Saturday, January 22, 2011

Dimarzio: D Activator X

This is my Ibanez SA1260 with a fresh bridge pickup- DiMarzio's D Activator X. The previous humbucker in there (also a DiMarzio), a PAF 36th Anniversary humbucker, didn't last a month. The pickup doesn't do well with a hefty guitar like my SA here which also churns out much bottom end in its unplugged performance, a vintage voiced/ output pickup doesn't help the situation; it's adding oil into water.

My initial intention was to go for a Seymour Duncan humbucker as I've had much success matching the various models on offer to the guitars I own but I decided to keep it a DiMarzio affair since the single coils (stacked humbucker actually) in there are DiMarzios (a pair of Area 67). I need a pickup with a strong midrange response, nothing too excessive in the treble offering but with enough bass to push lots of bottom end palm muting through. The D Activator X offers high levels of midrange & bass with the former exceeding the latter offerings slightly. Regardless of whatever niche appeal the manufacturer proposes this pickup for, it works in this guitar. I didn't grab it by virtue of its high output which is typically associated with heavy music because that's not a sure formula. I'm in it for the clarity & distortion saturation.

PS: Thanks Beez for the excellent workmanship once again.

7 comments:

areripe said...

bro, can u review about sustainiac or sustain pickup.... im really want to know about this pickup.
example: Synyster Gates from avenged sevenfold.

subversion.sg said...

it's been a long time since i've tried one; i remember i was @ Yamaha (now Beat Spot) & Beez made me try a Fernandez model with this pickup in it. i shall visit Davis to give the Synester a try :-)

reuel said...

hey sub wont the d'activator x drown out the neck and mid pickups since those 2 are pretty low output??

subversion.sg said...

low output doesn't mean it's bad for distortion applications, he he... Paul Gilbert knows that :-)

reuel said...

No i meant that when switching between bridge and neck/mid will give u a jump in volume...so the d activators wil be too powerful to fit with the area 67...in that sense lol

subversion.sg said...

not when we can keep the pickups' height in check for volume performances :-) when i switch between from bridge to neck during play, i hear a different distortion response, not so much of a volume jump.

reuel said...

ah yes i totally forgot abt that lol