# Are Dimarzio Fusion Edges meant to be this shite?



## Loz

I've had these pickups for a while now and I can't seem to get a good sound out of them, they have a huge bottom end but not in a good way, it's very boomy and lacks any clarity. If i try and eq it to be more bright it just sounds awful, no crunch or tightness at all. they also seem kind of low output for a metal guitar, it almost sounds like the tone knob is all the way down, though my guitar doesn't have a tone knob and i assume it's just always up to the full without one? The pickups also buzz pretty loudly, so weird that i read such good reviews about the pickups before i got the guitar!

I made a comparison here to how it sounds vs my EMG 81 in my other guitar, exact same amp settings. What do you guys think? are they bad pickups or is something not right with mine.


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## AkiraSpectrum

I haven't played the fusion edge pickups before but your clip sounds in the ballpark of what I hear in other sound demos. To me, the pickups sound like a mix between (mostly) D-Activators with a few characteristics of the Titan. 

I definitely recommend adjusting pickup height to see if you can remedy some of your issues, perhaps they're too close to the strings? 
Otherwise, you may just not like their sound.


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## capac

Yeah, they are dimarzio branded stock pickups pretty much.


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## lewis

for tightness not much beats the 81. It sounds great here.

The Dimzario sounds woefully inept.


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## Loz

capac said:


> Yeah, they are dimarzio branded stock pickups pretty much.


Oh shit really that totally makes sense, but again I ask why the glowing reviews? 

I'm guessing swapping the bridge out for a d'activator will do the trick?


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## diagrammatiks

Is doesn’t sound absolutely garbage for a stock pickup really a glowing review?


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## Loz

diagrammatiks said:


> Is doesn’t sound absolutely garbage for a stock pickup really a glowing review?


No one says that though, it's just praise for the sound of the guitar. I just can't believe these pickups come in a £750 guitar, i got mine for much cheaper so I'm fine with changing them but if i bought it full price i'd be pretty pissed lol.


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## AkiraSpectrum

Honestly, tone is largely subjective, and when it comes to these pickups they were designed for Ibanez, based on their wants/tastes to be put in a variety of guitars. 

I've heard great clips of these pickups, but some people don't like them, why? Because we all have different tonal tastes that we want in pickups. For some, this pickup is perfect for them.

Technically, these pickups aren't 'garbage,' they are pickups made by Dimarzio and are no different than any of their other offerings in terms of quality, etc. This would be like saying "I can't believe they put a Tone Zone in this guitar, what a **** pickup..." Tone Zone's are great pickups and have their audience, but just because you don't like it doesn't mean its 'low quality/garbage'. It's simply a matter of taste. 

For instance, I personally despise EMG pickups, as they don't provide the tone I want. But it is nonsensical for me to say "EMG's are trash." Why? Because it's obvious that they are great for a lot of people, yourself included, but they aren't for me. 

Same goes for Fusion Edge pickups, they are made alongside every other Dimarzio pickup, and they differ simply based on their intended tonal design characteristics (which is what they came up with based on Ibanez's requests).


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## eightsixboy

Honestly thought it sounded pretty good. But then again I hate EMG's. Don't forget the EMG will have more output and attack at the same amp settings. If you gave the fusion a little more gain and maybe treble it would sound closer.


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## elkoki

is the 81 from a 6 string guitar? What's the scale length on the 7 string? lots of things come into play. It could be the guitar in general doesn't have the sound you want. Honestly i've had crazy name brand pickups in a certain unnamed expensive guitar and to me it sounded like shit in comparison to another similar priced guitar but with stock pickups. Certain guitars just don't have what we want in them, but yeah before I make you try to hate your guitar. Maybe you should tweak the heights first and if you don't like them then just swap them out?

I think Blaze's were made with the idea of versatility, so maybe it doesn't sound as good as an 81 distorted, but it probably does decent cleans... That's the thing about pickups, you can't really have it all


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## dxjxrose

I like the fusion edge neck pickup but the bridge is super dark and kinda loose


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## HoneyNut

Personally I think comparing any passive pickups to EMG (e.g 81 or actives) for chugged riffs will almost always sound a little inferior for that purpose. EMGs, while ppl dislike them for some reason or the other, actually, and to be honest, work superb for chugs, and matching a similar sound with passives simply isn't as easy. 

most metal records, (until recent passive boom) sounded great with EMGs, and i am certain most of it was because of how easy it was to achieve that chug sound with it.

Devin Townsend, no matter if you like or dislike his music, has an amazing chug tone, and he chugs A LOT, and he's using EMGs. 

(please dont mind sharing my opinion; im not trying to bash passives or implying anything as such; arch enemy uses passives, and malmsteen uses single coils)


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## HeHasTheJazzHands

AkiraSpectrum said:


> Technically, these pickups aren't 'garbage,' they are pickups made by Dimarzio and are no different than any of their other offerings in terms of quality, etc.



DiMarzio also made the pickups for the 7621/7620, and those were considered to be pretty meh.



Jeesan said:


> most metal records, (until recent passive boom) sounded great with EMGs, and i am certain most of it was because of how easy it was to achieve that chug sound with it.
> 
> Devin Townsend, no matter if you like or dislike his music, has an amazing chug tone, and he chugs A LOT, and he's using EMGs.



Also this. Seriously. 

0:30 and 4:00 in are tonally orgasmic.



And :07 here.


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## bostjan

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> DiMarzio also made the pickups for the 7621/7620, and those were considered to be pretty meh.



I thought the New7 neck pickup was a'ight. I did grow to hate the bridge pickup though.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands

bostjan said:


> I thought the New7 neck pickup was a'ight. I did grow to hate the bridge pickup though.



The New7 neck is supposed to be based on the Super 2, which is supposed to be a great neck pickup.


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## Stefan Avramov

Recently got a second Ibanez prestige with those installed, I have DiMarzio Crunchlab on my other one and the difference in sound and feel was from the moon and back, my new ibanez sounded like a gio or something in comparison, absolute mudfest, I ordered Bare Knuckle Warpigs which I read should be better than the Crunchlab so can't wait for those to arrive.


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## Exchanger

AkiraSpectrum said:


> To me, the pickups sound like a mix between (mostly) D-Activators with a few characteristics of the Titan.



I have all 3, D-Activators, Titans and Fusion Edge, and I like them all, so yeah it's really purely a _subjective_ thing. The D-Activator I really like but its maybe a bit too "colored" for certain genres. The Titan is imo the perfect balance between a D-Activator and a more standard humbucker so it is much more versatile, while still having a good roar to it. Weirdly the Fusion Edge, is the less impressive of the 3 to me, but it still a very solid pick-up.
From the OP's clip, I find the EMG's too bright and fizzy, which is also the issue I have with my EMG loaded guitar.
All in all, and it also shows in the Devin Townsend clips, pickups are not the most important part of your chain. What sounds pleasant in those clips as far as I can tell is mostly the roar of these 4x12 Mesa cabs. The only reason I like some pickups more than others is because they give you a certain color right out of the guitar with minimum tweaking, but I've gotten satisfying sounds out of pickups I initially didn't like.


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## Descent

For the most part Ibanez stock pickups are very underwhelming. I figure it in the cost of ownership right away, as soon as I get Ibanez I budget to have new pickups put in.


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## gunch

emgs, maxon 808, something SLO100 descended, v30 mesa cabs

donerooni


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## Thaeon

I love actives for clean bucker sounds. Otherwise I prefer split, parallel, or single sounds.

Overdriven? I prefer a passive. Normally something medium or vintage output.


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## bzhang9

its supposed to be an all purpose high-ish gain pickups they put in to a bunch of models, can't really compare them to super tight metal pickups

yeah if you just compare djenty rhythm they might be worse, but they also probably have better cleans, medium gain rock tone, and leads


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## Eric Tripton

LOL, I am receiving a new Prestige RG that have these pups in them.. Guess what, I will mount a Duncan '59 to a DiMarzio plate and install it, and be done with it.
I agree, pickups are a subjective piece of gear like playing through preamp distortion, or output tube distortion.... subjective, hence Seymour Duncan guts being installed on the DiMarzio plate..LOL


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## skullfxr

Anything that comes stock on a stock guitar has to appeal to an audience one way or another. I would imagine (have no real stat) most don't change them and stay happy. They are a compromise on every aspect.
If it's a signature guitar they are meant to represent one way or another a the endorsed player's instrument.

I buy a guitar and decide to keep it, I change it to my preferences. Then I am happy. I don't buy an instrument thinking that it will be tailored to me. I do what I do and enjoy it.


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## Grindspine

I have Fusion Edge 7 pickups in my basswood body, maple fretboard RGDR3127 and Titan 7 pickups in my mahogany body, rosewood fretboard RG3727. Both are okay pickup sets, but neither can compete with my EMG 81x equipped guitars or my Duncan Alpha/Omega equipped guitars (to my ears). 

There are times that I have liked the compression and attack of the Titans, they do remind me of 81s in a way, but lack output. They are passive after all.

The Fusion Edge just sound like weaker Titans to me. They are ballpark of a good sound, but don't quite nail it. They can be acceptable, but when I plug in my other guitars, I constantly toy with doing a pickup swap. The reason that I have not done so is that it is hard to find white bobbin 7 string pickups that fit a Dimarzio route with certainty of a good fit.


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## Neon_Knight_

Grindspine said:


> The Fusion Edge just sound like weaker Titans to me. They are ballpark of a good sound, but don't quite nail it. They can be acceptable, but when I plug in my other guitars, I constantly toy with doing a pickup swap. The reason that I have not done so is that it is hard to find white bobbin 7 string pickups that fit a Dimarzio route with certainty of a good fit.


15 options for you here - available with white bobbins (and choice of three pole piece colours) for an up-charge 

D Activator and X2N both have significantly more output than Titan (let alone Fusion Edge).


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## jl-austin

It has been my experience that Dimarzio's in general aren't that good for chugging. They typically have different coil windings on each bobbin, which helps with clarity. They sound great for solo work, but when you are looking for that "chainsaw grind" look else where. Especially from "stock" pickups. 

Of course there are going to be exceptions, but for the most part, look at their artist line-up and that will give you an idea of what they are about. Mostly all solo instrumental guitarist, very few flat out metal chuggers. Which is why there are glowing reviews of the fusions. For some reason the majority of Ibanez players are "happy finger" type players and couldn't play a decent rhythm if they had too.


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## Eyelessfiend

I found the Fusion Edge 7 to be okay. Definitely serviceable. The Fusion Edge 6 bridge was muddy and a bit thin sounding in my buddies guitar. Especially compared to the Crunch Lab and Super 3 in my guitars at the time


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## Foshizzle

Loz said:


> I've had these pickups for a while now and I can't seem to get a good sound out of them, they have a huge bottom end but not in a good way, it's very boomy and lacks any clarity. If i try and eq it to be more bright it just sounds awful, no crunch or tightness at all. they also seem kind of low output for a metal guitar, it almost sounds like the tone knob is all the way down, though my guitar doesn't have a tone knob and i assume it's just always up to the full without one? The pickups also buzz pretty loudly, so weird that i read such good reviews about the pickups before i got the guitar!
> 
> I made a comparison here to how it sounds vs my EMG 81 in my other guitar, exact same amp settings. What do you guys think? are they bad pickups or is something not right with mine.



I made a account just to reply to this

My ibanes RGIXL7 had this same exact problem and also no tone knob.... Only thing they had going for them was the clean neck tone, dimarzio fusion edges were a huge disappointment, i swapped them out with some Activators and there 100x better


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## Themistocles

Exchanger said:


> I have all 3, D-Activators, Titans and Fusion Edge, and I like them all, so yeah it's really purely a _subjective_ thing. The D-Activator I really like but its maybe a bit too "colored" for certain genres. The Titan is imo the perfect balance between a D-Activator and a more standard humbucker so it is much more versatile, while still having a good roar to it. Weirdly the Fusion Edge, is the less impressive of the 3 to me, but it still a very solid pick-up.
> From the OP's clip, I find the EMG's too bright and fizzy, which is also the issue I have with my EMG loaded guitar.
> All in all, and it also shows in the Devin Townsend clips, pickups are not the most important part of your chain. What sounds pleasant in those clips as far as I can tell is mostly the roar of these 4x12 Mesa cabs. The only reason I like some pickups more than others is because they give you a certain color right out of the guitar with minimum tweaking, but I've gotten satisfying sounds out of pickups I initially didn't like.


Yeah, Titan 7's are pretty much my favorite all round pickup. Gutsy but capable doing all genres and doesnt squash the tone.


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## sell2792

Every pair of Ibanez-DiMarzio pickups I've ever used has been fairly garbage. I've heard people say they love them, and while tone is subjective, I completely disagree.

My 7620? Stock pickups were garbage. 550? Garbage.


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