# Dimarzio d activator neck in bridge



## stuglue (Mar 11, 2012)

Hi, this thread probably straddles the 8 seeing and pickup section so I thought I'd part it here.
My question is, has anyone tried the neck pickup of the d activator in the bridge position? The neck pickup is lower in output compared to the bridge and im thinking this mighthave a positive effect on clarity


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## stuglue (Mar 11, 2012)

Also another more important question, would this pickup fit into a schecter omen 8?
The dimensions of the dimarzio state that its 3.95" from left to right and 1.46" from top to bottom


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## DropSplash (Mar 12, 2012)

I second the first question 

(Sorry I don't have an answer haha)


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## rekab (Mar 12, 2012)

Any passive pickup will fit in an active pickups spot. There will be a lot of room around it so you'll need pickup rings or emg style covers. This topic has been covered multiple times if you search it a bit. 

I have not tried the configuration you speak of. Sorry


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## RedXIII (Apr 12, 2012)

I have an RGA8 (mahogany), and I think the d activator bridge is too bassy and dark for my tastes. It doesn't sound bad, it actually sounds great and really tight, but it sounds similar in bassiness to the Blaze does in my basswood RG7620. Except without the mid scoop. Definitely need to eq out a lot of lows before it hits the amp to tighten it up.

Anyways, tomorrow I'm swapping the bridge for the neck pickup to see how that sounds. I'll let you know. I was going to record some before and after in Cubase too, so maybe I'll post those.


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## AlexWadeWC (Apr 12, 2012)

My friend (HumanFuseBen on here) put the 7 string D-Activator neck in the bridge of his solid Mahogany body RG and he loves it. He said it rivals the Aftermath bridge as one of his favorite bridge pick ups and works really well in Mahogany because it's so bright and lower output. The 8 string D-Activator series is supposively completely different tonally than the 7 string series, but I'd say it couldn't hurt to try!


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## Underworld (Apr 12, 2012)

I currently have a D-activator 7 neck in the bridge position of my JP7. While it sounds very cool on the first 5 strings, the low E and B sound like if my tone knob was halfway. And no, there is nothing wrong with the install. 

The 8 string version might be a totally different thing tho.


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## simonXsludge (Apr 13, 2012)

RedXIII said:


> I have an RGA8 (mahogany), and I think the d activator bridge is too bassy and dark for my tastes. It doesn't sound bad, it actually sounds great and really tight, but it sounds similar in bassiness to the Blaze does in my basswood RG7620. Except without the mid scoop. Definitely need to eq out a lot of lows before it hits the amp to tighten it up.


I have a RGA8 with a replacement body made out of mahogany with a thick maple top. I swopped a Lundgren M8 (too shrill and harsh) for the DiMario D Activator 8 and can't say that it's too bassy. It is very balanced and sounds a bit fuller than the M8, but the low end is really super tight and the clarity is still there.

I'm even using my 6-string channel settings without having to change anything. I don't know if the maple cap on mine makes all the difference, but I really can't find anything about the DA8 bridge I don't love.


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## RedXIII (Apr 13, 2012)

Here's the before and after I recorded.

There are 2 measures of riff 1 with the bridge and 2 measures with the neck pickup installed in the bridge position. Then 2 measures of riff 2 with bridge and 2 with neck.

Dimarzio D Activator 8 Bridge vs Neck by ProjectParallax on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

I like the neck pickup more personally.


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## RedXIII (Apr 13, 2012)

Also, I didn't record any bass on this. If there was bass guitar too, the neck pickup would sound even better because it leaves more low frequencies out for the bass to fill in.


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## HumanFuseBen (Apr 14, 2012)

As ol' Alex Wade said, i have that configuration in my 7 string mahogany RG7. I haven't tried the DA8's, but i do know they are voiced a lot differently from the 6 and 7 string DA's. But anyway, go here and listen to "The Guest House" and "Rock Monster". All the rhythm tracks were the DA neck into an Axe FX Ultra. I love it, its insanely clear and tight!
OfficialARC's sounds on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free


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## pr0nw (Apr 25, 2012)

Im not impressed my D Activators at all. 
Too clean, not enough body in the bass fequencies and a liitle sloppy on the B string on my 7string. I also get a 'tink' noise on pick stokes that I try to take out using an EQ but then it makes my Iba rga7 sound dull.
Allotta money for a lotta dissapointment.


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## Jessy (Apr 25, 2012)

stuglue said:


> My question is, has anyone tried the neck pickup of the d activator in the bridge position? The neck pickup is lower in output compared to the bridge and im thinking this mighthave a positive effect on clarity


I had the pickup in an Agile Intrepid. It was too dark for me, despite being the brightest option available, so I gave up 8-strings until Q-tuners go back into production. It would definitely fit the profile of "clearer" to me, so I'm sure the bridge model would have sounded even worse.



Underworld said:


> I currently have a D-activator 7 neck in the bridge position of my JP7. While it sounds very cool on the first 5 strings, the low E and B sound like if my tone knob was halfway.


Are you talking about clean or distorted? If clean, that doesn't make any sense, because it rolls off less high end than any 7-string guitar pickup ever created, except for Q-tuners. I'm using it an Agile Pendulum now, and can't believe how much of a difference there is between the 7 and 8 string versions. 



pr0nw said:


> I also get a 'tink' noise on pick stokes that I try to take out using an EQ but then it makes my Iba rga7 sound dull.


Buy better EQ or learn to use what you have, better. A darker pickup is just EQ at a fixed setting.


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