SeriesDiMarzio Rail Hum Canceling Strat

The DiMarzio Pro Track is a sound for those looking for that oldschool PAF sound but with a little more power. It features two blade rails like many other single coil humbucker DiMarzios have, four conductor wiring and a ceramic magnet. The Pro Track is a pickup that sounds like the old school PAFs. It’s not like the PAF Pro that they offer, but it does have some similarities. Instead, it’s more like the old PAF they used to offer. It has an awesome vowely quality, the low end is boosted just a tad, along with the midrange, and the treble is pushed back ever so slightly. This helps make it sound huge, and it works quite nicely for jazz, rock and even metal. The pickup is a very medium output pickup. If you’re looking for something hotter, you’ll probably want to try the Fast Track 2. The pickup can be split for a nice single coil sound or run in parallel for a more telecaster kinda sound. The pickup is very versatile and works in pretty much any position. If you put it in the neck, it’ll be a transparent sounding PAF; if you put it in the bridge, it’ll sound big without sounding overly compressed. The best thing about this is that it works in any wood combination out there. None of the frequencies are too overbearing, so it really lets the wood show off their natural characteristics without enhancing unwanted frequencies. If you’re looking for a more traditional style sounding humbucker to throw in your strat, you should try out this pickup. Adding a push/pull pot or mini toggle switch helps make this pickup even more versatile. If you put it in the bridge, try using a Cruiser Neck. If you put it in the neck, try something hotter like a Tone Zone S, Super Distortion S, Fast Track 2, etc.

Despite its name, the Fast Track 2 wasn’t really a variation on the Cruiser in terms of sound. This is a much more powerful pickup and is almost on the exact opposite of the tonal spectrum compared to the Cruiser. It features dual blade rails like many other DiMarzio single coil humbuckers, four conductor wiring and a ceramic magnet. The Fast Track 2 is for people who want a pickup that has a somewhat Super Distortion vibe going on. It’s very hot, has tons of bass, tons of mids and a pushed back treble. This is pretty much strictly a bridge pickup given its high output. The split coil tones sound great, and it’s not too bad in parallel, either. Originally, I’d say that if you were a fan of the Super Distortion, this would be your pickup. However, DiMarzio now has the Super Distortion S on the market. Because of that, this model kinda lost its place in DiMarzio’s line up. Both the Fast Track 2 and Super Distortion S sounds pretty similar. The main difference between the two, besides overall output, is that the Fast Track 2 sounds a bit more like the original oldchool PAFs in terms of getting that “vowely” sound. This pickup works best with 500k pots, so be sure you’re running a setup so that this can see 500k in some way. 250k pots make this sound too dark. If you’re looking for a high output, fat and heavy midrange single coil sized humbucker, this pickup, along with the Super Distortion S, are worth checking out. The best guitars for this would be guitars made out of alder, maple, walnut and other woods with more pronounced treble. It tends to sound a bit “too much” when in mahogany, but all pieces of wood are different.

The DiMarzio Fast Track 1 was the first revision of the Cruiser to come along. The Cruiser was always known for having a powerful single coil or P90 vibe but without the hum. This is more like a hotrodded version of that original Cruiser. It features blade rails like many other DIMarzio single coil humbuckers, four conductor wiring and a ceramic magnet. When DiMarzio went to tweak the Cruiser, they came up with this pickup. It’s hotter, but it still maintains the character of the Cruiser is that it’s very clean and bright sounding. Compared to the Cruiser, it has a touch less treble and a touch more bass + mids, but the main difference is the output. The output is kicked up a good bit compared to the old Cruiser. Split sounds are fairly bright, and I haven’t tried it in parallel, so I can’t comment on that. The pickup works well in any position, but I recommend watching out what woods you pair this thing with. Because of the abundance of treble, it can sound bright in woods such as maple, alder, walnut and the such. The ceramic magnet also adds a tighter sound, but they tend to sound a little less alive than the Alnico counterparts. If you run it in the bridge, try using a lower output neck pickup so you’re not overpowering the bridge. Despite its output increase, this is still a very medium output pickup. If you found yourself wanting a more powerful Cruiser with a touch more bass and mids, this is worth checking out. Both of those pickups tend to have this kinda Humbucker From Hell vibe going on, but the treble isn’t nearly as extreme as the original pickup. Just be careful what woods you put this in. Mahogany and basswood will probably be best, but alder could work nicely if it’s a more neutral piece.

It's funny. There are three versions of the Dimarzio Air Norton pickup: The original Humbucker-sized Air Norton, the Strat-sized Air Norton S, and the Telecaster Air Norton T. Now, I've got all three installed in different guitars. I liked the Air Norton when I originally installed it in the bridge of an Ibanez ARX300, but I REALLY like the Air Norton S and T packages. I don't know what happens when they shrink the form factor of this pickup, but it's something magical. Now I prefer the S and T models over the original. Having said that, I've got the Air Norton S installed in the bridge position of a Squier strat that I modified and WOW!! It's not over-the-top like the Super Distortion S; it provides a good bit more crunch than a standard strat pickup (280 mV output, 11.21K DC Resistance). The BMT EQ curve of 6.5/7/4.5 is tight, focused, and has an excellent growl about it. Four-conductor wiring means you don't have to sacrifice your position 2 tone, and what's more, when paired with the Dimarzio RWRP True Velvet Middle (as it is in this guitar) you get a cool out-of-phase tone that just screams Bohemian Rhapsody. Even though the output is just below that of a standard PAF, plugged straight into a high-gain head you can easily get the impression that this could be a boosted standard strat pickup. Most prominently, however, is the absolutely fabulous Rock ‘N Roll tone of this pickup. You know how everyone raves about the classic rock tones like a Les Paul plugged straight into a Marshall, etc. When I play this guitar with this pickup, just about anything I plug into with this guitar seems to ooze that crunchy, gritty, old-time Rock ‘N Roll vibe. It doesn’t push so hard that it puts you into “Metal” territory, but you can go anywhere from the 60’s to the 80’s with ease. It would be very easy to say that the Air Norton S is something like a PAF, but it just has something MORE. I guess you’d call it the “X” factor. Whatever it is, the Air Norton S has it. Give it a try, rock the house, and see for yourself.

Dimarzio is a modern pickup maker and they are known for that. The Tone Zone is one of their most unique designs. Dimarzio is known for their modern sounds and the Tone Zone has one of the most modern sounds of their line up. The Tone Zone came out in 1991 and immediately was known for its vowel like open wah sound. There is a story going around that EVH helped design the pickup and I tend to believe this. When you play with it in the bridge you cant help but think of those 80s metal tones with the loads of chorus on them. In the bridge position of a guitar with a brighter wood it would be really good for 80s metal or even modern metal when used with the right amp and rig. This is the Tone Zone shrunk down into a single coil size. You still get all the crazy tone but with a slightly different voicing to compensate for the fact that it will be in a strat. Also when Dimarzio makes the single coil sized humbuckers they almost always use ceramic magnets even If the original pickup didnt have them, so the sound ends up being slightly different in that way as well. You get a ton of mid range with this pickup. This goes along with tons of crazy harmonics that this pickup gives out. It is like a Dimarzio FRED but not as crazy. I found the FRED almost unusable because of all the extra sounds that it put out but the Tone Zone has just the right amount of extra character. If you are looking for the cool Tone Zone sound in your strat here is an easy way to get close without cutting up your guitar. I would recommend just getting a new pickguard and putting in a real Tone Zone because this single coil while close does not get the exact Tone Zone sound.

Dimarzio is a modern pickup maker and they are known for that. But they have some old models still around from when they first started. Their most famous old model is the Super Distortion. This pickup was made back in the day when there were not really many after market pickups out on the market. The pickup was designed just to push hard any amp it encoutered and come through with a dirty sound. The pickup had tons of low end and did not clean up well at all. Lots of people who used these in the 70s still use them today as they can still get the job done and have a good sound all their own. This pickup is the sound of 70s rock and roll. Now you can get all this old school Dimarzio tone in the size of a single coil. The pickup features 4 conductor wiring with a ceramic magnet. The 4 conductor wiring lets you split the pickup which is something you cannot do with a normal super distortion. So this pickup is essentially a Super Distortion Dual Sound S. The output of the pickup is 13k so it is not super hot but you get kind of an old school hotness. The tone of the pickup is slightly tweaked to take into account the factt hat it will be in the bridge position of a strat. Because this pickup is for going into a strat they dialed back some of the high end to make the sound less brittle. This pickup has huge low end and mid range. This is good because strats are normally lacking in the bottom end. This pickup fills that void perfectly. The low end is great but it is still pretty tight. If you have a strat and want the sound of 70s rock in it this is an easy way to get that tone.

The DiMarzio Cruiser Neck was invented for those who were looking for a single coil or P90 kinda vibe but with the benefits of a humbucker. This is like a more modern single coil for today’s world. It features blade rails like so many other DiMarzio pickups, four conductor wiring and a ceramic magnet. The Cruiser Neck has a very strong single coil/P90 vibe going on. Most of those pickups have this “vowely” quality going on, and this does that in spades. However, unlike a normal single coil, this pickup is not overly bright. It does have some pronounced treble, but it’s not piercing like so many other single coils can get. The bass and midrange are just enough to where it would be perfect for the neck. If you’ve ever heard Andy Timmons’ tone, you’ve heard this pickup being used in action. Split tones sound great, as do parallel tones. The noiseless benefits are a welcome addition. So many other single coils have so much noise that they’re almost unusable. The unwound strings have this really fat sound going on that helps make it sound bigger than a normal single coil, but the unwound strings still retain a nice sparkle that many famous single coils deliver. This works in most any wood, but I tend to recommend it with woods like mahogany as they help beef out the low end and midrange. The treble in this is still fairly pronounced, so if you’re looking for a pickup that is super fat, you might want to try something else. This is also a very medium output pickup, so it tends to work best in the neck and/or middle position. It just lacks the oomph needed for most situations in the bridge, which I guess is why they added the word “neck” in the name.

Dimarzio is known for its modern aftermarket pickups. While Seymour Duncan is known for its vintage style humbuckers and vintage style single coils Dimarzio is more for the player of modern music. This goes for its single coils as well. Most of Dimarzios single coils are really just small humbuckers. This is one of those pickups. Many Dimarzios are just slightly tweaked versions of other models as well. If there is a Dimarzio that you like but dislike a little part of it chances are there is a tweaked version of that pickup somewhere that you can get. The BC-1 is Billy Corgans signature pickup. Billy Corgan is the frontman of the hit band the Smashing Pumpkins. They are known for their modern but modest sound. This pickup encompasses what Billy needed in a single coil .It is a single coil sized humbucker for him to use in his signature Stratocaster. It is pretty hot even for a humbucker so in the place of a single coil it has tons of output. It has rail magnets and four conductor wiring like most single coil sized humbuckers. Dimarzio says this is a tweaked version of the Air Norton and it sounds the part. The Air Norton is known for its smoothness and this pickup still retains this feel to it. The tweak done on this pickup adds more bass and gives the pickup a more open sound. Which is kind of what you want in a strat. It retains the very PAF''y tone of the Air Norton so the pickup is still great for leads and nice classic rock riffs. It is not that tight so I would not play metal on it. It works well in the neck or bridge position. In humbucker form I would mostly recommend it for the neck but in a strat you can do both very well with it. With the more open sound it sounds less compressed than the Air Norton but it is still pretty smooth. If you are looking for a nice single coil sized humbucker and the Air Norton S doesnt quite do it for you than you can try the Billy Corgan BC-1 Dimarzio.

Dimarzio is a well known pickup maker. They are most known for their modern sounding pickups that shred players love. Instead of making vintage sounding single coils most of their single coils are really single coil sized humbuckers that have more of a modern sound to them. The Chopper is one of them. The Dimarzio Chopper is a pickup for someone looking for the Dimarzio PAF style tone in the size of a single coil. The PAF pro doesnt really sound like a real PAF it is more Dimarzios interpretation of a PAF sound. This pickup is that sound in the size of a single coil. Its output is a pretty moderate 9k and it has a farily even eq with a little bump for the high end. The pickup is an evolution of the old Fast Track 1 but with a bit more power. In the neck you can get smooth PAF pro style leads with clear or with gain. With gain the tone is buttery smooth but retains clarity thanks to the little extra high end they eq'ed in. In the bridge position it sounds more like a single coil. It has a bright chimey sound that single coil lovers like. It has a bright open sound that is strongly dependant on what kind of wood your guitar is made out of. With its boost in the high end it is best in neutral or slightly darker guitars. This is of course if you are looking for a neutral sound. If you love the twang you could put this in an ash guitar or something and really twang out. Remember this pickup is pretty high output so watch out if you are combining this with real single coils in your guitar. If you are looking for a versatile single coil sized humbucker which can either sound like a PAF or a single coil the Chopper is as versatile as they get.

The Cruiser was introduced in the early 90s and was one of the first single coil sized humbucker replacement pickups. The whole idea was to have a humbucking pickup that was totally quiet in the size of a Stratocaster single coil but also still sounded like a Stratocaster single coil. This pickup has 4 conductor wiring and a ceramic magnet. The output is only 5.75k so it has a very vintage and single coil like feel to it. This pickup gets pretty close to that. Its slightly hotter than a normal single coil so you get closer to the hot rodded single coil sound. Since it is really a humbucker at heart it is slightly fatter in some frequencies than a true single coil would be. Dimarzio graphs the EQ as this; 8.0 on the treble end with a 4.5 in the mids and a 5.5 in the bass frequncies. They tried to EQ it to get more of a single coil sound but some of the fattness comes out subtly. Since this pickup is EQ'ed slightly brighter to get a more single coil like sound it goes better in guitars with a The lower strings have more beef to them than they would have with a true single coil pickups. This is a pretty nice trade off for not getting the exact single coil sound. Low end grunt is something that pretty much all single coil guitar lack and I dont know anyone who plays single coils that would not want more low end beef in their sound. With the rail pickup there is less string pull than with the normal single coil magnets. This means you will get less magnetic drag on the strings. With magnetic drag the magnets pull on the strings and lessen your sustain. If you love that single coil sound but cant stand the noise the best way to get rid of it is to install one of these single coil sized humbuckers in your guitar.