« Hot Rodded strat tone from the 80s »

Dimarzio is known for their modern sounding pickups. Most of the great modern guitar players use them nowadays. Steve Vai and Satriani and Petrucci all swear by them. They are always advancing their designs and coming out with updated versions of their pickups. They also have a few more traditional designs. When you get a Dimarzio single coil the odds are that it isnt really a single coil. Most of their single coil sized pickups are just small humbuckers. This is one of their first true single coil designs. The Fs-1 features 2 conductor wiring and an alnico 5 magnet. The output is a little over 14k. The Fs-1 is pretty outdated nowadays but some people still swear by its traditional sounds. Even in the mid 70s they were trying to get more modern sounds. This is an early attempt to have a smoother sounding single coil sound. This pickup is for the guy who thinks most single coil pickups are too bright. This pickup has a lot of output for a single coil but the sound is smoothed out a lot so it doesnt sound as harsh. Even with the smoother tone the pickup still have decent single coil bite. It doesnt sound completely like a humbucker. It has good bite and punch. This is primarily a bridge strat pickup. It does a high gain tone very well which is something most single coils cant do. The pickup also cleans up pretty well for being so hot and a bridge pickup. Many people used this single coil back in the day for their hot rodded metal strats. Nowadays people are leaning towards Dimarzios Area line of pickups for their single coil needs. Dimarzio recommends matching it with a set of True Velvets in your guitar for a balanced tone. If you are looking for an old school shreddy single coil tone this pickup would be a decent period choice.