DiMarzio Bluesbucker

Humbucker with a "dummy" coil (much weaker than the other coil) to give a P90 / single-coil vibe

I fit it in the neck position of my Epiphone Les Paul a year ago, replacing the stock PU ("made in USA") that was actually all right. I replaced it because I liked more and more single-coil sounds, expecially in the neck position, and I wanted to have a splittable humbucker (I installed a 3 way mini-switch). I like P90s, but the hum is annoying and I did not want to butcher my guitar. In the bridge I installed a Air Classic.

I play classic and prog rock and I really like it. It is indeed single-coilish, with more treble and less mid-lows than a PAF, a livelier response. I don't find it harsh at all, quite the opposite in fact : played clean, it's like you have your tube preamp on. There is definitely enough bass and output to play heavy classic rock or stoner riffs. Split, it's excellent too, and in parallel it's brighter and there is a drop in output.

I have had enough guitars (recent or seventies) and pickups (Bill Lawrence, DiMarzio, Mighty Mite...) to know what I like. I tried the Bluesbucker after really liking P90s in another guitar. They were less expensive than the Duncan Phat Cat... It's part of my sound now. Actually, I bought 1 other since, to fit in an Explorer.

See reviews below

This is installed in a 79 Gibson SG in the neck position. The reason for the change was the original pickup had failed and I got sick of only having one pickup.

I personally never liked the neck stock SG pickup anyway. It was kind of woolly. So I went and saw my local guitar repair guru Mark O'brien to see if he know of any decent pickups that would fit in the cavity and give a single coil sound. We found the bluesbucker and I thought I would give it a go.

I personally really like it. It does not sound exactly like a strat or a tele to me, but it does sound like a nice singlecoil. I have never owned a guitar with a p90 so I can't compare.

The out match's the stock humbucker nicely, and to me is very balanced. It has a nice warm sound when strumming away, but it does respond nicely when you dig in and you that "spankin" tone which is cool. It also distorts well without becoming cheesy.

I use the SG for the usual rock metal,blues and jazz

I think it is a real improvement over the original pickup.

If this one broke I would probably get another one it suits the SG well. I have been playing for 30 years since I was 9 and had more crap than I can list here. At the moment I have a marshall 900, Fender Vibrolux, Laney 20watt and a 5150 plus about 10 guitars and a case of stompbox's.

I have gotten to the point with electric guitars that if you can get 2 REALLY good sounds out of one that is enough. This is what this pickup did, it changed the neck pickups sound into a really good sound.

Humbucking...but supposed to sound like a P-90 that looks like a humbucker

Guitar: Ibanez RT450 (RG that feels like a strat)
Pickup Replaced: Stock Ibanez POS
Other Pickups Installed: Dimarzio Virtual Hot PAF, Dimarzio Area '61
Reason for change: The other pickups sounded like crap!

Output: Higher output than my bridge pickup, i lowered it to almost flush with the pickguard to balance output
Amps/Effects: Ran in stereo with a Line 6 Flextone II HD head through a 2x12 custom cab with Celestions, and an Alamo Embassy 1x10 open back tube Combo with a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver before it and a Dunlop Crybaby before the stereo split.
Tone: With the pickup installed in the correct direction it was super bassy, it sounded huge and i couldnt do anything about it, not too clear, just kinda sounded like someone turned the bass way up and the treble to nothing. However i went ahead and fliped the thing over so the power screw coil faced the bridge and hey guess what it sounds pretty damn close to a telecaster it went from a disappontment to something i didnt know i wanted, but once i had it i love it, looks odd with the coils the wrong way but hey no one has noticed yet! and when i tap it it sound damn close to a strat so no complants on the tone, except for the fact in the in between position it sounds crazy bright, but this will soon be remedied by new 250K pots, the guitar is a bright one since it is made of alder instead of basswood.

If it were destroyed or stolen i would buy one again, maybey put it in a 2 pup guitar so that i could have a p-90 in the bridge and a tele in the neck. but also i would replace it if i had another H-S-H guitar with a real humbucker in the neck PAF Pro maybey that way i could cover the spectrum just a little better. I have been playing for 7 years and have gotten more into the tonal aspect of music as of late and have been working on my tone more than playing. I used to be all into Duncans but my friend suggested i check out dimarzio... and well they have better designs, duncan is too commercial i guess, im not looking to sound like anyone else. Honestly i wish it had a Humbucker mode a tele mode and a strat mode, but once again thats wishful thinking, then again i wish my bridge had a p-90 also lol. I am satisfied.

Humbucking w/one powerful coil, and one weak coil for hum cancellation only.

1990's Gibson Hawk
Bridge position
Replacing stock pickup
Reason for change--seeking more single coil twang

The Bluesbucker has moderate humbucker output. I tried it through a Laney 30 watt class A, and my old Super Reverb, no effects. I find this to have way less single-coil character than what other posters attest. It is a semi-twangy humbucker, but not very close to a P90 or other type of single coil, IMHO. Its greatest downfall is that it uses nasty ceramic magnets, and produces (amazingly enough) nasty ceramic magnet sound. No sweetness. A lot of fizzy sizzle and snarl that just sounds bad--maybe like a Japanese copy of an overwound Mosrite pickup.

I will return this pickup to Sam Ash immediately for a refund. I have been playing since 1968 and I have had tons o' gear. I like DiMarzio products build quality, but as usual, they are all about output and nothing about tone. I did try it in the standard and reversed bridge positions, but neither sounded good. Some say it's "tele-like", but that was not my experience, neither for a "Jimmy Page" sound or "Roy Buchanan" sound (or Don Rich, for that matter). It is a great design, but a really poor execution for those of us who want clarity, warmth, soul, etc. I have two other conceptually similar pickups to compare it to, BTW. My L490 from Bill Lawrence is a twangy but strong and harmonically rich pickup. I also use Duncan Phatcats, which, while not quite as interesting as the Bill Lawrence, are really nice units that compare well to a P90. I would like to add that there are a lot of self-professed "P90 experts" out there. I have had an original Gibson Firebird and an ES 125 with stock P90s, a played dozens of other stock Gibsons over the years. The P90 pickups vary tremendously in output and tone, and of course all react differently to the different guitars in which they are installed. So one person's idea of a "true" P90 sound is quite likely to be different from another person's idea. If you think this DiMarzio sounds like a Gibson P90, I suspect you have had contact with perhaps the worst P90 ever made or one that has been damaged.

humbucker designed to sound like a P90 by having one coil much higher output than the other with similar output to a PAF.

Installed in the neck and bridge positions of a Japanese Squier Jagmaster to replace the standard humbuckers which sounded a bit muddy. Both pickups were fitted with the hot adjustable coil facing the neck. I also fitted a push/pull pot to coil tap the new pickups.

Compared to the old pickups these had a slightly lower output, with a very strong middle, and excellent clarity. It solved all of the problems with muddiness I was experienceing, but they are a lot noisier, in fact they aren't much better than single coils. In humbucking mode the pickups give a full bodied middley thump like a high output telecastor on steroids. Switching to coil tapped mode they thin out loads, sounding more like a Jaguar. Contrary to what many people have said, I find the level of treble from both pickups is fine as long as they are fitted with the adjustable pole pieces towards the neck. I use the guitar with a vox AC30 with a few pedals to drive the hell out of the amp. It sounds great clean or with light distortion, but gets a little mushy with very high gain levels. I play Britpop and Indie and I find the guitar is particularly well suited to Radiohead and supergrass.

Overall they sound better than I could ever have hoped for. Everything I liked about my old tele pickups only with added thump and power. I would definitely replace them if they broke.

Pickup features: splittable humbucker with stronger stud coil (mimics P90, but...)
Impedence or other specs: don't know

Model of guitar or bass: Washburn SS80 (solid body)
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Seymour Duncan TB-4
Other pickups on guitar: Duncan TB-4 in bridge
Artists using this pickup: who knows?
You musical style(s): solo blues 'n' soul
Reason for pickup change: The stock TB-4 sounded muddy and middy to me. I wanted something closer to a single-coil sound, and something I could split for more sounds.

Perceived output level: As hot as the TB-4, and that's saying a lot. It requires serious right hand control to avoid peaking out.
Tone: Like many Dimarzios, it's got a huge midrange spike. Highs can be piercing, too. I rarely turn the tone up more than halfway with it.
Sonic evaluation: I'm using this with a Digitech RP-200 and a modded Fender Champ 110, a nice effect and crap amp. IMPORTANT: Changing the capacitator my tech mistakenly installed, a .4, and installing a .2 on the tone pot was CRUCIAL to the sound. If you find it too brittle CAP IT LIKE A SINGLE COIL. With the .4 this thing squeals like a stuck pig (yuck), with the .2 it sounds warm and woody, and can also crunch. It does not sustain like a TB-4, but plenty for my purposes. THIS IS NOT A P90 SUBSTITUTE. But it IS a very distinctive and nicely defined, bluesy sound. Man, I love it.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play juke joint slide on tunes from Johnson to Motown and Stax, mainly in open tuning. This pickup sounds great for that and blends and contrasts nicely with the TB-4 in the bridge.

Comments: I am happy with this purchase; once I changed the cap it made a reborn guitar that goes wonderfully with my style. I like the chunky thump of the pickup; I hate the overloaded mids, which require me to adjust tone more often than I'd like. I had to lower the G pole practically to China to make the pickup useable. Would I buy it again? I'll tell you after I put a set of P-90s into another of my dual-bucker guitars. What I know is, I'm not replacing it on the SS80 for a while. I like listening to it too much.

Pickup features: Humbucker-sized P-90 with coil splitting
Impedence or other specs: Pretty Hot! 10.5 I believe

Model of guitar or bass: Dean Cadillac Select
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Dean stock high output Zebra Humbuckers
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Pros who get them for free!
You musical style(s): Rock, blues, electric folk, punk
Reason for pickup change: I have two Cadillacs and wanted one to have a more traditional sound. I really like the stock Dean pickups, but they don't coil split too well. These sounded like the ticket as I've always been a huge fan of P-90's.

Perceived output level: Not as hot as the stock Deans (14.5) but plenty o' punch!
Tone: Very middy, as I expected. Bass tones are awesome but mids and treble sound a little strident and cold to me.
Sonic evaluation: I run both guitars through a Pignose 60-watt tube head and a 4X10 cabinet. With the volume low and a little chorusing, I get some really sweet tone from these pickups. I cannot split the bridge pickup as the sound gets really icepicky, but the neck splits nicely. They overdrive very well and to me, that's the only time they sound like vintage P-90's. My 10-year-old, left-handed son plays an Agile with (cheap)P-90's and I often wonder if his sound more authentic then these! I'm not disapointed with my purchase as these did give me another sound coming from my Cadillac, but I really wanted to end up with a warm, vintagey-sounding blues guitar but instead I got a punk rock snotty twang machine. Not bad, just not what I expected.
DiMarzio has very good install instructions and I installed these in the "warm" setting (backwards). I'm afraid to try them in the normal position!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Rock, Pop, Punk, Folk...These pickups will perform, just don't have any preconcevied notions before trying them. I think these pickups are better suited for the neck position, or a VERY dark-sounding guitar.

Comments: I'd probably go for the virtual vintage PAF if I had to do it again. It looks like the quest for P-90 tone only really comes in the form of a plastic soapbox!
Been at the guitar for 23 years now and have had lots o' stuff. The classic stuff is out of my reach these days, but the imported stuff is of such high quality, that it dosen't really matter. Remember walking into the pawn shop and laying down $400.00 for a used Les Paul? I once picked up a 1964 SG Standard for $350.00 and thought I paid a little too much!
I like that I can find a close P-90 sound in a humbucker-sized pickup, but I think Dimarzio needs to put Alnico magnets in these to warm them up. I'm always leary of ceramic but I've heard some nice ceramic pickups also. Again, they split very well, with minimal volume drop and I can get a two-pickup Tele sound happening if I work at it. I've been playing them for about two months and I'm getting used to them. I think "the" sound changes for everyone all the time so some days I like them and others, they sound sterile and cold to me. I've been getting some nice comments from other players, so that keeps me playing them.

Pickup features: passive p 90 in humbucker size
Impedence or other specs: I don't know.

Model of guitar or bass: sg standard and 76 reissue explorer
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: on sg - seymour duncan EVH on explorer - EMG-81
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): stoner rock
Reason for pickup change: I need to cut through the mix in live situations. My other guitarist uses a Les Paul and a Marshall JCM 900 set to James Hetfield setting b-10 m-0 treble-10 presence-10 vol 6.

Perceived output level: It sounds like it as more midrange than the humbuckers.
Tone: I find it to be more aggressive in the mids and treble. Has more clarity in the bass if you play at high volumes.
Sonic evaluation: I have tried lots of pickups in the SG for a good rock sound. I began with the stock pickup in the bridge and switched to these- Tony Iommi, Joe Barden, Mastertone SPA, seymour duncan EVH custom. Each one sounded OK but I didn't know that what I was looking for was the sound of a P-90.
The explorer sounded real good with stock humbucker but I wanted to get the early Metallica sound and installed an EMG 81. It did sound closer to his sound but I think his Jose Arredando modified Marshall may contribute as much as 60% of his tone- and his fingers play a major roll as well. When playing live I just found the sound to be a bit sterile. I'm using a Marshall MK2 reissue with el34 and a WAh pedal.
With the bluesbucker I now have a sound which will in no way be confused with James Hetfield's tone. To me it's a combination of Angus and Malcom Youngs' sound on 1 guitar. I prefer a pickup that lets me control the dynamics by playing harder or softer. The humbuckers seemed work well on the clean channel but with a generous amount of gain or fuzz all dynamics were lost (naturaly). Now I can turn the Gain to 10 on my amp but since the P-90 has more upper midrange it's super sensitive to my picking attack.
I also recorded it on my 4 track. I had some stuff that I had been working on using humbuckers. I decided to cut 1 solo on my SUPER DISTORTION equipped Les Paul standard, one with the SG and p90 and one with the explorer and p-90. The p90 guitars sounded killer against the humbucker powered rhythm tracks. The les paul sounded good but of course a bit more mellow. I've been playing humbucker guitars since I started so maybe I'm just happy to here a refreshing tone change.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Stoner Rock.

Comments: I have been working towards a twin guitar attack in the vein of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and ACDC. I now feel closer than ever since purchasing this pickup. I have been playing for 20 years mostly in the metal realm and NEVER tried a p90 until recently. I highly recommend it if you are bored with the sound of humbuckers.

Pickup features: Humbucker made to sound like P90 by making the stud coil more powerful than the other coil.
Impedence or other specs: See my other post

Model of guitar or bass: 1987 PRS Standard
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Duncan Custom
Other pickups on guitar: About to be a Bluesbucker. Right now, it's an empty cavity
Artists using this pickup: TBD
You musical style(s): Classic and Alternative Rock
Reason for pickup change: The Custom was too hot in the bridge for clean work. Wanted something that would sparkle when clean, and still be able to warm up when distorted.

Perceived output level: A little higher than stock PAF
Tone: Like a Telecaster bridge pickup with extra bottom. Has a singing sustain like Alan Holdsworth, when overdriven.
Sonic evaluation: I previously evaluated this pickup in the neck position of my SG. I have since thrown Kent Armstrong p90 retrofits into my SG so I decided to try the Dimarzio in my PRS. I have actually tried it in both positions through a Peavey Bandit with no effects. In the neck, it was pretty decent. I liked it better than the Duncan Alnico II that was in there before. I may get a Bluesbucker in the neck or I may opt for a Humbucker from Hell which might balance better against the Bluesbucker in the neck. The difference between how this pickup sounds in the bridge of my PRS vs. the SG is night and day. I love it! It's got the bite and twang of a Tele with the volume rolled down (and that's without the treble bleed cap which I took out). Roll the volume up and it just sings, sings, sings!!! I was an hour and a half late for work this morning because I couldn't put it down. It doesn't sound exactly like a P90 as advertised. The sonic spectrum is right, but it lacks the thump and growl of a P90. Not necessarily a bad thing, just different. However, it does what you would want a P90 to do. It jangles clean but also has body. It distorts nicely and is very articulate. It doesn't growl as much as a P90 with distortion but lower value pots might give that back. I would describe it as sounding a bit like Jimmy Page's Tele on Zeppelin I. The overtones on bent notes are unreal (like the solo in "You Shook Me"). It's tone for lead playing is an oxymoron. It's both bright and smooth. It sustains as well as any hot pickup yet it's not muddy or compressed like a hot pickup and it sounds good clean, too. I absolutely love it!!! Did I mention that I love it?

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play heavy classic rock and blues. This pickup is certainly suitable for those styles and in fact, there isn't much it's not suitable. With enough distortion, it'll do metal. Clean it up and it'll do country. Split the coil and it'll do funk (without much volume drop I might add).

Comments: If I stole somebody's PRS, I would immediately swap whatever pickups were in there and replace them with Bluesbuckers. The Bluesbuckers are especially suitable for the PRS in that I can now wire the even positions for pure single coil. That was a big pet peave for me with the stock pickups and the Duncans. There was a rediculous drop in volume when switching to the even positions (inner coils parallel, outer coils parallel) and I just didn't enjoy going there. Since the Stud coil is nearly carrying all the signal of the pickup, when you split the coil, there is barely any drop in volume, just more twang and less bottom. I will be wiring my PRS to give me 1) Bridge Series, 2) Bridge Single coil 3) Bridge Series and Neck Series in parallel 4) Neck single coil 5) Neck series. I liked the Duncans that were in there before. I tended to buy hot pickups in the past for their sustain. However, I sacrificed a good clean tone for the sustain. Now I don't have to. The Bluesbuckers provide clarity, snap, sustain, and wamth all in one pickup. Incredible!!! I have been enamoured with the P90 sound for a very long time. I have read other posts regarding the Harmonic Designs and Rio Grande's sounding too midrangey in a PRS but okay in other guitars. Any PRS owners that are still trying to figure out how to get a P90 kind of vibe without an overdose of midrange, these are your pickups. Believe me!

Pickup features: humbucking single coil
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Gibson SG
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): rock | indie rock
Reason for pickup change: wanted something similar to a p90 without the noise

Perceived output level: maybe slightly hotter than stock
Tone: neck (balanced) brigde (mid-treble)
Sonic evaluation: gibson sg | mesa boogie tremoverb 2x12 combo
boss gt3

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: alt rock | indie rock

Comments: pretty satisfied with this pickup. gave me pretty close to the sound i was looking for (kinda inbetween a HB and a SC), for a pretty reasonable price. eventually i'd like to experiment with a few other combinations when i can afford it.