DiMarzio Al DiMeola

Passive Humbucker designed with Al Di Meola

Alnico 5 magnet I believe.

I speculate the following ranges:

B/M/T
6/6/5

Output: 9k

Maple neck, RG550, Mahogany body, neck position.

Pickup replaced = Seymour Duncan Full Shred

Other p'ups - Dimarzio HS-2 in the middle, DP150 Double Whammy in the bridge.

I believe Al Di Meola uses this... hehe


Reason: The Full Shred wasn't really giving me the clarity in the neck that I needed. Also, it wasn't PAF enough either! Im quite demanding in what I hear for!

This p'up is boosted a little from PAF buckers but still retains that honky Gibson'esq woody tone. Overall it's a nice, full tone - clearer than a PAF. Some would say thats a bad thing, but only because it shows up all your fudgey playing.

Used through An ENGL Powerball with ENGL Standard/Vintage Cabs, budda wah... pretty simple.

The tone is full, a little bassier than I would normally go for but it's worked out quite well. It articulates very well which is exactly what I wanted. The notes wail and move into harmonic feedback quite nicely also. This pickup definately isn't muddy! It's quite balanced really in comparison to other neck pickups out there. Nice and clear for those runs!

I play... Death metal. Yeah. And it's actually a rather sterling match for my sound, nice crystal PAF tones with added bite. Percussive and crunchy, sliding into harmonics and distortion is a joy!

I would give this a 10, It gives me what im looking for in a neck pickup... the only problem is the gold pole pieces!!! Come on Al, sort it out.

Yes, I would indeed buy it again...

I've been playing for 9 years, gigging for a lot of those also and this pickup gives me what I need in both the studio and on stage.

I love it's ability to cut and it's balanced yet percussive tone.

I have many guitars with various p'ups, neck wise: RR1 - Jazz, RG570 - 59, BC RICH - EMG 81. This Al Di Meola really runs rings around them.

Down sides? You have to custom order it... dang!

Pickup features: Humbucking
Impedence or other specs: High output

Model of guitar or bass: Gibson Les Paul Standard 1979
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Stock Gibson
Other pickups on guitar: Stock Gibson
Artists using this pickup: Maybe Al DiMeola
You musical style(s): Jazz Fusion
Reason for pickup change: Just want to try something new after 20 years with the same guitar and the pickups.

Perceived output level: Hot
Tone: Not muddy, balanced, every tone in a chord rings out
Sonic evaluation: Les Paul and a whole lot of Stompboxes and a digital Yamaha amplifier.
The pickup are for bridge-position - see my earlier submision.
I get this strange idea to use the pickup in neck-position with parallel wirement instead of the seriel.
I must say, that I've experimented with the pickup a whole lot. The way (neck position, parallel wirement), makes the pickup come alive. My need is both to could have big chords ring out and to make singing lead lines. Now the pickup delivers in a way, that I don't think DiMarzio have thought of. I will just say, that the sound are fantastic, slightly better than the stock Gibson-pickup, because the sound are more well-defined. I've also tried the stock Gibson-pickup in parallel setup, but the sound of this are not so far away from the seriel stock setup, that I could wish.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: For jazz-rock the new setup are very fine, and I can still play the old jazz-standards as well.

Comments: The end of the story is, that you should continue to make experiments with a unit, that you first dislike.
I also own a Les Paul Special with Gibson P-100 pickups. After I bought that, I was thinking, that the P-100 are far better than the standard humbuckers. So, I was founding myself trying to update the Les Paul Standard, so it wasn't so boring sounding against the Special. Now, with the Al DiMeola, the Les Paul Standard are nearly as good as the Special, but only nearly. But before the pick-up switch, the Standard was lacking energy as well of tone compared to the Special.

Pickup features: Humbucking
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: 1979 Gibson Les Paul Standard
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Original Gibson
Other pickups on guitar: Original Gibson (neck)
Artists using this pickup: Al DiMeola
You musical style(s): Jazz-fusion
Reason for pickup change: I wanted to try something new. My neck-Gibson-PU are fantastic. Could I find something, that could match this?

Perceived output level: Seems to be high.
Tone: Vere trebly and very clear.
Sonic evaluation: Gibson Les Paul Standard - Yamaha DG60-112. I want a jazz'y sound - my neck Gibson PU are very good at that. The DiMarzio are not. I will replace it with the original Gibson bridge PU again. That PU could give a wah-wah-sound. DiMarzio can't.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: For jazz and jazz-fusion the Al DiMeole are a bad choice. For heavy, it's good.

Comments: I will never ever again buy a replacementPU for my originals. GibsonPU seems to be the best choice - they have much more to give than DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan '59, which I also have tried. So, if you have an old Gibson (like mine from 1979) - don't replace PU's!
My neckGibson make my LesPaul sing and sound like a Super 400. My bridgeGibson PU have that distinct wah-wah sound. The Al DiMeola have a one-dimension very bright and clean sound. Good to cut through with, but else it's a disapointment. 7 for that, Seymour Duncan '59 are a 8, and my original Gibson's are 10.

Pickup features: Passive humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: One of my own custom built guitars and a Gibson Les Paul Studio
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: For the Gibson I replaced the original PAFs. On the slef built custom guitar this are the first pickups.
Other pickups on guitar: N/A just 2 humbuckers
Artists using this pickup: Al DiMeola
You musical style(s): See the DiMarzio Megadrive
Reason for pickup change: I changed the pickups of my Les Paul because they sound so cranky. Those original PAFs are the worst I ever heard. Very noisy, and too little output. I replaced them with Al DiMeola's because of the warmth of the tone. My les paul studio sounds better than any les paul from '59.

Perceived output level: Like the Paf pro but much clearer.
Tone: Very well balanced en crystal clear. No EMG, but yet fully bassy sound.
Sonic evaluation: Marshall VS100H 100w 3 channel valvestatehead, Marshall '76 MkII 100 watt head with groovetubes, Marshal valvestate 8412 4x12" 120w cabinet, '76 Marshall 4x12" 300 watt 1960 cabinet and a ZOOM 3000s floor effectsprocessor.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: It's a perfect pickup for Jazz, funk, Blues, fusion and with a high gain amp you can get those Metal sounds out of it too.

Comments: Like I said, I use them on two of my guitars, so that says eveything. Every guitar I will built will be fitted with these pickups. All the Gibson Les Pauls I will get will be fitted with these pickups also.