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Drew · 10-11-2004, 12:04 PM

Dimarzio Tone Tone 7

RG-7620
RG-2027

This just goes to show how much the body wood can influence the sound of a pickup...

I'm about 90% sold on the Tone Zone in my 7620. It's a great, middy, warm, powerful pickup- the cleans aren't particularly memorable as such, but are definitely useable, the lead tones are excellent, and while it has a decicive midrangey "cut" to it for rhythm, the effect is quite good- very "Strapping Young Lad"-esq, at times.

Coil-tapped, for some reason it makes my 7620 sound remarkably like a Telecaster for no good reason that I can think of. It's a great sound, though- I've always liked the tele-driven tone of Satch's "All Alone," and I have a feeling that throught he right amp (or if I just spent more time tweaking my Nomad) this could get you totally in that ballpark.

On the downside- I really dislike how this one cleans up when you back off the volume for single-note lines- much more so through a marshall-style amp (i had to switch over to the neck pickup whenever I backed off the guitar's volume through my old TSL) than the Mesa I played before and after my flirtation with EL-34's. It has a brittle, crystaline edge that gets very "stingy" and loses that wonderful fatness that helps this one sing with the gain up. Although, if you roll the volume back to clean up your amp and play some chords, the effect is great- just the right edge of crunch over a clean tone. go figure.

In Mahogany... Let me just say that a Tone Zone through my old Mesa Rocket-44 is one of the best humbucker cleans I've ever heard. Very Les Paul-tinged. and, through the same amp for heavy rhythm, it just killed- if you're looking for Godsmack-inspired scooped riffing, this is a great tonal combination. For lead, I thought it was worthless- too much lower midrange, not enough treble, and yet too much extreme presence- it was a dark, tubby tone that didn't seem to cut particularly well, that still managed to sound a little fizzy. Some people may like it for the exact reasons I don't, so if you like the fudnamental sound of a Les Paul it's worth a try, and maybe it'd work better with a brighter amp (my taste in tone runs towards a bright guitar driving a dark amp), but for myself I was underwhelmed with this as a lead pickup for a mahogany guitar.

The 2027 arrived with a Tone Zone in both the bridge AND the neck, and I thought it was much better in the neck- I swapped the bridge TZ for an Evo (I'll review that later, great combo), but never got around to swapping out the neck because I really never felt the need.

-D

10-11-2004, 12:04 PM	#3 (permalink)
Drew Fear the Polo! • Super Moderator • Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Somerville, MA Posts: 28,896 Real Name: Call me Ahab... Main Seven: 1991 Ibanez UV7PWH Main ERG: Sherman 5-string bass Rig: Mesa Recto-verb 50 Thanked: 137	Dimarzio Tone Tone 7 RG-7620 RG-2027 This just goes to show how much the body wood can influence the sound of a pickup... I'm about 90% sold on the Tone Zone in my 7620. It's a great, middy, warm, powerful pickup- the cleans aren't particularly memorable as such, but are definitely useable, the lead tones are excellent, and while it has a decicive midrangey "cut" to it for rhythm, the effect is quite good- very "Strapping Young Lad"-esq, at times. Coil-tapped, for some reason it makes my 7620 sound remarkably like a Telecaster for no good reason that I can think of. It's a great sound, though- I've always liked the tele-driven tone of Satch's "All Alone," and I have a feeling that throught he right amp (or if I just spent more time tweaking my Nomad) this could get you totally in that ballpark. On the downside- I really dislike how this one cleans up when you back off the volume for single-note lines- much more so through a marshall-style amp (i had to switch over to the neck pickup whenever I backed off the guitar's volume through my old TSL) than the Mesa I played before and after my flirtation with EL-34's. It has a brittle, crystaline edge that gets very "stingy" and loses that wonderful fatness that helps this one sing with the gain up. Although, if you roll the volume back to clean up your amp and play some chords, the effect is great- just the right edge of crunch over a clean tone. go figure. In Mahogany... Let me just say that a Tone Zone through my old Mesa Rocket-44 is one of the best humbucker cleans I've ever heard. Very Les Paul-tinged. and, through the same amp for heavy rhythm, it just killed- if you're looking for Godsmack-inspired scooped riffing, this is a great tonal combination. For lead, I thought it was worthless- too much lower midrange, not enough treble, and yet too much extreme presence- it was a dark, tubby tone that didn't seem to cut particularly well, that still managed to sound a little fizzy. Some people may like it for the exact reasons I don't, so if you like the fudnamental sound of a Les Paul it's worth a try, and maybe it'd work better with a brighter amp (my taste in tone runs towards a bright guitar driving a dark amp), but for myself I was underwhelmed with this as a lead pickup for a mahogany guitar. The 2027 arrived with a Tone Zone in both the bridge AND the neck, and I thought it was much better in the neck- I swapped the bridge TZ for an Evo (I'll review that later, great combo), but never got around to swapping out the neck because I really never felt the need. -D "...and everything under the sun is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon."