# Am I the only one who likes the Fusion Edge pickups?



## PunkBillCarson (Jun 24, 2018)

Today, I tried an Ibanez Iron Label RGDIR7M and I'd heard that the Fusion Edge pickups were shit, but I happen to like them quite a bit. Am I the only one? Are my ears fucked?


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## KailM (Jun 24, 2018)

PunkBillCarson said:


> Today, I tried an Ibanez Iron Label RGDIR7M and I'd heard that the Fusion Edge pickups were shit, but I happen to like them quite a bit. Am I the only one? Are my ears fucked?



Judging by comments you've made over the years, I'd say your ears are definitely NOT F'd. The only thing wrong with them, from my perspective, is that they're not Black Winters. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.


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## PunkBillCarson (Jun 24, 2018)

KailM said:


> Judging by comments you've made over the years, I'd say your ears are definitely NOT F'd. The only thing wrong with them, from my perspective, is that they're not Black Winters. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.




I'm thinking of getting rid of the guitar that the Black Winters are in and installing them in the Ibanez that I looked at. Of course there was also the option of buying the Northern Lights burst Iron Label 7 string and getting some white Black Winters to install in it to keep up with the white pickup theme. Either way, I'm replacing my regular E standard sixer for a seven so I can start playing Emperor and At The Gates on the same guitar.


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## KailM (Jun 24, 2018)

PunkBillCarson said:


> Either way, I'm replacing my regular E standard sixer for a seven so I can start playing *Emperor and At The Gates on the same guitar*.



I wholeheartedly approve of that line of thinking.


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## AkiraSpectrum (Jun 24, 2018)

Haven't played the Fusion Edge myself, but I hear they're a mix between 3 pickups (this is coming from a Dimarzio rep): D-Activator, Titan, and Illuminator [if I remember correctly].


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## KnightBrolaire (Jun 24, 2018)

AkiraSpectrum said:


> Haven't played the Fusion Edge myself, but I hear they're a mix between 3 pickups (this is coming from a Dimarzio rep): D-Activator, Titan, and Illuminator [if I remember correctly].


so basically just a mix of dactivator and illuminator since the titan is a modified dactivator.


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## Vyn (Jun 25, 2018)

KailM said:


> Judging by comments you've made over the years, I'd say your ears are definitely NOT F'd. The only thing wrong with them, from my perspective, is that they're not Black Winters. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.



They aren't Black Winters haha. But (speaking as someone who has BWs in nearly every guitar) the Fusions aren't bad at all, I've kept a set in one guitar because I like them.


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## PunkBillCarson (Jun 25, 2018)

Vyn said:


> They aren't Black Winters haha. But (speaking as someone who has BWs in nearly every guitar) the Fusions aren't bad at all, I've kept a set in one guitar because I like them.




So it's not just me then. I gotta say, when I demo'ed them, they sounded a tad scooped but I'm a fan of that sort of tone anyways. Wasn't too boomy, not too shrill, and had decent enough mids for tuning low... I don't know, I guess this is the first set of stock pickups I've ever actually liked that I didn't want to change.


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## gienek (Jun 25, 2018)

Had that pups in RGDIX7 w ash body and dont like it. They somehow lack that classic dimarzio sound spectrum. But theyre rocking in djj djj music .


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## wakjob (Jun 25, 2018)

PunkBillCarson said:


> Today, I tried an Ibanez Iron Label RGDIR7M and I'd heard that the Fusion Edge pickups were shit, but I happen to like them quite a bit. Am I the only one? Are my ears fucked?



I can't remember what they sound like.
It's been a long while since I've played an I.L. Ibby.

But I'm a sucker for stock pickups.

Yeah, I'm a chronic pu swapper and have been through many top-shelf brands, but tbh, there are a lot of stock pu's I'm really happy with.


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## TommyG (Jun 25, 2018)

AkiraSpectrum said:


> Haven't played the Fusion Edge myself, but I hear they're a mix between 3 pickups (this is coming from a Dimarzio rep): D-Activator, Titan, and Illuminator [if I remember correctly].



I heard the same thing for the 7 string versions of fusion edge.
The 6 string fusion edge are mainly based on Titans...
I do like them also...


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## Soya (Jun 26, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


> so basically just a mix of dactivator and illuminator since the titan is a modified dactivator.


But.... wouldn't that mean the titan sounds different from the d-activator because it's modified, therefore technically a different pickup?

/pedantic


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## Lindmann (Jun 26, 2018)

wakjob said:


> but tbh, there are a lot of stock pu's I'm really happy with.


Yep. That's what I am thinking too.

For example the cheap Ibanez INF4 which everyone instantly swaps out as soon as they receive their guitar.
But this is actually a good pickup.
It may not have the uber-agressive Top-End that EMG 81s have and you might raise the gain on your amp a little more, but has other qualities instead.
I am pretty sure if these were labeled "Bareknucke", everybody would praise their "percussiveness" and "analog organic sound"

Swapping out stock pickups can be fun and might be necessary in some cases in order to achieve a specific sound, but I don't think this should be obligatory.


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## khm (Jun 26, 2018)

I have the Fusion Edges on my latest Ibanez 652 , and I was actually far more impressed than I was expecting. The Bridge doesn't quite capture, and allow harmonics to ring out as well as my Tonezones, or Crunchlabs, but the neck pup is very solid indeed, and I actually have kept in in the guitar for now.

I spoke to Dimarzio about the Fusion, as I was interested in the output and tone charts, but although they wouldn't give them to me they did say this: "The Fusion Edge models are comparable to the Illuminator, Titan, Ionizer and D Activator (bridge model only) in terms of overall sound and output levels."


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## gienek (Jun 26, 2018)

> We do not release our normal pickup specs for OEM pickups. I can tell you that the bridge pickup has a more powerful magnet than the neck pickup and is noticeably louder. It has as much output as the Illuminator bridge model.



My mail history with dimarzio tech for courious minds


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## KnightBrolaire (Jun 26, 2018)

Soya said:


> But.... wouldn't that mean the titan sounds different from the d-activator because it's modified, therefore technically a different pickup?
> 
> /pedantic


the 6 string titan bridge was almost a dead on copy of the d-activator neck from my tests. The main difference was they tweaked the high end to be warmer.


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## davis1224 (Jul 2, 2018)

I just bought a rgr652ahbf , with fusion edge as stock pickups.

I have a spare set of titan to replace them but after playing them for a while, they actually sound really good for modern prog stuff, which is what I am looking for.

The neck is not as round sounding as the titan, which I dont dig. The output seems to be higher too, I have to reduce the gain on my focusrite input to around 8 o'clock (in the ballpark for my aftermath)compared to 11 o clock for titans.

I dont get the hate about them all over the Internet, but they surely sound good for my application. I will just keep it and same the soldering work


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## Mastodonrules76 (Mar 11, 2020)

I know this is old but I also think the fusion edge pups sound good. I love the tone. I think a lot of people who don't like then probably have an issue with getting good tone out of anything.


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## DaniTheDawg (Mar 12, 2021)

Mastodonrules76 said:


> I know this is old but I also think the fusion edge pups sound good. I love the tone. I think a lot of people who don't like then probably have an issue with getting good tone out of anything.


I totally agree. I recently got an RGIX7FDLB and it didn't take me long to shape awesome sounds with them. I usually fall for the market's trick and swap stock pups quite soon, but this set stays as is.


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