danny_v_l Posted September 29, 2003 Report Share Posted September 29, 2003 Hey Guys I Was Wondering If You Knu if DiMarzo(sp?) Tone ZOne Picks are any good, i want a nice kindda funky soundy guitar, i don't have a hole lota money tho, can any one help me out?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevan Posted September 29, 2003 Report Share Posted September 29, 2003 Danny...my man....work on the spelling, ok? Thanks. The Tone Zone pickups are extremely versatile. I have them in about 7 of my guitars (matched with the Air Norton). It's by far my favorite pickup combination in a guitar. DiMarzio makes a quality product that will last a very long time. Their customer service is also excellent. The other bonus is that they'll do whatever color you want (within reason) at no extra charge. Nice. If you're looking for "funk", you'll probably want to stick to single coil pickups (a la Str*t-type sound). Works for Nile Rogers....and he's fairly funky :-) In the end, it's gonna be up to YOUR EARS to make the final decision. We can sit here and type all day about how one pickup is "better" or "cooler" or "funkier" than another, but in the end....it's all decided by your ears. Good luck on your tone quest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antique_dream Posted September 29, 2003 Report Share Posted September 29, 2003 I get a pretty funky sound out of a pearly-gates humbucker in a fat strat. It seems like the pearly gates places a lot of emphasis on the attack of the note, which is really important for DA PHUNK!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted September 30, 2003 Report Share Posted September 30, 2003 I just put the TZ in my RG 470 (Test Guitar) along with a Blue Velvet and a Air Norton. All of these Pups sound great. I'm amazed at the clarity I get from the String dynamics in all positions. I was hoping to find the most versatile pup combination and after hearing others opinions I decided on these. I can't believe how good these sound. My TZ sounds just like the sound sample on Dimarzio's site... I can't believe it. All these pickups sound good whether clean or distorted, it's amazing. My only complaint is the hum when I'm not touching the bridge but this is a wiring issue due to the fact that I am a complete projectguitar newbie However, I always touch the bridge (or strings) while playing so it doesn't hum much. I would like to completely loose the hum if anyone has any suggestions? I've wired them just like the H-S-H diagram on Dimarzio's site and have a ground going from the claw to the top of the volume pot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted September 30, 2003 Report Share Posted September 30, 2003 Hey Guys I Was Wondering If You Knu if DiMarzo(sp?) Tone ZOne Picks are any good, i want a nice kindda funky soundy guitar, i don't have a hole lota money tho, can any one help me out?? Despite its name, DiMarzio's Humbucker From Hell has a very bright single-coilish sound for a humbucker. The frequency response bargraphs shown on the DiMarzio site also show this. I have one in the neck position and it gives me a nice percussive bluesy tone when clean and is quite good for that woman tone when heavily overdriven. Of course it also depends on the rest of your rig and your preferences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted September 30, 2003 Report Share Posted September 30, 2003 I would like to completely loose the hum if anyone has any suggestions? I've wired them just like the H-S-H diagram on Dimarzio's site and have a ground going from the claw to the top of the volume pot. Could you post a link to the exact wiring diagram. That might help us to help you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedy McFeely Posted September 30, 2003 Report Share Posted September 30, 2003 hey chris, try here guitarnuts.com, he has a step by step process on properly shielding a guitar, it's amazing how quiet passive pick ups can be when wired correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted September 30, 2003 Report Share Posted September 30, 2003 Yes, here is the diagram: Look here The only things this diagram doesn't show that I've done is the ground wire I have going from the claw in the tremelo cavity to the top of the volume pot. Thanks for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 The Dimarzio tech said if the hum goes away when I touch the strings, it sounds like it is wired correctly because all passive pups have a little hum. But mine hums like crazy. I've never used custom pickups before though so maybe these are just really hot? The springs are a little rusty... this wouldn't prevent the bridge from grounding with the claw would it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 A little rust on the springs shouldn't matter. If you're bridge wasn't grounded, the hum wouldn't stop when you touched the strings. Are you sure that you have all the grounds connected. The reason I ask is that the pickup shields in the DiMarzio drawings are drawn very thin and are almost unnoticeable. Also make sure that you don't have any "cold solder joints"... they should be all nice and shiny. If so, re-heat those joints and even add a little more resin-core solder if you need to. It's also preferable to have all your shields and ground wires going to a single point (like on the back of your volume pot as shown in the DiMarzio diagram) rather than having a few grounding spots and linking them with small wires afterwards. Your control cavity should be shielded by either conductive paint or metal foil, including your pickguard. If it's an Ibanez, it most probably is by conductive paint. Just make sure that you have a ground wire properly connected to the control cavity. The ground wire (from the back of your volume pot) should be attached to a screw that's screwed into the cavity wall. And it should also have proper contact with the foil lining under the pickguard. That's all I can think of for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 The Tone Zone pickups are extremely versatile. I have them in about 7 of my guitars (matched with the Air Norton). [homer simpson voice] mmmmmmmm Tone Zone/Air Norton [/homer simpson voice] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 Thanks Saber. I do have those shields grounded to the volume pot with along with the green wire coming out of the jacket. It makes for a lot of wires going to the top of the volume pot. I can say I love these pickups and will probably continue to play them like they are for now. Then I will take Speedy's advice and try to quiet this beast by using all the techniques from Guitarnuts. It is so hard to get everything onto the top of that volume pot so I think using the method described there might make it easier to solder too. Scott, you've got to try this combination. I love it. With every click of the selector switch I get a totally different and great tone. There is absolutely no mud at all, it sounds beautiful. Going from Air Norton to TZ while playing clean is like kicking in a warm overdrive pedal. I love it and got to say thanks to Brian. I ordered these from him and he was able to get the pickups I wanted for the best price around (F series even). Where else can you pick your pickups and the guy knows exactly what switch and pots you need plus he through in extra wire and a blue pickup cover for my Blue Velvet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 Scott, you've got to try this combination. I love it. With every click of the selector switch I get a totally different and great tone. There is absolutely no mud at all, it sounds beautiful. Going from Air Norton to TZ while playing clean is like kicking in a warm overdrive pedal. I have tried this combo and I love it, I also use the Air Norton/Steve's special combo with the Dimarzio EP1111 Switch (Petrucci) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny_v_l Posted October 1, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 what if i got a tone zone (single) and a Air Norton (single), u gosta rember that its a one pick up guitar, one humberbucker thats all look, http://fernandesguitars.com/guitars/nomad.html ( ps i added a tone knob) it sounds cooler now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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