Just put in a new bridge pickup

[Eric O'Reilly]

Hi guys, ive been waiting and waiting to finally get my dimarzio AT 1 for my ax40. Well i just put it in, and I must say Im super surprised at how weak it it was, I thought it would have been alot hotter, its rated at 16.7 k and many reviews have said it was hot, yet clear and refined. Dimarzio says its the closest to the axis pups, now Ive never owned an axis, but im sure it would be a little more hot than this was. It was so much weaker than even the ax40 neck! The neck was much louder and hotter than the AT1. And yes Ive wired many pckups and are sure it was wired correctly and the height was exactly the same as the stock sterling A5. So long story short I rewired the original pup and it went back to its awesome self. Now dont get me wrong it sounded good just not for me, more of a vintage classic vibe, and it is an aired V V pup so I guessed it would have that vibe, but I just thought it would have been alot more VH, because Dimarzio said it would be a close match. Has anyone else had this experience? I was so exited to get this pup but was let down.

 

[panther_king]

Well, it's got a pretty high Resistance, but it's output is alot more in line with other medium output pickups dimarzio makes. High Resistance does not always mean 'High Output', or 'High Volume'.

I would say the high resistance in the AT1 contributes more to a smoother, warmer, more compressed sounding tone in the AT1 - If you were looking for something in a similar output with more 'presence', I would say the Breed would be a good fit. Similar tonal signature and output, but a much lower resistance will open it up some. The good old PAF Pro would also have a similar output, but be clearer, less compressed, and more open.

 

[Eric O'Reilly]

Well I might contact Dimarzio to exchange it , because it was not just weak it was unable to even do Andy Timmons style stuff, and I was using high gain. Even with the gain up all the way I could not touch the stuff I was playing with the stock pickup. It took my high gain setup and made it sound like a blues amp.

 

[beej]

Strange. If it was that weak, I'd think there was something wrong with it, our you had it wired in parallel by mistake.

 

[Eric O'Reilly]

I thought so too! So I rewired it and got the same results. Im going to contact Dimarzio today. I mean it sounded full and nice, so I know it wasnt out of phase it just had half the output of the sterling A5, sounded like it couldnt do anything high gain, .

 

[Eric O'Reilly]

Well just an update I sent it back to dimarzio and they said it was fine, I thought it was rather weak and quiet compared to the ax40 pickups, so they are going to send me a tone zone which they said was more aggressive and higher output.

 

[TNT]

Yeah, I was going to say that the TZ would be a better fit for the VH stuff, however (because I do VH Trib), I actually chose the Norton over the TZ.

 

[NYEVHFAN]

How about the Frankenstein pickup? I hear its fantastic.

 

[Eric O'Reilly]

I would def try out the frankenstein pickup but it only comes in black, i need cream and black zebra

 

[headcrash]

Eric, I recently installed a AT-1 in my Silo Special, and I have Dimarzio Axis pups in my Albert Lee. They're not the same, but are really, really close.
I'd say the Axis pups have tiny bit more dirt going on, and a tad bigger bottom. Also the feel a little stiffer, whereas the AT-1 is a bit more compressed. But I'm talking nuances here.
The AT-1 however is such a fantastic pup, and it is hotter than for example the PAF 36th bridge I had in my Silo before. Also it is a lot fatter and excels for most grades of preamp gain from clean to hot rod Marshall HiGain. So far I like it a lot.

 

[NYEVHFAN]

Ugh I know. I HATE that it comes only in all black

 

[Eric O'Reilly]

I thought it sounded alright just alot less aggressive than the ax40 bridge, I gotta be honest that ax40 sterling A5 is a great ballsy pickup with tons of harmonics and great tone, the at 1 sounded good just not for my setup, I had the gain up all the way and could not do van halen stuff properly, then i reconnected the A5 and it screamed, i use a pod 2.0 on modern higain setting which is a soldano model, so its got tons of gain, the at 1 just was much weaker than the stock pup, hopefully the tonezone will be better.

 

[Eric O'Reilly]

I just dont get how I had a stock tele single coil, and the bridge was twice as hot as the at1.

 

[headcrash]

Your AT-1 must be broken. My AT-1 is just about as hot as the original EBMM Axis bridge pickup. And I guess the AX40 pups are kinda modelled after the originals.
The AT-1 is definately hotter than any standard single coil pickup!

 

[Eric O'Reilly]

The AT1 was not broken, Dimarzio told me themselves. I thought it was, thats why I sent it back, but then they called me and told me it was fine, so now Im having them send me a tonezone, my point was that the at1 was WAY weaker than the ax40 pup, and yes my standard tele, on the exact same settings, screamed compared to the at1, i know it sounds nuts, I thought so too but thats the facts.

 

[Eric O'Reilly]

The volume and dirt are way more on the sterling pups, they are really good pups for clean too, I just wanted real dimarzios like the axis, so Im goin tonezone air norton

 

[Eric O'Reilly]

I also have an old Gibson paf in my black and white frankenstein that is hotter and more harmonic than the at1 was, The at1 was not a bad pup, just not for me.

 

[Ed Hunter]

Eric, I recently installed a AT-1 in my Silo Special, and I have Dimarzio Axis pups in my Albert Lee. They're not the same, but are really, really close.
I'd say the Axis pups have tiny bit more dirt going on, and a tad bigger bottom. Also the feel a little stiffer, whereas the AT-1 is a bit more compressed. But I'm talking nuances here.
The AT-1 however is such a fantastic pup, and it is hotter than for example the PAF 36th bridge I had in my Silo before. Also it is a lot fatter and excels for most grades of preamp gain from clean to hot rod Marshall HiGain. So far I like it a lot.

Sorry to bump a old thread but i wanted to let something be known pertaining to the above quote
IF you take a dimarzio AT-1 and de-air it(make it a regular pu and not a aired one) then the AT-1 will have the missing gain and the bigger bottom mentioned that the axis has.
the AT-1 is also "stiffer" like the axis when Un-aired.
Basically what i am saying is IF you want a axis bridge pu this will get you 99.% there and since dimarzio nor EBMM sell these you don't have much of a choice except to buy the whole guitar.
I bought a AT-1 and modded it this way because i also own a axis and love those pu's
in the neck i use a air norton which is more than close enough in stock form.
Hope this helps a few that want the axis pu's
Ps, not a fan of the stock AT-1