Ghost

The latest Fender John 5 Telecaster is called Ghost; pale complexion with a tinge of blood. Perfect. It has a pair of DiMarzio D Activators on board so it means business when it comes to distortion. Not my thing but I like the blank fretboard.

Pic: Fender

The activation

Before the DiMarzio Fusion Edge became the defacto pickups for Ibanez guitars that warrant attention but tamed to manifest limited appeal (so that they won't become exceedingly popular & overtake the established models in terms of sales), there were the D Activator models. These were manufactured by DiMarzio as well & mimic the responses of an active pickup without sounding too sterile in the higher frequencies. They were fitted into the ICT700...

... & the XPT700.

Subsequently, the D Activator X came into the picture (fitted into the DTT700 seen above). The slight variation- Version X has a richer midrange & surprisingly sounds good in clean mode. The manufacturer chose the rail design to signal to the hardcore X2N fans that the D Activator X can pull off an X2N with a more usable set of cleans.

Unlike the semi-abominable Fusion Edge, I like the D Activators. A pair is now resident in my Jackson Dinky here & they are just the deserving pickups in such a shred/ high gain profile guitar.

They are indeed very suited to angry music, the type that is distortion inclined with very little or no clean considerations. Unlike their more renowned counterparts, I hear more presence from these pickups & the higher frequencies do not wither under excessive gain or processing. I'm not saying the latter occurrence is a bad thing because for prog-esque moments that require dedicated intensity (Dream Theater is my best reference here), DiMarzios do the job well. I require an abrasive tone that would sound palatable when palm muted & the D Activators seem to fit the bill. 

Return of the yellow fellow

This was extremely bad. I was terribly upset upon seeing this. The corrosion/ rust was extensive & the parts affected were beyond salvation. Everything you see here was disposed.

The guitar in question is my Jackson DKMGT. To think that this guitar was kept in a hard case, well away from moisture exposure, for all that corrosion to happen still baffles me. It's the ultimate betrayal- to rely on a hard case for protection but it was secretly condoning an unbecoming activity. Anyway, all those parts were replaced. Replacement here refers to a complete makeover: Pickups, pots, 3-way selector, capacitor & screws. There was a default gain booster here which I had foregone. Instead, I opted for a 2x volume & 1x tone control configuration. The Tesla pickups were also replaced with a pair of DiMarzio D'Activator humbuckers which I like (a rare feat considering I'm not a DiMarzio fan). Well, all this- it's nothing Beez could not handle & the makeover was done in about 15min time.

D'Addario 9s in there.

My trusted, oversized DAW Shredline pick for days when only angry music is all I play. Happy weekend, everyone. 😁

Ibanez: XP500

The are many Ibanez Xiphos fans out there & they are not too keen with having a dual action whammy in this guitar. I used to own an XP300 which I gave up because I found out that a subsequent model would be released which promises a fixed bridge as well but it didn't appear (in the manufacturer's catalog) until now. The XP500 here is that model, featuring a Gibraltar Standard fixed bridge & a pair of DiMarzio D' Activator humbuckers- my kinda guitar.

Ibanez: RG3XXV (Part 3)

After playing the RG3XXV for some days now, I realized that the instrument is rather heavy. This prompted me to revisit my RG560 & discovered both instruments to be of about the same weight. I have no idea if this was deliberate on the part of the manufacturer- to re-create the instrument to specs- it's definitely a positive consideration. Due to how heavy it is (not excessive, of course) there's a stronger bass response & more sustain to be heard. This complements the D Activator bridge pickup for its prickly midrange.

Ibanez: RG3XXV (Part 2)

These are the default DiMarzio pickups in the Ibanez RG3XXV: D Activator (bridge)/ Air Norton S (neck). A quick character reference:

D Activator

It's a treble rich pickup, it was designed to be this way to manifest an accurate active pickup voicing. I'm not a treble fan but this pickup works for me when I turn down the treble over at the amp. It's a magnificent worker for distortion settings. In clean mode, it lacks warmth but gives off a great boom; not for the vintage aficionado, definitely.

Air Norton S

The ANS is a wonderful neck unit, it's one of those eccentric high output, ceramic-based performer that sounds different from what you'd expect it to be. EQ-wise, this pickup is migrange rich with lots of supporting bass response & a curbed treble response- one of the smoothest neck tone could be heard here. This is my kinda pickup, lots of midrange accentuation, lots of warmth, lots of punch without losing definition in any way.

Yes, I'm a Duncan fan through & through but I'm not averse to DiMarzios or any other pickup brands (even EMG, mind you). I just hear more usable tones from Duncans than any other brand names out there, I think it's purely coincidental; they have what I wanna hear. 

Coming back to the RG3XXV performance; I must say that these 2 are the deserving pickups in there. They bring out the best from a basswood unit coupled with a locking, dual-action whammy bridge with lots of potential to sound bad. But not this guitar. The bridge handles all out distortion while the neck gives you one of the best, contemporary neck tones out there.