Seymour Duncan vs Dimarzios distortion pick ups

[Rumy73]

I have an mij with dimarzios and like the tone. I see that the mim so cal are fitted with duncans. Can someone articulate the differences between these pups?

[markD]

i find the duncan's have a bit more clarity than dimarzio pickups. other than what my ears hear, i really think it is just preference. i used dimarzio for a long time, then stumbled upon a JB and i liked the tone A LOT better than any of the dimarzios i was using - PAF Pro, EVO, Tone Zone...

now, for single coils i would take a dimarzio over a duncan ANY day of the week. the dimarzio single coils sound more "fender-ish" and bell-like to my ears.

[j2379]

My only issue with dimarzio is most of my guitars that are over 20yrs old with them are going microphonic and squeal uncontrollably. My Duncan's don't seem to be doing that at all. Other than that what Marc said preference both are great products.

[Axewielder]

My only issue with dimarzio is most of my guitars that are over 20yrs old with them are going microphonic and squeal uncontrollably. My Duncan's don't seem to be doing that at all. Other than that what Marc said preference both are great products.

DOH! Your STIII's giving you trouble? My tech can pot pickups, which I've had done once before. I'm not sure you can do it with those damn sealed ones, though.

[Rich#6]

When it comes to humbuckers dimarzios are all bass heavy or have the mids pushed up and SDs are treble heavy(or scooped).

[leftykingv2]

This is a personal taste thing and I am sure a lot of people will disagree but I still have yet to find ANY DiMarzio pick up that I've ever liked. I personally don't like anything about them. Every Ibanez guitar I have has had the pick ups replaced with Duncan's or EMG's. I've tried a lot of different pick ups DiMarzio makes as well and the only one I can even tolerate is the Super Distortion. All the others I have tried just seem to lack something that I can't describe. Tone Zone, Air Norton, Evolutions, X2N, Air Zone, Breed, Fred, Mo Joe, and PAF Pro are just a few I have tried or had a guitar come stock with and I didn't like any of them. Like I said I am sure I am in the minority here but I just don't care for DiMarzio pick ups.

[toejam]

I like both, but I seem to have a slight preference for DiMarzios, especially the Tone Zone and Norton.

[DonP]

I like them all, but out of the two I own more Duncans than DiMarzios.

[84sups]

The only Dimarzio I've had and liked so far is the old double whammy. Had a well rounded tone that's pretty close to a full shred. I'm about to try a Super Distortion in my newest build. Just hope I'm not disappointed

[j2379]

No the STs are good, its my old eagle late 70's, the ones from 80's seem to be good. the other old ones i have, had pickup swaps already when i got them.

DOH! Your STIII's giving you trouble? My tech can pot pickups, which I've had done once before. I'm not sure you can do it with those damn sealed ones, though.

[VitaminG]

I like both, but I seem to have a slight preference for DiMarzios, especially the Tone Zone and Norton.

TZ was my favourite. But the Dominion has usurped it

I like both too. There's a real mixture across my guitars.

[toejam]

I like both, but I seem to have a slight preference for DiMarzios, especially the Tone Zone and Norton.

TZ was my favourite. But the Dominion has usurped it

I like both too. There's a real mixture across my guitars.

I haven't heard the Dominion pickups personally, but I know at least one other person on this forum besides you has raved about them. I may try them eventually, but I'm actually pretty happy still with the Duncan '59s in my Dominion guitar.
I'm also a fan of the X2N, Super D and Super 2, as well as the D-Activators in my LTD 7-string.

[tonemonster]

[Steel City Psycho]

This is a personal taste thing and I am sure a lot of people will disagree but I still have yet to find ANY DiMarzio pick up that I've ever liked. I personally don't like anything about them. Every Ibanez guitar I have has had the pick ups replaced with Duncan's or EMG's. I've tried a lot of different pick ups DiMarzio makes as well and the only one I can even tolerate is the Super Distortion. All the others I have tried just seem to lack something that I can't describe. Tone Zone, Air Norton, Evolutions, X2N, Air Zone, Breed, Fred, Mo Joe, and PAF Pro are just a few I have tried or had a guitar come stock with and I didn't like any of them. Like I said I am sure I am in the minority here but I just don't care for DiMarzio pick ups.

I agree. Although I have not tried that many DiMarzios, a Super Distortion in the neck position is the only DiMarzio I have liked. I tried a Duncan Jazz, '59, Pearly Gates and Alnico II Pro and ended up putting the DiMarzio back in. To me DiMarzios just seem dull and lifeless, Duncans have more character. I'm not a fan of EMGs either, a lot of my guitars have Duncan Blackouts. That being said, I would like to try some newer DiMarzios (D-Activator, Dominion) and EMGs (X Series), but at this point I have wasted so much money on pickups that I just go with Blackouts.

[coloradoman25]

I went the other direction lol

I was a duncan junky forever and have now leaned more into dimarzio territory. As for sound im a petrucci junky and i really do like the liquifire/crunchlab combo though its definitely not a vintage sound to em.

The D'activators are interesting as well