Any love out there for Dimarzio 36th Anniv (DEP103) humbuckers for jazz?

Joey Goldstein

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Mar 25, 2016, 12:06:36 PM3/25/16

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Does anybody else out there have any experience with Dimarzio DP103
humbuckers on guitars purposed for playing jazz?
I know Jack does.

I bought a couple of these recently and have replaced one of the 57
Classics I was using on one of my Tele builds.

I'm not sure if I love it yet or like it better than the Gibby but it
does have one particular quality that I like.
I.e. It seems to react slightly differently to various settings of the
tone pot, specifically in how it can achieve a nice
dark-but-not-too-dark jazz tone with the tone control at (approx) 1/3 of
its full value.
With the 57 Classics I have to go down to at least 1/8 or less on the
tone control to get something similar.

This seems a bit odd to me since when the tone control is wide open the
Dimarzio is noticeably brighter than the Gibson and also has a bit less
bass.
But the way it reacts to the tone control is helpful because it allows
for a wider range of dark tones and a less specific knob position to
achieve a useful tone.

But there might be something slightly "warmer" and therefore more
appealing to the overall sound of the Gibbys though.
[I know it's an Alnico II (in the Gibby) vs V (in the Dimarzio) thing too.]

Anybody else messing with these pickups for jazz?

Tony Done

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Mar 25, 2016, 7:19:11 PM3/25/16

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I looked at the specs. I see that the covers are nickel silver, and some
believe that these don't have the tone-killing properties of chrome
plated brass. So, I'm interested to know what kind of covers your 57
Classics have, if any. Nickel silver, nickel-plated brass or
chrome-plated brass? - I'm interested in any kind of background info on
this, because my experiences with chrome-plated brass covers have not
been good.

--
Tony Done

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=784456

http://www.flickr.com/photos/done_family/

Joey Goldstein

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Mar 26, 2016, 9:54:14 AM3/26/16

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Don't know but my guess would be nickel covers on the Gibbys.
Don't know anybody who uses brass.

Universe

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Mar 26, 2016, 6:25:06 PM3/26/16

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On Fri, 25 Mar 2016 12:06:33 -0400, Joey Goldstein
<nos...@nowhere.net> wrote:
>
>Does anybody else out there have any experience with Dimarzio DP103
>humbuckers on guitars purposed for playing jazz?

I'm more of a Lindy Fralin and Seymour Duncan fan. Lindy, in
particular, has great ears for matching (or inventing) 'vintage
sounding' pickups.

http://www.fralinpickups.com/

Most of those designs are very chimey, with lots of detail and
interesting harmonic things going on. He does make a few slightly
hyped models, but this is not the pickup for toneless high output
shred-beasts.

My Fralin Strat pickups are the only new-production pickup that I have
found that gets close to my (real) 63's. And I've tried lots of
different manufacturers and models.

>it
>does have one particular quality that I like.
>I.e. It seems to react slightly differently to various settings of the
>tone pot, specifically in how it can achieve a nice
>dark-but-not-too-dark jazz tone with the tone control at (approx) 1/3 of
>its full value.
>With the 57 Classics I have to go down to at least 1/8 or less on the
>tone control to get something similar.

...

>But the way it reacts to the tone control is helpful because it allows
>for a wider range of dark tones and a less specific knob position to
>achieve a useful tone.

If you're looking for resolution on the tone knob, you may want to
check into different pot tapers. 1/8 of rotation sounds rather
extreme, like a linear taper pot maybe? Shouldn't be, but if so, it
could be replaced with more common log-taper pots. Those yield about
25% of max resistance at their half-way point. (They often claim 15%,
but that's not necessarily true).

But if you already have that type of log pot, there is a more extreme
log taper that gives about 10% of max resistance at half rotation. Not
as common, but it could solve the problem. I use them in amp tone
circuits that are overly sensitive.

Tony Done

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Mar 26, 2016, 8:03:43 PM3/26/16

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Thanks. It could be nickel-plated brass, you wouldn't know unless you
scratched off some of the plating There is lot of conflicting info on
the tonal effect of covers and the materials they are made of. It
interests me, but it would be an expensive experiment to buy a set of
pickups with nickel covers just to hear the effect of removing them. :)

Joey Goldstein

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Mar 27, 2016, 1:04:58 AM3/27/16

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I use audio taper pots.
But your suggestion to check out other tapers (I don't like linear for
either tone or vol pots) might be worth looking into at some point.
Thanks.

David J. Littleboy

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Mar 27, 2016, 4:36:31 AM3/27/16

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"Joey Goldstein" wrote:
>
>Don't know but my guess would be nickel covers on the Gibbys.
>Don't know anybody who uses brass.

FWIW, and it ain't worth much, I just had SD pups (SH-2 Jazz and JB) put in
my Steinberger Synapse. These are the versions _without_ covers, and they’ve
got lots of power and sustain; like amazing power and sustain. I think I'm
going to be liking them. A lot.

So I'd recommend, if you can, try your pups without the covers. I can't
imagine covers doing anything other than reducing the response of the pups.
That, of course, doesn't speak to the balance problem, of course.

I reserve the right to be completely wrong and to change my mind at the
slightest whim. (Like when I get the time to put Thomastic flatwounds on it
and see how it works with them. But in the meantime, I'm amused. I really
hated the active pups that came in the thing, and now it seem like it might
be a useful member of the guitar collection.)

--
David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

Tony Done

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Mar 27, 2016, 5:10:20 AM3/27/16

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That duplicates exactly what I did. - Bought a set of SD jazz with
chrome plated brass covers, then took the covers off. The change for the
better was substantial, and the first thing I now suggest in other
groups to get a tonal change is to take the covers off, rather than buy
new pickups.

Joey Goldstein

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Mar 27, 2016, 9:43:20 AM3/27/16

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For jazz I've always liked what pickup covers do for the tone.
I started with uncovered humbuckers when I first got into customizing my
guitars.
Never sounded right for jazz until I started using covered pups.

This has nothing to do with any "balance problem".
Maybe you're talking about the quiet E string on my Warmoth neck, but
that's a whole other unrelated thread.

Tony Done

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Mar 27, 2016, 8:07:32 PM3/27/16

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On 3/27/2016 11:43 PM, Joey Goldstein wrote:
> On 2016-03-27 4:36 AM, David J. Littleboy wrote:
>>
>> "Joey Goldstein" wrote:

>
> For jazz I've always liked what pickup covers do for the tone.
> I started with uncovered humbuckers when I first got into customizing my
> guitars.
> Never sounded right for jazz until I started using covered pups.
>

Yes, I think that most jazz players would at least empathise with that.
Have you ever tried a Charlie Christian neck pickup? I tried the Lollar
version in a Maton recently - like nothing else I've ever played, I
thought it would be a killer for smooth jazz.

Joey Goldstein

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Apr 1, 2016, 2:52:13 PM4/1/16

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FWIW I've gone back to the 57 Classics.
There's a bit of a brittle top end to the DP103s which probably has to
do with Alnico II vs V.
Turns out I like Alnico II more.
I almost went out to buy a Burstbucker 1 today but nobody in town had
them in stock.
Evidently they're a bit brighter than the 57s so I probably would have
gone back to the 57s anyway.

Jim Soloway

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Apr 2, 2016, 12:28:39 PM4/2/16

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I've been using the 36th Anniversary as my main pickup for about five years. Unlike a lot of PAF type pickups, it's potted (which I like). I find it a bit more articulate than a lot of PAF's which to me indicates a bit more high end and as you've noted, there's not quite as much bass which makes the low end much more manageable in recording.