Ibanez Dimarzio Fushion Edge pickups - GARBAGE!

  • Thread starter Thread starter napalmdeath
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Shask said:
I have the Evolution neck, 36th Anv Neck, and Air Norton. I like all those.
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Same here, but while I agree some DiMarzio's can sound mushy, I have good results with quite a few too.

@napalmdeath you should definitely include the Norton in your shortlist for a bridge pickup. It's tighter than a ToneZone for sure, doesn't have that tubbiness in the low-mids, but still medium/high output with great harmonics and clarity, without becoming screeching.

Otherwise, with slightly more low-end would be the AT-1. And the original Evo bridge would probably be too bright, apparently the Evo2 has a more balanced EQ.
 
They were in a J Custom I had awhile back. I couldn't get them out fast enough. I forget what I put in it, I think a Tone Zone for the bridge and PAF Pro for the neck and it souded really good.
 
I'm sure I'm overgeneralizing, but I've noticed the signature DiMarzio thing is fat low-mids (sometimes vocal) and a smoother treble than Duncan.

Not all DiMarzio pickups I've tried are like that, but most of them seem to take that approach. Especially the ones with brass baseplates which are like what, 80% of their designs.

Overall, I prefer Duncan over DiMarzio, but I personally like the D-Activator, especially with 1 Meg pots and/or the hotter coil flipped towards the bridge for added bite.

The thing about the D-Activator is that it's marketed as a passive version of the EMG 81, when in fact, it couldn't be more different. As a standalone balanced and comparatively dynamic hot Ceramic pickup leaning a bit towards tight and bright, it's great, though.
 
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I personally generally like Duncan bridge pickups matched with DiMarzio neck pickups, though. I prefer the approach DiMarzio takes to neck pickups in that they're usually fat and smooth whereas Duncans tend to be more scooped and attacky.

Overall, I kinda don't like that like 60% of Duncan sets come with a neck pickup based sometimes loosely, sometimes directly around the Jazz, and I hate the Jazz.

Also, FWIW, I haven't tried the Evolution bridge, but the Evolution neck is hot and fat without being muddy rather than being bright and strident.
 
Norton,Titan, Fred and Tone Zone are ones I have tried that I liked.
 
Bardagh said:
Stuffy and mushy is exactly how I would describe most DiMarzios I have tried, aside from the Super Distortion, Steve's Special, Evolution and Norton. I will say the look of those pickups is badass with that guitar, and I doubt DiMarzio offers that with a lot of their line, but if they did I'd suggest the Steve's Special. It is possibly the most atypical higher output DiMarzio humbucker - clearer, articulate, tight, but not thin. It has a different sound. Petrucci used it back in the early days but otherwise the only example I can think of is Jani Liimatainen. I know he used guitars equipped with it on all the earlier Sonata Arctica albums. I used it in an alder super strat for quite a while and only changed it to repurpose that guitar for less metal sounds.
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Know a luthier who used to work on Joe Satriani's gear when he came around town for gigs, etc. Said he was surprised when he saw that Joe had a pair of Seymour Duncan's with some DiMarzio covers in his main guitar(s). Kinda shocked me at the time but now, it isn't so surprising that a pro would do something like that. No proof from him on my end but idk why he would just make up that story to me.
 
Rex Rocker said:
I personally generally like Duncan bridge pickups matched with DiMarzio neck pickups, though. I prefer the approach DiMarzio takes to neck pickups in that they're usually fat and smooth whereas Duncans tend to be more scooped and attacky.

Overall, I kinda don't like that like 60% of Duncan sets come with a neck pickup based sometimes loosely, sometimes directly around the Jazz, and I hate the Jazz.

Also, FWIW, I haven't tried the Evolution bridge, but the Evolution neck is hot and fat without being muddy rather than being bright and strident.
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DiMarzio does have some good neck pickup options. What they do well with them is making them fat and relatively smooth while still having some harmonics and not being too bassy. The “fat” aspect is low mids. I hate when neck pickups sound like a big undefined woof on all but the highest notes.
 
Exactly. When it comes to good sorta smooth neck pickups with plenty of clarity, without becoming too scooped, sterile or muddy, DiMarzio definitely has more options than Duncan.

I will say, after trying a bunch of Duncan neck pickups over the years, two of my main axes have Duncans in it; a Screamin' Demon as a neck pickup in my ESP Horizon NTII and a Pearly Gates neck in my Burny Randy Rhoads Les Paul Custom. Both awesome in their own right.

But a stock '59, A2Pro or Jazz? Hard pass. ?

Gimme a Breed neck, 36th Anniv PAF or Air Norton instead.?
 
I'm not sure if Duncan's pickup designers go under the assumption that neck pickups *need* to be low output and scooped in order not to sound muddy, but I don't agree, personally. Especially since it's so easy for many of their neck pickups like the '59 and Jazz to be all chirpy pick attack and low-end boominess without any meat to the mids. That's JMO, of course. Many people make them work just fine.

And not going to say I don't like some DiMarzio neck pickups either. I think the PAF Pro is overly attack-y as well.

japetus said:
That guitar looks like garbage. It reminds me of Linkin Park, but the bad Linkin Park songs
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You say that like they have any songs that aren't bad. ?
 
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The PAF Joe is actually an interesting neck pickup. It has a ton of harmonics, and is a bit less on the smooth side but still not scooped or woofy. It’s kind of rude sounding in a good way.
 
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