« Not the exact Tone Zone sound »

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.