Dimarzio Bluesbuckers?...

[jazzbo jim]

Apparently a quiet P90 style ina zebra humbucker that sounds legit when split too.
Too good to be true? Anyone have any experience with these? Sounds useful particularly if you want to switch to a P90 but don't want to mod the look opf say an Axis SS. (reversible too)

 

[Astrofreq]

Sounds interesting. I changed my neck pickup to a humbucker from hell. It gives me the more single coily sound I want, but still looks like the original.

 

[candid_x]

Apparently a quiet P90 style ina zebra humbucker that sounds legit when split too.
Too good to be true? Anyone have any experience with these? Sounds useful particularly if you want to switch to a P90 but don't want to mod the look opf say an Axis SS. (reversible too)

You can't split a P90 style p'up, as it's already a single coil.

 

[jazzbo jim]

it IS a humbucker, technically. 2 coils-P90 sound. Check the website:
DiMarzio.com
for a better explanation than I can give.
The second coil acts primarily as a dummy coil to eliminate noise.

 

[uvacom]

It's pretty much just a regular humbucker. Their "Airbucker" technology is literally just leaving an air gap in between the magnets and the coil to alter the magnetic field and inductive characteristics. I have no idea what "Virtual Vintage" technology is and DiMarzio appears to offer no explanation (side note: I hate technologies with gimmicky inscrutable marketing names), but I think it may have something to do with altering the magnetism of the polepieces.

Nothing about the pickup is much like a P90 construction-wise. But it may very well sound somewhat like a P90. I have no idea - it's very subjective anyway.

 

[candid_x]

Interesting concept. Have any of you guys actually played or heard this p'up? Heard them split?

Have never been very keen on ceramic guitar pickups, though. Maybe this one's different. Might be cool to have P90 tone on a HSS Silo.

 

[candid_x]

I'm still not sure how you can split it if one of the coils is a dummy hum canceling coil. Does it disengage the dummy? Wouldn't that just give you more hum?

 

[uvacom]

I'm still not sure how you can split it if one of the coils is a dummy hum canceling coil. Does it disengage the dummy? Wouldn't that just give you more hum?

In normal operation, the two coils of a humbucker are wired in series, so the signal passes through both coils. When in coil tap, the output is (usually) taken before the signal enters the secondary("dummy") coil. So it really is just like single-coil operation (including the hum). But there are a lot of subtle differences between the construction of a single coil and the construction of a humbucker, so the sound still won't be the same.

Does that make sense? I'm not sure if I answered your question.

 

[threeminutesboy]

the ASS pickup are very quiet when used splitted I can't see the point in changing those.

I would recommend to get another ASS with MM90 for a real sound difference. this guitar is also as quiet as a desert island

 

[uvacom]

Yeah, EBMM guitars are well shielded and grounded, and Dimarzios (and the MM90s from what I've read) are well potted, so it's not like hum should be a big issue anyway.

 

[threeminutesboy]

the hum level on my PBB ASS is near zero even when coil are splitted and below zero for the MM90

 

[candid_x]

In normal operation, the two coils of a humbucker are wired in series, so the signal passes through both coils. When in coil tap, the output is (usually) taken before the signal enters the secondary("dummy") coil. So it really is just like single-coil operation (including the hum). But there are a lot of subtle differences between the construction of a single coil and the construction of a humbucker, so the sound still won't be the same.

Does that make sense? I'm not sure if I answered your question.

Sorta, yes. I'm gathering that the only real difference in this particular pickup from other humbuckers is the gap between between the two sections?

Thanks

 

[beej]

Sorta, yes. I'm gathering that the only real difference in this particular pickup from other humbuckers is the gap between between the two sections?

Candid- it looks like this isn't your standard bucker as Uvacom mentioned, it's different. It's two coils, one of which is the sensing coil and the other is just a dummy coil- used only to pick up noise which is canceled out when combining with the sensing coil.

You can think of it as more of a single coil pickup in a humbucker package. Good way to retrofit a HB routed guitar with a noise-free single coil or P90.

As for the air gap, I'm not sure how DiMarzio is using that technique on this p'up. On some single coil noiseless designs (Bill Lawrence, etc.) the single coils are really stacked humbuckers, but the second "coil" is a dummy coil separated from the sensing coil by an air gap. But stacked, not side by side like this one.

 

[jazzbo jim]

Indeed, Beej! A good option for someone wishing to try and perhaps reverse a mod without altering the instrument. Say, for instance, someone who alread has an Axis SS w/HH and piezo and expecting, say, another one (hypothetically) very soon in the mail (for example-strictly hypothetically though!)

 

[beej]

strictly hypothetically though!)

Yes of course ... strictly hypothetical

 

[candid_x]

Beej, thanks, man. That's what I perceived when I checked out the website. I got the impression that the second coil works sorta like the Silent Circuit. But my original question was, how to split an arrangement like that? If it functions like a hum free single coil, what is there to split?

 

[jazzbo jim]

perhaps it's more like a coil tap rather thatn a "split"?

 

[candid_x]

perhaps it's more like a coil tap rather thatn a "split"?

I thought they were the same thing?

 

[beej]

"Coil Tap" and "Coil Split" are used interchangeably - they're not exactly the same thing, but for our purposes they're interchangeable.

Most humbuckers have 4 wires now- it allows you to "split" the humbucker into 2 separate p'ups. In the old days you wouldn't have had that, so to get the same functionality (or to do this on a single coil) you'd "tap" the wires around the magnet at some point and create a point to tap into the p'up.

Candid- yep, that's a good way to think of it, and there's probably no real point in splitting that pickup by itself (it might sound slightly different, though). But- in conjunction with another one you would probably want to use the sensing coil only and not the dummy coil, since two sensing coils properly wired would give you a noise-free combination.

 

[GuitarHack]

Apparently a quiet P90 style ina zebra humbucker that sounds legit when split too.
Too good to be true? Anyone have any experience with these? Sounds useful particularly if you want to switch to a P90 but don't want to mod the look opf say an Axis SS. (reversible too)

Jazzbo, sending you a PM.