsements, I'm fairly certain that satch and vai both are more interested in the perfect tones for them, rather than a few dollars (I'm sure they make plenty off of tours to allow them to endorse and use only products they are happy with). That said, they actually use quality equipment as well, and aren't endorsing just anything. And petrucci also endorses dimarzio, would you say he would compromise his his tone for a few dollars??

I havent said anything about compromising tone for a quick buck. I said that these guys are being paid for lending their faces and names to product lines. Thinking that Petrucci or Vai isnt getting paid for working with Dimarzio is crazy. They are probably paid well for bringing people to the company.

Were I Vai and was told "Here we want to put your name all over these products..hell if yo uwant to design a few great! In return you can have free pickups for your guitars." The answer would be "umm no, if you want me to be a billboard you are going to have to cough up some dollars." Vai is a great businessman...he wouldnt be working with Dimarzio or Ibanez or Carvin without some pretty nice endorsement cash coming in.

A player that is low level getting a partial endorsement may only get free stuff (or stuff at a reduced price) as part of their deal but stars are absolutely being handsomely rewarded. Jeff Beck has been quoted as saying that his fav part of his Fender deal is the endorsement cheques.

 

[holdsworth]

I imported a Tom Anderson H3 pup to the UK only to find it was super microphonic! I replaced it with my Dimarzio Fred and hey-presto! everything was fine.

Dimarzios are great quality pickups, dispite the fact that they're mass-produced. I've never had a microphonic Dimarzio, put it that way.