[Drew]

I remember seeing a post of yours around here somewhere where you said you didn't particualrly care for the Air Norton 7 for legato. Wht was that, exactly? I'm guessing based on its EQ curve that it has a lot to do with the fact that it's not a particularly bright pickups, so it has a smoother attack and legato runs tend to blur a bit, but that wouldn't be such a big issue for me as I've got a fairly crisp legato attack so I think note definition wouldn't suffer too much.

Is there another reason you didn't like it? Maybe it's undercompressed or something...?

[Toshiro]

It's like they designed the thing specifically for picking. It's fine as long as you pick near every note, but it always felt too muddy/open for Satch-type stuff. Too much slurr, if that makes any sense. I've had 2 of the 6 strings(one in an RG; the other in my S540), and the 7 in my 7620, and they just never clicked with me.

Surprisingly, a pickup that should be thicker and muddier, the Breed Neck, works better for me. There's no damn Breed 7 though. I'd like to try the PAF-Joe, but I'm content with what I have. Except the 7, which I don't know what to do with. Considering Blackouts at this point.

I also haven't kept a dual-resonance Dimarzio in any guitar for very long. The Blaze Neck and D-Sonic 7 are the longest running I've had, at over a year. I've just noticed this pattern as I swap the Evo Neck out of my S540 for a Super 2.

Maybe working for a dealer and swapping pickups for so long has made me picky? Dunno.

[Toshiro]

Oh yeah, you have a set of D-Activators, right? How are those really? Do they feel high output, or what? I like the actual specs(except the dual-resonance BS), but it's hard to say what they're really like in a guitar...

[The Dark Wolf]

They're very strange, Tosh. Sound great, but feel very... odd. Someone on here described them as almost artificial, and plastic-y.

Kinda accurate. I dig 'em, but they are sure different. It's something that's hard to describe, but after a week or 2 of playing on 'em, you notice it.

[Toshiro]

So do they sound/feel compressed? Or did Dimarzio succeed in makes an EMG sounding pickup that's open(even if I wouldn't want them if they did. lol)?

I miss the days when I was installing Dimarzios all the time, I've owned half their humbucker line, but I got to play the other half in other people's guitars back then.

[The Dark Wolf]

Yeah, they definitely feel compressed. Well, the bridge does, at any rate.

It's strange. Not like a passive, and not like an EMG. It's really a "feel" thing. Notes jumpt the fuck out at you, but they all sound kinda... the same, no matter how you approach it. They are more dynamic than an EMG, kinda... but at the same time, the notes all feel and sound just really similar, regardless of how you play.

It's strange. I like 'em, but never, ever as a main player.

[Toshiro]

Ah, cool. I hate to admit it here, but the 7 is an odd-ball for me, and it's not my number 1, or even number 2.

I swear, I'm just gonna get some Blackouts.

[Drew]

They're less compressed feeling than EMG's, I'll definitely say, but yeah, they do feel a touch more compressed than the Blaze's in my UV, such that it takes me a minute or two to get used to them again when I go back and pick it up. The smaller fretwire certainly doesn't help either.

Think of them like this - take a decent-y singlecoil, run it into a compressor set for a just-noticible dynamic squeeze, and then jack up the output. They're bright, very clear, and don't have the low-lowmid girth you normally have from a humbucker, are a little compressed, and are pretty hot. They're actually quite good lead pickups, and sound surprisingly nice for cleans.

Anyway, thanks for the AN7 stuff, dude. I remember it being a picker's dream, but I don't recall it being much of a holdup for legato when I had one ages ago. Of course, it was my first Dimarzio...

[Toshiro]

Ah, I think I'll pass on the DA-7s then. I've realized I like the classic stupidly over-wound, huge magnet, PAF tone.

Dimarzio needs to make a Breed-7 set. Seriously.

[Drew]

Yeah, you'd hate them, then.

I need to post clips. I dig them, but I did some A/B'ing with my PWH and the Blazes against the 1527 and the DA's, and of course there's a ton of differences between the two guitars (different bridge, the UV weighs like a pound or two less than the 1527, the 1527's neck is more massive, different bridge joint, etc), but honestly the Blazes just "growl" much more than the DA's, and sound way more liquid for leads.

Toshiro, how do you feel on the Blaze neck for leads, then, if you're into hotter PAF's? It's maybe not quite as mid heavy as an oldschool PAF, but that's the closest thing I can think of to a hot PAF that Dimarzio offers...