bridge position Dimarzio HB that sounds good on clean channel?

[appar111]

Can anyone recommend a Dimarzio humbucker that sounds good on the clean channel (preferably without coil tapping, etc.), but also sounds great with distortion for hard rock and metal? Seems like everytime I read about a good distortion pickup, its not a good choice for clean stuff..

PAF Pro? FRED? Evolution?

I'd probably be pairing it with an Air Norton or PAF Pro in the neck position. Favorite artists/guitar tones: Vai, Paul Gilbert, Satch, Iron Maiden...

 

[PugNinjas]

A long time ago, when I used to use a different manufacturer's guitar, I slapped a DiMarzion Fred in the bridge position and found it to be my personal favorite pickup. Clean sounds tasty and distortion tones also were excellent. Quite a useful choice and I would still use it today, if I had something that needed a quick fix.

 

[TwAn]

Try the MM90 pick-ups! They sound absolutely amazing clean, aswell as distorted!

 

[Jonny Dubai]

Fred was good for me in my old Les Paul MIII


jonny

 

[appar111]

Since you're hard for a DiMarzio, get yourself a Tone Zone for the bridge and be done with it. It will sound like crap clean, but then all bridge humbuckers do. If you really desire a good "clean/distortion" tone from your bridge pickup, buy a Telecaster. You'll be amazed at the sonic ground it can cover!!!

EBMM needs to make a Tele!!!

Yes...No? Good poll question?

Sorry to highjack your thread appar111.

MTCW,

Gary

Gary-
I'm actually putting together a tele w/ a Chopper T in the bridge and an Air Norton in the neck, so perhaps I should use that for my "dirty/clean" guitar and use the EBMM for my dirty guitar.

So I guess I should just go for a killer bridge humbucker that sounds good when split, if I ever want/need the option of clean on the Sub1. Leading the pack is the Dual Sound (aka 4-conductor Super Distortion)....

 

[OrangeChannel]

Your general issue is that you're trying to get clean tones with high output pickups...look at something middle of the road like the Air Zone to go with the Air Norton or even the Virtual PAFs (they sound excellent in either situation....clean or dirty). Using an Evolution is going to hit the front end of your amp like a truck....the TZ isn't bad clean, but you may have to bring the volume back a notch depending on your liking....for DiMarzios I like a TZ/AN combo in an HH guitar, the AZ/AN combo, the Virtual PAF B and N, or even the Morse pups. The Eric Johnson models might even work well for you, as well as the Fred/ PAF Joe combo. I know I've listed a lot here, however it's going to come down to what you like the best so don't be afraid of experimentation or if this doesn't work out on the first try for you.

 

[OrangeChannel]

Gary-
I'm actually putting together a tele w/ a Chopper T in the bridge and an Air Norton in the neck, so perhaps I should use that for my "dirty/clean" guitar and use the EBMM for my dirty guitar.

So I guess I should just go for a killer bridge humbucker that sounds good when split, if I ever want/need the option of clean on the Sub1. Leading the pack is the Dual Sound (aka 4-conductor Super Distortion)....

If you're doing the tele thing, I'd do a Seymour Duncan Little 59 and a Duncan Jazz in the neck...way better clean and dirty than the combo you have listed....plus it twangs, but it twangs fatter and loses the high end hifi sizzle that DiMarzios tend to have...they're more woody and organic sounding too. Keep in mind with my other post I slammed you with DiMarzio models...you should really check out some Duncans too...
A Pearly Gates B/ 59'er N combo will sound great dirty and clean....you can always subsititute the Jazz in the neck for the 59...and the alltime fave of Seymour himself is the JB Bridge w/ the Jazz Neck. I also liked the Custom w/ the Jazz in the neck slot...

Options!

You can basically tap any 4 conductor wired pickup however....i tend to think that tapping a bucker doesn't always sound hot...especially when many are wound with symetrical coil values...the ones that sound best tapped are Fralins Unbucker because they wind them differently, generally you're tappiing it with the lower output coil for the single tones...just something else to keep in mind.

 

[Tolerate]

Bareknuckle pickups are a great brand. Got the Crawlers in my Les Paul, they are very similar to PAFs but with extra ooomphh
Really rich, warm tone clean.

 

[appar111]

OrangeChannel-
Thanks for all the advice on the Sub1 pickup selection. I think you nailed my issue-- high output pickups are much harder on the front end, so it's more difficult to get a clean sound. I will check out some of the medium output options. Hopefully this way I can avoid having to coil tap, run parallel, etc.

I think I may look into PAF Pros in B and N-- one of my favorite tones is Vai during the DLR "Skyscraper" era, and the stuff he did w/ Whitesnake-- all of that was PAF Pro's in bridge and neck. There's also the Humbucker from Hell neck and Fred bridge combo... Nowadays there are so many hi-gain amps, a loud pickup isn't really a necessity, I guess, and in some cases with hi-gain amps, it can be a detriment.

Regarding the tele, I've already purchased the Air Norton and Chopper T. I've tried the Tele Li'l '59 and really didn't like it-- took all the "tele" out of my tele! I thought it sounded very flat on the clean channel, too. Sounded good w/ distortion, but lost too much of the tele sound. I'm a huge Richie Kotzen fan, and love the sound he gets out of his tele (sounds like a tele, but a BIG tele), and I know he uses the Chopper T in the bridge, so I went that route.

The Air Norton may sound a little "hi-fi" compared to something like a Duncan '59, but I'm trying to put a modern spin on the tele, so hopefully it will work out. I've heard the Jazz, and it sounded a little too mellow for me-- I preferred the '59 in the neck. Also, the Duncans are around $80, versus about $60 for the Dimarzios, and most of the artists I've listened to since I was a kid use Dimarzios, so I thought I'd give them a whirl while keeping things a little more budget-conscious.

thanks again for all the helpful advice!

 

[OrangeChannel]

Glad to assist dude...just wanted to throw a ton of options out there in case you didn't know...you really might want to give those Virtual PAFs a listen as far the DiMarzios go...I have them in my Silo (they're standard now)...and they sound killer...as for the AN in the tele...It'll definitely work...it's my favorite DiMarzio neck pup...rock!

Jz.

 

[RAL]

I much prefer the sound of medium (even the lower) output humbuckers to the high output units I've tried. I'm a big fan of Dimarzios but found the PAF Pro to be "in your face" and less articulate/complex than the Air series. I agree with OrangeChanel that the Air series and the Virtual PAFs are some of the best soundng Dimarzio PUs.

As for Duncans: (IMHO) Perly Gates and JB in bridge. Jazz and 59 neck are great sounding PUs.

 

[OrangeChannel]

right on RAL...we have some similar tastes...I find that mid-output pups tend to be more toneful with all the heavily distort-o amps I used to tend towards...now I layer sounds with multiple tones so the middle of the road works better...

 

[appar111]

Ok, I think I may have narrowed it down to a nice, medium-to-low output pairing...

Dimarzio Humbucker from Hell (neck)
Dimarzio Norton (bridge)

The HFH is one that I think Paul Gilbert uses in conjunction w/ his Tone Zone in the bridge, and didn't Petrucci use a HFH in the neck position in the 90's at some point (I think before he started using the Air Norton)?

On the Norton, Dimarzio says it's right between a FRED and a Tone Zone, as far as sound and output. I could always go with the Air version of the Norton-- same tonal response, but lower output, and would still pair well w/ the HFH in the neck... Is the Air Norton more flexible than the Norton in any respect?

In lieu of the Norton/Air Norton, I'd probably go with a PAF Pro... Medium output, slightly boosted mids over the typical PAF... I'd prefer it over the FRED, since the FRED might sound too much "satch" and not enough "me".

So whatcha think?

 

[appar111]

Cool, I just found a place that sells a couple different types of Seymour Duncan pickups for $69 each-- w/ free shipping. After hearing my friend's "Wayne" guitar w/ a JB pickup in it on stage (for dirty and clean stuff), I think it would be a great bridge pickup. I'm surprised it sounded as good clean as it did (for funk stuff, clean rock stuff, etc.-- this was on a single pickup guitar, too).

So I'm down to either a Humbucker from Hell, PAF Pro, or Air Norton for the neck position.

 

[Jonny Dubai]

Neck position has got to be a seymorized mini HB....just f'ing amazing.


End of story, (IMO)

Jonny

 

[jaxadam]

I'm a big fan of the PAF Pros and the Tone Zone in the bridge.

But, I've heard the Mo' Joe is a pretty good pickup, so I'm gonna get it and check it out.