The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Hey guys ... me again ...

Another question about my R80 restoration project ...
The original pickups are dead or close to it.
I tossed in a pair of Dimarzio Paf Classics and was VERY disapointed with the sound which is very bright an small.
I'm considering a differant compination of Dimarzio's
An Air Norton for the neck and a Tone Zone for the bridge.
I want the guitar to be as verstile as possible, with a crystal clear yet warm big sound but also allowing me to get a full thick shredding dist when needed.
Any toughts/ ideas?
Please do not recommend dunkans or EMG's cause I can't get them for a decent price here so it's Dimarzio's only (which is good cause I love them)

BTW, I solved the tail piece problem, I had it polished and replated. The color is a bit differant due to the slightly differant color of gold here but it looks great. Now I'm waiting for the schaller bridge to arrive and I'm done

Thnx
Itsik

Did you ever think about Seymour Duncan pickups (they should be in the price range of the DiMarzios).

Here are a couple of combinations I like:

SH-55 (Seth Lover) pickups in neck and bridge position... nice classic sound with moderate output, but I'm not sure if there's a four conductor version available.

SH-1 ('59) pickups in neck and bridge position... simillarto above, just a bit cheaper.

SH-1 or SH-55 in neck position and SH-14 (Custom Custom) in bridge position... the SH-14 is my favorite bridge pickup with high output. You can substitute the SH-14 with a SH-4 (JB) a bit brighter or a SH-5 (Custom) a bit darker sounding.

Thanks for the reply Wutz, but like I stated in the original massege, I can't get Seymour Duncan pickups here, at least not for a logical price, I do not wat to make the guitar active, so this leaves the EMG's out of the game and this leaves me with the Dimarzio's.
Any of you guys have any ideas?

Thnx
Itsik

I don't know any DiMarzio pickup that's truly versatile (my personal taste of course).

Anyway, my PE-R80D has two DiMarzio Dual Sound pickups installed... I like the clean sound from the neck pickup (both coils in parallel) and the overdriven sounds from the bridge pickup (both coils in series).

Most newer DiMarzio pickups simply sound too flat for my taste.

Kent armstrong pickup are much better than Di marzio, much more deep & rich sound, & you can find them on ebay us for about 50$ at the moment.
I think you won't be disappointed.

Pardon me if this topic is long dead and buried but I haven't been here for about 7 months. Anyway, I too am seeking a pickup for the bridge position of a solidbody (MXZ Elite brand/model) and my impression is that the most versatile DiMarzio pickup is the "PAF Pro". The "Steve Morse" model pickup sounds interesting too but may not be versatile. Can't really tell because there's no info about it on Dimarzios's new website.