DiMarzio D Sonic 7

I CUSTOM WIRED THIS TO PETRUCCI'S SPECIFICATIONS. COIL TAP, STACKED POT FOR 2 TONES IN ONE, AND EXTRA CAPACITORS IN THE MIX TO CREAT ITS OWN IDENTITY WHILE REMAINING PASSIVE. BEEN DOING CUSTOM WIRING FOR YEARS SO I KNEW WHAT I WAS GETTING MYSELF INTO.

I INSTALLED THIS INTO ONE OF MY MANY SCHECTER V-7s THAT I HAVE IN MY COLLECTION. THIS WAS PUT IN THE BRIDGE POSITION WITH THE POLES REVERSED TO GIVE IT MORE PUNCH. IT'S FAR BETTER THAN THE SEYMOUR DUNCANS IT CAME WITH. THOSE WERE MUDDY AND COULDN'T CUT THROUGH THE MIX. THIS WAS PAIRED UP WITH DIMARZIO AIR NORTON 7 ON THE NECK. WHAT A GREAT MATCH. I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT I DO GET A PETRUCCI-ESQUE SOUND AND CLARITY FROM IT.

IT IS VERY HIGH OUTPUT AND A PERFECT MATCH TO MY MARSHALL VS100 HEAD PAIRED UP TO A RACK UNIT THAT I DESGINED WITH THE TC ELECTRONICS G MAJOR AS THE HEART OF THE OPERATION. THE TONE WAS DEFINITELY BOOSTED AND MORE DEFINED. I CAN GET A DIMEBAG-LIKE CHUGGINESS (A LA BILL LAWRENCE L-500XL ON CRACK) BUT THE CLARITY NEEDED TO ACCENT MY CHORDS. ON THE CLEAN CHANNELS, IT GET A CLEAR, WARM, NOT-MIDDY SOUNDING TONE. WITH THE COIL TAP PULLED, I GET A VERY FENDER-LIKE TONE.

THIS WAS DESIGNED MAINLY FOR METAL BUT WITH THE PROPER WIRING, YOU CAN MAKE IT SUITABLE FOR ANY STYLE. I TESTED IT OUT WITH VINTAGE TONES AND JAZZ SETUPS AND THIS THING MOLDS TO IT LIKE BUTTER. IM MORE OF A PROGRESSIVE METAL PLAYER BUT I GREW UP ON SANTANA SO I DEFINITELY WANT TO BE ABLE TO DIAL UP THAT AFRO-CUBAN TONALITY WITH THIS PUPPY, AND IT DOES.

IVE BEEN IN MUSIC AS A PERFORMER AND PRODUCER/ENGINEER FOR ABOUT 12 YEARS NOW. I CAN'T HONESTLY SAY THAT THIS IS THE ONE AND ONLY PICKUP FOR ME, BUT FOR THE SOUND I WANTED TO GET OUT OF THIS PARTICULAR GUITAR, IT WAS PERFECT. IF THE PUPS BROKE OR FELL OUT I WOULD GET THE SAME SET OR JUMP INTO A DIMARZIO CRUNCHLAB 7 (WHICH I IMAGINE IS THE SAME QUALITIES, JUST STRONGER). I LOVE THAT IT IS CLEAN SOUNDING AND IT DOESN'T CREATE AS MUCH FEEDBACK AS MY OTHER PICKUPS. I AM DEFINITELY SATISFIED WITH THIS PICKUP AND THE SOUND I SET OUT TO GET.

THE ONLY DRAWBACK IS THE ADJUSTING OF THE NORTH POLES. YOU HAVE TO KEEP IT PLUGGED INTO TO VERIFY THAT YOU TIGHTENED IT OR LOOSENED IT ENOUGH. THE PRICE YOU PAY TO CUSTOMIZE.

REGARDLESS I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. HOWEVER IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, GET A PROFESSIONAL TO SET IT UP FOR YOU.

Passive Humbucking Pick-Up. Color Zebra (Creme/Black) [you can have in Black or Black/Creme only]

Wiring: 4 conductor
Magnet: Ceramic
Output: 390
DC Resistance: 12.03

TREBLE: 5.5
MID: 6
BASS: 6.5

Guitar: Schecter 7-String BlackJack (made in Korea)

PU position: Bridge (Bar towards the bridge, Tighter & Brighter sounding) [Petrucci setup)

PU I'm replacing: Seymour Duncan JB-7 (SH4 for 7-String)

Other PU: DiMarzio Air Norton 7 (Creme/Black)

Artists: mainly Petrucci...

Reason for changing PU: Lack of punch & heaviness, was not as Metal as I wanted it (but the JB on my Jackson King-V is perfectly Metal enough... maybe the 7-String version lacks of Output).

Output: Metal Heaven ! Perfect for High Gain Metal or Progressive and on the Split-Coil setup (position 4) it's perfectly balance for a great clean (even if I'm not a fan of the Bridge Clean sound... I found the Split-Coil setup pretty useful [Fender-like sound]) and it also has a Fender-like sound on distortion.

Amp, Effects: Carvin Legacy Half-Stack 100W. Boss TU2 Tuner, Boss Noise Supressor, Morley Bad Horsie Wah,MI Audio Tube Zone, Xotic AC Booster, Boss Chorus Ensemble, Boss Volume/Expression Pedal, Boss Digital Delay.

Tone: the tone is focused on the Mids, maybe a little too much, it's not Dark Sounding !!! it's more of a Screamer (I think it's because of the setup "bar towards the bridge"). The high strings are screamy and the low strings growls, just the way I like it ! It has plenty of output, when I'm comparing it with the JB-7 it's night and day... the JB was more of a hard-rock, medium Metal PU... but the D-Sonic is a Metal Machine with a lot of versatility too... maybe more than the JB.

Music Style: Metal, Rock, Progressive, Jazz, Blues. This PU is a really good match for all of these just because of the coil spliting option... with that, you can acheive some fender-like sounds, so that's quite a bit of versatility for a "Metal" PU, but if you play more of a hard-rock, old progressive thing... it will be more in the JB area or the PAF7 in the bridge for Medium output. So the D-Sonic is defenitively built for Metal/Progressive Metal, but you can play a lot of different styles with it too, but it will not be as good as if you choose a PU for that purpose specifically (Air Norton 7 or PAF7 for Bridge, Seymour Duncan JB, etc.).

unsuitable position: NECK !!! way too loud !

If I were stolen or if it was destroyed: I'll definitively buy it again for my Schecter, it's my 7-String PU for Metal. but for another type of sound I will maybe try the Blaze PUs(Neck/Bridge) or the Tone Zone, since I own a Tone Zone (6string - on a Fender Strat USA).

I play the guitar since 1995 and I own a lot of stuff:

Guitars: a modified Fender Fat-Strat USA (Chopper/Fast-Track1/Tone Zone Humbucker) with scalloped 21-22nd frets and Gotoh tremolo, Jackson King-V USA (with Floyd Rose) ('59/JB), Schecter 7-String BlackJack (Air Norton 7/D-Sonic 7), Jasmine Classical Guitar, Simon & Patrick Mahogany Pro Acoustic Guitar.

Amps: Tech 21 Trademark 60, Carvin Legacy Half-Stack 100w.

Effects: too much to mention !


D-Sonic 7 Pick-Up
------------------
PROS: - Versatile
- Metal Heaven
- Lot of Output
- Doesn't sound muddy or too mushy
- Cuts through the mix

CONS: - a bit too middy
- tends to make feedbacks (but with a great noise supressor, it's perfect).

So if you're a Petrucci fan, a Metal or Progressive Metal fan... and you like a really define screamy sound or maybe an heavier sound (if you place the bar towards the neck) go buy the D-Sonic 7 !!!! but I will not recommend it for a 6-string (the 6-string version of course ! ;op)... maybe it will sound too harsh... unless you play with a low tuned guitar (D - Db - C - Drop D, Db or C, baritone guitar, etc.).