DiMarzio DP705 X2N 7

With the popularity of seven strings on the rise, guitar players want their favorite pickups for their seven strings. The X2N7 is one of these new seven string pickups which is essentially a classic design. In the late 70s guitar players were looking to push their amps harder than ever before, they wanted as much gain as they could get and DiMarzio rushed to satisfy this need. To help end the madness they created the X2N pickup. The X2N was designed to push the old-school Marshalls to melting point. It was the kick in the face guitar players were looking for back then and it still is now. The X2N is voiced relatively flat with a little extra high-end for clarity so be careful. If you put one in a bright guitar it will sound extra bright. I would recommend it for Mahogany guitars mostly. The X2N is designed to be used in the bridge of a guitar. It would overpower the neck position. Some people have found the split tones useable but I have never tried. The X2N was the undisputed king of output for many years and still runs with the best of them. This pickup is suited for the heaviest of music where clarity with high gain is demanded. This thing is so hot it may push your clean channel. You may have to roll back on the volume to get your clean tones clean. Another problem is that the dual bar magnets are so powerful they may cause excessive drag on the strings if your pickup is set too high this may slightly lower your sustain. Chuck Shuldiner of the band Death used the 6 string version of this pickup through his whole career. If you listen to any Death album you will hear the X2N's trademark bite. If you are looking for a pickup suited for heavy music you should consider the X2N. Its nearly half the cost of an Active pickup with the same output. With so many people using active pickups if you want to sound distinct the X2N may be the way to go.

The X2N 7 is pretty much exactly the same as the original X2N. It's a balls to the wall, aggressive pickup that really slams your front end. If you’re looking for a versatile pickup, I would not recommend this. However, if you’re a metal player, it would be worth considering this. It contains two rails instead of pole pieces and four conductor wiring.

The X2N was made in the late 70s in an attempt to really take the pickup world by storm. It was meant to be the most powerful pickup on the market, and it’s still one of the hottest pickups out there. The tone itself is fairly even with a slight top end bite going on. Chuck Schuldiner is a very popular use of this pickup, and if you’ve ever heard any of Death’s albums, you’ve heard the six string version of this pickup in action. Michael Romeo recently started using the six string version in his Caparison guitars as well.

This is strictly a bridge pickup. I’ve seen some people put it in the neck, but it’s just so powerful that it’s hard to control without lowering it like crazy. The pickup works good in most woods, but I find that it sounds best in mahogany more than anything else. In basswood, it’s alright, but basswood guitars can get thin sounding if they don’t have the correct pickups in them. Putting it in alder gives the guitar a nice bite.

One thing people don’t seem to mention is that this thing sounds awesome split. When you add a push/pull or mini toggle and split it, it’s similar to a powerful, clean single coil kinda tone. Parallel gives a real interesting tone as well, so it’s actually pretty versatile if you have the means to split it. I have a feeling most will simply run it in series, though. After all, that’s’ where you get the most power and aggression.