Tone zone vs. Tone zone


6strngs_2hmbkrs
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6strngs_2hmbkrs
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03/27/2006 12:49 am
do you think that the single coil-sized dimarzio tone zone pickup would sound as good as the humbucker size that I hear so many good things about? this is to be used in the neck position. I figure buying a strat sized pickup would be so much easier than trying to route out my pickguard to accomodate a humbucker in the neck. so what do you think?
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# 1
z0s0_jp
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z0s0_jp
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03/27/2006 1:30 am
single coil in the neck is the best for blues imo
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# 2
Lordathestrings
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Lordathestrings
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03/27/2006 1:56 am
I think a Tone Zone might be a bit hot for the neck position. I pair a Tone Zone humbucker at the bridge with a PAF Pro at the neck. Bear in mind that you don't need extreme-output pickups to play heavy music. A stock strat will do the job. All that scooped-mid gain comes from pedals and amps. Lower-output pickups actually work better for high gain use, because they are less likely to get muddy.
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# 3
6strngs_2hmbkrs
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6strngs_2hmbkrs
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03/27/2006 5:50 am
Originally Posted by: LordathestringsI happen to like the DiMarzio Tone Zone for the bridge, but you say you want to focus this axe for metal, right? So, put the Tone Zone at the neck, and get a DiMarzio X2N for the bridge.

hey, I originally got the idea for the Tone Zone at the neck from you!

alright, now you gotta reccomend more neck pickups for me.. whether single coil or humbucker sized.
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6strngs_2hmbkrs
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6strngs_2hmbkrs
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03/27/2006 5:57 am
what if I put the X2N in the bridge, then a chopper (single coil sized humbucker) in the neck, and the Tone Zone (single coil sized humbucker) in the middle? would that work?
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z0s0_jp
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z0s0_jp
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03/27/2006 5:59 am
Originally Posted by: LordathestringsI think a Tone Zone might be a bit hot for the neck position. I pair a Tone Zone humbucker at the bridge with a PAF Pro at the neck. Bear in mind that you don't need extreme-output pickups to play heavy music. A stock strat will do the job. All that scooped-mid gain comes from pedals and amps. Lower-output pickups actually work better for high gain use, because they are less likely to get muddy.

that sounds sic!!!
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# 6
Lordathestrings
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Lordathestrings
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03/27/2006 6:50 am
Originally Posted by: 6strngs_2hmbkrshey, I originally got the idea for the Tone Zone at the neck from you!

alright, now you gotta reccomend more neck pickups for me.. whether single coil or humbucker sized.


That was paired with an X2N at the bridge. You're talking HSS, or HSH now.

And I don't gotta do squat. Get off your ass and look up some specs, home boy. It's your project! :p
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# 7
6strngs_2hmbkrs
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6strngs_2hmbkrs
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03/27/2006 7:11 am
Originally Posted by: LordathestringsThat was paired with an X2N at the bridge. You're talking HSS, or HSH now.

And I don't gotta do squat. Get off your ass and look up some specs, home boy. It's your project! :p

It still is to be paired with an X2N at the bridge. I'm just saying, it would be a hell of a lot easier to keep it HSS than it would be to route out the pickguard to HSH since I don't have access to a router, would probably have to rent one, and then when I got it I wouldn't know the first thing about how to use it and would probably ruin my pickguard.

I only ask for your reccomendations because you have more experience in things like this. And also I know that specs can be decieving and not be a true representation of how it actually sounds.

But I suppose if you are going to leave me to make my decisions and learn from my own trial and error than I will just get the X2N bridge, Tone Zone middle, and chopper neck idea I proposed earlier (I came upon the idea for that after looking up specs for some time btw.)

sheesh, glad I got that settled. now I just have so many other questions about so many other things to be considered :rolleyes: *sigh*

thanks for all the help you've provided thus far though Lats. I do appreciate it.
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# 8
Lordathestrings
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Lordathestrings
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03/27/2006 7:30 am
It's all a bit of a crap-shoot, any way you approach it. Even if you sat in on a rig that sounded exactly like what you want with someone else playing, it would sound different, simply because of being used by two different players.

As a 'rule of thumb', the bridge pickup should have more output than the mid, which should have more output than the neck. Subtleties like phasing and magnet polarities come into the picture as well. And just to make things worse, you really can't predict the outcome. You have to try it to find out for sure.

Tone-quest is a bitch. :cool:
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# 9
6strngs_2hmbkrs
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6strngs_2hmbkrs
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03/27/2006 7:47 am
ok, alot of decisions have been made in my head tonight. I'm going to give that pickup config a try, see what happens. first I'm putting new tuners and straplocks on though. so, we'll see what happens over the next few weeks.
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# 10

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