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A few years ago Dimarzio wanted to make a pickup that sounded like the most popular EMG active pickups. What they came out with was the D Activator line of pickups. I dont know what EMG's Dimarzio had but this pickup does not sound very good. They might have mixed up their EMG's because this sounds more like an 81 than anything you would want to put in the neck. I am pretty sure that is what they did. Instead of copying a normal EMG neck pickup like an 85 or 60 they just copied the 81 twice and put one in the neck. This was not a good idea. This pickup is very bright and harsh in its tone. Similar to the Humbucker from Hell but at least that pickup is useable. This pickup really has no beef to it. It is pretty thin and shrill. If they had copied the 85 for the neck position they would have had a super fat and powerful pickup that was still clear. Maybe they couldnt do it without going active and the 81 was the only one they could get close to. It is interesting that they would pick this one to do. If you were only playing high gain leads and had a very dark sounding guitar and a dark sounding rig this might give you a useable sound but otherwise it is too thin and bright to be useful. It is hard for a passive to replicate the sound of an active. If it wasnt hard it would have been done long ago. The active preamp in an active pickup provides a unique sound that is hard to replicate. When you see passive pickups claiming they sound like active pickups you would be weary. Some people have managed to make these work obviously or no one would have purchased them. If you are looking for a super bright neck pickup for some reason I guess this would be a good choice for you.