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racerevlon « Perhaps my favorite Rock 'N Roll strat single-coil. »
Published on 09/13/12 at 14:48It'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.
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.