Are you trying to imply I'm not a DiMarzio fan? If so that's definitely not true. I absolutely love DiMarzio. Especially the Tone Zone 6, Super Distortion, Norton, PAF Pro, Steve's Special, Evolution 7, etc. I just have had more positive experiences in my dealings with Seymour Duncan over the years, and for other reasons that I'd prefer to keep private.
I do feel like Seymour Duncan has a better selection of awesome sounding pickups. I don't think they have a model that sounds exactly like a Tone Zone, but they have something for everyone. In the right guitar, the Custom, Custom 5, JB, Invader, Full Shred, Jazz, '59, Blackouts, Livewires, Seth Lover, Distortion and Parallel Axis models all can sound great. Of course, the key is finding the amps that interact most favorable with the pickup in question. The wrong matchup obviously can lead to undesirable tone.
Between you and me, the only Seymour Duncan pickup that I loathe and find completely unusable, is the Duncan Custom Custom. Even in mahogany it has such harsh overly quacky attack and honk, while having sloppy lows. That said, anyone who feels otherwise is more than welcome to order 15 of 'em from me for a discounted price
In the end, I just feel like Seymour Duncan and Bare Knuckle Pickups is a good place to start. A nice mix of mainstream and boutique, which is what my store is about in general
