Strat Pickups - Dimarzio Area

[windfeld]

hi guys.

I am beginning a strat project, and I need to choose some pickups. I would love to try out some of the dimarzio area pickups. I like that they are hum-cancelling, and one of my favourite players Oz Noy is using them.

I am looking for a really warm and big sound. Not too jangly or weak... I am really into John Mayers newer sounds, Oz Noy, Michael Landau and Matt Schofield. So that is sort of the direction I want to go.

Is anyone else using the dimarzios? How are they on clean sounds?

Would love some input

 

[chrisgraff]

Tried to like the area 61's. Just didn't do it for me.

 

[Joe Perry]

I have 58,58,61 in the bridge. They are more vintage mellow. They are pretty nice for the $. I've heard good things about the newer '67's which would probably be more up your alley.

 

[Joe Gamble]

I think Oz uses the older virtual vintage. Maybe he has switched over....

Anyway, I have been using 2 '58s and a '61 combo on my main guitar for two years and I am very satisfied with them. They aren't as complex as say, a Lollar but you really won't ever notice unless you have already had something "higher dollar" in the guitar. The Areas are great pickups imho.

A student of mine has a '67 in the neck of his Strat- very nice but brighter sound. I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.

 

[yumanike]

Try this setup, 58 in the neck, 67 middle, and 61 in the bridge. That will cover most tonal possibilities. I haven't been playing long enough to describe how they sound, other than good. I'm not getting too jangly at all out of them, just an overall nice sound. I also had the guitar set up so that I can turn the bridge pickup on and get the neck and bridge together, or all 3 at once.

 

[saintpatrick]

I have had Dimarzio Virtual Vintage and an Area pickup in my Suhr for the past 6 months and loving them. I use a Virtual Vintage '54 Pro in the neck, an Area 58 in the middle, and for extra fat lead start tone I put a Virtual Solo in the Bridge. The VV '54 Pro is amazing. Big, round, full sounding strat pickup. Very Woody sounding as the Dimarzio ad says think SRV neck tone. I have posted my reviews of both the VV '54 pro and the Virtual solo on Harmony Central to review as well. I have had a ton of pickups over the years and these have blown me away, DEFINITELY KEEPERS. Make sure that it's the VV '54 PRO. They had an older model vv'54 that was not as authentic. I can't say enough about this pickup. The area 58 is great but I use it to retain a strong quack in my 2 & 4 position since the vv'54 pro and V solo are on the warmer side. -SP

 

[Craftmatic]

I have had Dimarzio Virtual Vintage and an Area pickup in my Suhr for the past 6 months and loving them. I use a Virtual Vintage '54 Pro in the neck, an Area 58 in the middle, and for extra fat lead start tone I put a Virtual Solo in the Bridge. The VV '54 Pro is amazing. Big, round, full sounding strat pickup. Very Woody sounding as the Dimarzio ad says think SRV neck tone. I have posted my reviews of both the VV '54 pro and the Virtual solo on Harmony Central to review as well. I have had a ton of pickups over the years and these have blown me away, DEFINITELY KEEPERS. Make sure that it's the VV '54 PRO. They had an older model vv'54 that was not as authentic. I can't say enough about this pickup. The area 58 is great but I use it to retain a strong quack in my 2 & 4 position since the vv'54 pro and V solo are on the warmer side. -SP

I am thinking of Using a Virtual Vintage '54 Pro in the neck of a 2014 American Deluxe Strat I just purchased to mod. I don't like wimpy pickups - I want that SRV Strat neck pickup sound and the Virtual Vintage '54 Pro sounds like it will get me there. But I want the "quack" in the 2 and 4 positions so I'm thinking of the 58 or the 61 but as much as as I want a higher output, ballsy bridge pickup, the Virtual Solo looks like it will sound too dark. I was thinking instead of the Virtual Vintage Blues but the description says it would benefit from 500K pots which is incongruent with the 250K pots that are well suited for the the Virtual Vintage '54 Pro and the 58 or 61 pups.

I know this is an old thread but it seems to have lead me towards a partial solution.

 

[Joe Perry]

People here nowadays will either :

Give you crap for bringing back a thread from the dead or hollar at you for not using the search function and starting a new thread....hahaha..can't win either way.....

I liked the 58,58,61 set for SRVish sound. The 58 in the neck can get you there.

I haven't tried them but I liked some of the Mojotone Quietcoil 58 clips I've heard.

 

[skhan007]

Yup, I've got the 58/58/61 set up and they are likely the most accurate hum-cancelling singles I've ever played. Fantastic and no negatives/complaints from me. Regarding clean tones, they're brilliant.

 

[Wildwind]

Long-time, happy Area user. Various combinations. Played 61/58/58 for years. For a change of pace, and at STeve Bulcher's recommendation, I switched to a Heavy Blues 2 for the neck and bridge on one Strat and added a 54 Pro to the neck of another Strat (h/s/s in this case). That has an Area 67 in the middle, which gives decent quack even with a Thornbucker in the bridge. I also had a Virtual Solo in the neck and bridge of another Strat. I liked it in the bridge better. That will happen again.

I stayed away from the older Virtual Vintage line in favor of what I thought was superior technology. But my ears have taken nicely to the VV series. i will not hesitate again. I do tend to switch things up often.

Overall, these are great pickups. My main gig locale suffers from terrible noise issues. These conquered that. Now that the venue has been seriously upgraded, the need for silence is not so great. The need for tone is always great. And these get it done!

All Strats have the bottom tone wired to the bridge and use 7-sound wiring, which is way cool! Faux Gretsch, I call it.

 

[burningyen]

For maximum quack put a 67 in the middle and don't connect it to a tone pot. The Virtual Solo isn't overly dark to my ears. It's become my favorite bridge PU.

 

[Craftmatic]

So Now I'm thinking of 61 in the neck, 58 in the middle and VV 54 Pro in the bridge for higher output in the neck and bridge and less thin sounds. Aiming for SRV in the neck and more of a rock 'n' roll/blues bridge pickup. Any comments?

 

[TheGuildedAge]

I didn't find any of the areas hot enough for anything with punch. I would describe them as weak. They sparkle and sound great, but I like more rock in a strat.

the virtual solo bridge and heavy blues 2 neck worked great when you need rock. I think I had a 54 pro in the middle.

For warm and punch, I think the solo and heavy blues 2 are a must. Middle pickup is kind of a toss up depending how you use it.

 

[Ferrous_Wheel]

Very old thread but I can speak to this a bit. I'm currently running a 67/67/HB2 set. 67s are set almost flush with the guard, HB2 is closer to the strings but has a few mm to spare.

First, Quack: There's two ways a wire a set of three areas. One is as you would wire anything else, and the the other uses a custom-ordered RP middle pickup and a mega switch. There are schematics on the site. I went the second route and I'm very happy with the 2 and 4 positions. Very clucky, glassy, and no apparent drop in volume which is really cool.

Bridge pickup: I chose the HB2 to avoid the bridge sounding too thin. While it doesn't sound too thin it also isn't a fire-breather and won't slam your preamp or anything. It sounds like a strat bridge with a little more muscle than your typical 50s style wind. If you want a really meaty-sounding bridge I'd go with one of the hotter models.

I'm wanted a tight, bright, and complex sound overall so this set really works for me. Way better for my purposes than almost any stock set I've encountered in anything.

"Faux Gretsch" is a very apt description of the optional neck/bridge combo.