DiMarzio FRED and PAF Joe?

[MartinBarre]

Okay, you gotta love Joe Satriani's tone, so I had these DiMarzio's fitted to my RR3 when I got it a couple of years ago, but I've never thought they sound very good.
They don't even sound like Satch.
I had expected them to have a higher output - they're not much better sounding than the stock pups in my Epiphone SG 310, seriously. Getting an SL3 today has made me realise just how poor the DiMarzio's are.

So, I had planned on selling the RR3, but the wife likes the look of it and wants to use it for her part time modelling work - should I just replace the DiMarzio's with a JB and something else for the neck?


Anyone got a FRED or PAF Joe? Opinions on them?

[shreddermon]

Were you running it through an exact match of Satch's live rig set-up? And were you using his fingers and playing technique? Well then, of course those pickups don't make you sound like Satch. Because only Satch sounds like Satch. Pickups are only one piece of the puzzle. And, even if you had exact matches for all of his gear, you still wouldn't sound like him. Because you are not him. Same goes for any famous artist.

[thetroy]

Those aren't really meant to be high output pickups

[Dreamland_Rebel]

they are not supposed to be high output for one. and 2 they are designed to sound best in Basswood, not alder like your RR3.

satch's set up when that pup came out was basswood guitars, boss DS-1, into the clean channel of the marshall 6100 halfstack. yes he had other pedals for effects but i was just describing his main distorted sound.

[MartinBarre]

The point I'm making is that Satch's live sound is pretty high output. Yet his pickups really aren't high output.

This whole buying pickups thing is a minefield!

[Bengal]

I wouldn't say that Satch's tone is high output. It's more pronounced than that. Loud doesn't mean high output. Slayers tone is high output...

I love the Fred. I have it in a mahogany RG520 and it kills. Yes it's not an EMG or an Evolution, but the harmonics just fly off it and it has a tight and defined sound...

But if you check Dimarzios website it says that is more of a medium output pickup...

[MartinBarre]

I wouldn't say that Satch's tone is high output. It's more pronounced than that. Loud doesn't mean high output. Slayers tone is high output...

I love the Fred. I have it in a mahogany RG520 and it kills. Yes it's not an EMG or an Evolution, but the harmonics just fly off it and it has a tight and defined sound...

But if you check Dimarzios website it says that is more of a medium output pickup...

Well, there, that's my problem, my FRED struggles to produce harmonics. The Duncan JB that came in the SL3 seems to be so much better in that respect.
That's why I'm wondering if maybe the FRED and PAF have been wired up wrong or something - they just seem to lack any sort of sparkle.

I think I'll sell 'em and try installing something else myself. It's a shame I've never really enjoyed the RR3 simply because of this.

BTW I don't think Slayer's tone is that high output either. Maybe the solos are, but the riffage isn't all that extreme. The modern stuff is really lacking in bite IMO - South of Heaven was the pinnacle!

[Bengal]

Every guitar I've had with a Fred have always done the harmonic thing very easy. It is possible they are wired wrong. But I don't know a lot about re-wiring so I'm no good in that area...

But if it's the pickups that are keeping you from enjoying the guitar, by all means change the pickups. It's an easy thing that can help you really dig it...

[straycat]

Try an rsguitarworks pot upgrade kit. Quality electronics makes all the difference in the world.IMO the Fred is best suited to a basswood body.PAF pros I would say the same thing because they are a very mid range pickup.
The JB paired with a 59 or jazz in the neck should work well in the RR3 just use a 300k vol pot as opposed to a 500k pot.
The JB may be too brittle to your likeing so if so use the 300k pot.The 59 or jazz will sound very creamy with the 300k vol pot.
Fine tuning the pickups is a must as well.Just installing them is not enough you will need to adj them and get the best tone.

[MartinBarre]

Thanks for the replies guys. First, I'm gonna make sure the guy who installed the pups did put the PAF in the neck and the FRED in the bridge. I have a sneaking suspicion he may have them the wrong way round. Just played the guitar clean and the neck pup seems to be rather louder than the bridge one - I'd expect it to be other way around....?

Anyway, if that's not it I'll look into what you say straycat! I love the JB in the SL3 so far - that or an Invader look good for the bridge anyway.

[Bengal]

The bottom of the pickups should have a 3 digit number stamped on them. That number will tell you what DiMarzio it is...

Fred: 153
PAF Joe: 213

[straycat]

Loundess has a lot to do with the height adj of the pickup too.Adj the height of both pickups until they are about the same volume.
Getting too close to the strings will hurt the sustain/harmonics of the pickup keep that in mind.
If the neck pickup it louder just lower it a little.
I would pull the pickup and see if he switched them then do them yourself because you need to learn to do this stuff.
To me looks are the last reason for buying a pickup I want tone not looks.
BTW if you want an invader find an old one they are way beefier than the new ones.

[Axewielder]

Before you rip the thing apart, try dialing in the pickup height first if you haven't already done so.


EDIT: hehe straycat you beat me to it

[straycat]

I thought you would tell him that Axewielder.

[straycat]

I had a guy bring his guitar to me today and the pickups were adjusted all the way down and he wondered why his tone sucked. I explained to him why and he said the guy at G.C told him thats where they should be if the factory set them there.
Go figure.