« Too bright and 80s for me »

This pickup is from the DiMarzio heyday in the 80s. In the 80s just about everyone was using Dimarzio pickups in their guitars. In the 80s everyone wanted a super clear tone so they could cut through the mix while using 500 rack effects in their rack. Everything was super bright back then to do this. The Humbucker from Hell came from this. It was originally designed as a bright neck pickup that wouldnt get muddy. To do this they had to make the pickup super bright and clear. Pickups in the neck position traditionally have a more muddy sound because they pick up more bass frequencies. A normal neck pickup would be super muddy if played through the kind of rigs they were using back then. They had effects just to have them and bigger rig = better for everyone back then even if they didnt sound good. The humbucker from Hell came out and and was super clear for the neck position. Then people started putting it in the bridge position. For it to have that clarity in the neck it had to be over the top bright. Now in the bridge position the brightness was too much. Not counteracting the bass frequencies from the neck position in the bridge position you got ice pick sharpness and it was hard to dial in a good tone for it. This is a very 80s pickup at heart. It does not have super high output but the EQ on this pickup is rediculously slanted towards the high end. It is way more useable for the neck position than the bridge position but if you are crazy enough you can put it in the bridge position. If you are putting this pickup in an already bright guitar you are just trying to hurt people ears. If you are in an 80s tribute band or something and want to complete your 80s sound a pickup like this will brighten you right up.