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New Dimarzio D Activator pickup

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  • New Dimarzio D Activator pickup

    Good idea, basically passive versions of EMG's...


    Active humbuckers have a distinctive sound - powerful, clean, open-sounding, with excellent harmonic overtones and very tight lows. The down side for many players is that they also sound cold, have limited dynamics and run out of headroom when played hard. And of course, they need batteries. In 2006 we took a close look at the most popular active neck and bridge humbuckers to see if we could capture all of the good qualities and eliminate the disadvantages. The D Activator™ neck and bridge models are the result. They have the same loud yet clean sound as the active humbuckers players are familiar with, and killer harmonics. They also respond instantly to hard or light pick attack. In a word, they rock. And they don’t need batteries.

    DP220
    Recommended For: Bridge
    Tech Talk: An interesting fact about the most popular active bridge pickups is that they aren’t incredibly loud. Instead, they have a strong, focused attack that hits the amp very hard and makes them ‘feel’ more powerful than they actually spec out to be. This is an important characteristic that we needed to capture with the D Activator™ bridge pickup. We also wanted to avoid the limiting effect that can occur with active pickups when they are played hard. Our pickup is passive with a lot of headroom, and it responds quickly and accurately to changes in pick attack. A hard pick attack doesn’t cause the signal to flatten out, and picking more softly or rolling the volume control down lets the sound clean up naturally.

    DP219
    Recommended For: Neck. Can also be used in bridge position
    Tech Talk: There’s a big difference between a pickup that sounds bright and one that sounds thin. A thin-sounding pickup will be brittle on the highest frets and empty-sounding in the mids and lows. The D Activator™ neck model doesn’t do this – both the wound and plain strings remain tight and bright up the neck, and very well balanced. This allows the D Activator™ neck model to function well in both longer scale bolt-ons and shorter scale, set-neck guitars. It also makes for a good bridge pickup if you want a sound with a lot of snap and power.
    http://www.dimarzio.com/
    Last edited by BTB007; 01-09-2007, 04:24 PM.

  • #2
    I always liked Dimarzio's tone (esp. for leads) - plus some of my players tonewise ( J.Murphy , Petrucci play Dimarzios)

    Could be awesome judging by the description - if they're tight like an 81 (Bridge) and have the dimarzio lead soud then it'll be awesome

    Their "new" Dropsonic sounded awesome and would be one of my fav. pickups to play in bridge if i'd ever decided to play passives

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    • #3
      I noticed these on DiMarzio's site earlier today. Seems pretty neat.
      I feel my soul go cold... only the dead are smiling.

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      • #4
        The D Activator neck model is almost the exact same thing as the DiMarzio Super II.

        The bridge D Activator seems good for me...might have to try it

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        • #5
          Seems like a Full Shred designed by DiMarzio then. Cool.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Deadlock View Post
            The D Activator neck model is almost the exact same thing as the DiMarzio Super II.

            The bridge D Activator seems good for me...might have to try it
            Yeah, it does seem very close to a Super 2. That's a good thing, because I like brighter neck pups.
            I feel my soul go cold... only the dead are smiling.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by toejam View Post
              Yeah, it does seem very close to a Super 2. That's a good thing, because I like brighter neck pups.

              I love bright neck pickups too. I have a Humbucker From Hell in neck and I love it. I'd like to try a DiMarzio Bluesbucker as well. The Super II and D Activator are probably too hot for neck...for my taste at least. I have a very dark sounding BC Rich and I'm thinking of putting a Super II in the bridge position.


              If/When I get my WRMG I may put a D Activator bridge pickup in there with a Bluesbucker in neck. I don't like the idea of my guitar needing batteries...so I avoid active pickups.

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              • #8
                I also am interested in trying a Bluesbucker or Humbucker From Hell. The Super 2 is pretty hot and works best paired up with a pup of equal or hotter power in the bridge, like a Super D, Super 3 or X2N.
                A Duncan Jazz is also a very nice bright neck pup, works well with the Tone Zone in my Charvel Star. I'm also a huge fan of EMGs (prefer the warmer 85 in the bridge with the brighter 81 or a 60 in the neck) and I don't really mind the batteries; they last for a year or so before needing to be changed.
                I feel my soul go cold... only the dead are smiling.

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                • #9
                  These D-Activators sound like a good idea. I really want to hear some clips and try these out. I wonder how they would compare to an Evolution?

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                  • #10
                    BTW D-Activators are featured on new Ibanez "Warriror" and "V"
                    Because I don't say it
                    Doesn't mean I ain't thinking it

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                    • #11
                      Interesting, if they sound as they say these pick ups will get pretty popular

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Carbophos View Post
                        BTW D-Activators are featured on new Ibanez "Warriror" and "V"
                        I noticed that too. I hope my local guitar store carries one of those Ibanez guitars so I can get a feel for the pickups.

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                        • #13
                          Anybody know of anywhere that has these for sale? I'm real tempted to try them out in my cheapy Dean 7 string just to see if the pickup delivers on the promises.. if it can sound like all my EMGs do, then maybe I will actually replace them to get around the EMGs' faults - no dynamics and no headroom

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                          • #14
                            I use D-Activator on my purple daze Jackson Custom Shop guitar.. it sounds great. Actually I am a duncan fans... but I love D-Activator for Dimarzio Its hot & yes, high output but not muddy.
                            Mayzan
                            Webmaster Of www.MartyFriedman.com & www.7-string.com
                            My website: www.mayzan.com

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                            • #15
                              Wow, digging up some old threads. But this is good timing because I just played an Ibanez V yesterday and wanted to comment on the pickups - they rock!! The guitar itself was pretty nice too (made in Indonesia though) but the pups were great! Very powerful but clear, neck pup wasn't muddy, and when you were palm-muting the low E, it thumped. And this was through a spider III 1x12 on pretty low volume, not a cranked up tube half-stack. I had just played some Jacksons w/Duncans before it and definitely noticed a difference with these d-activators. Most GCs/Sam Ash have these Ibz Vs, so try it out and see what you think of these pups.
                              Unleash the fury.....Texas style!

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