DiMarzio D Sonic

This is a passive, ceramic, high output, 4 conductor, humbucker pick up. Accoring to Dimarzio the stats for this pup are as follows: (high) output 390 mv, DC resistance 11.96k, bass 6.5, treble 5.5, mid-range 6.5. Features a center coil blade for more pronounced high end.

Installed in the bridge position of a 2000 Gibson Les Paul Standard. Replaced the stock 498T. Check the Dimarzio website for endorsements as I am not a poseur and am not trying to be like anyone else that uses these pick ups. I essentially wanted a hotter, more distorted tone that worked well with my amp. Something that was capable of eliminating the muddiness and adding more punch and dynamics. Also wanted something that distorted well in both regular and lower standard tunings.

Do not put this pickup in the neck position. Bridge ONLY!! This D Sonic was installed with the blade facing the neck pick up, not facing the bridge. The output level is noticeably higher with the D Sonic as opposed to the LP's stock 498T. Keep in mind that the treble is more pronounced with a D Sonic so it may appear to have higher output but you are also hearing new frequencies with it. I am using it with a 1996 USA built Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 1x12. I run my guitar into the main input of my amp after it leaves my Digitech DHP-33. I never use the effects loop on my amp as it severly ruins digital processing. In terms of tone, this pickup distorts quite nicely and cuts through very well both straight up or with effects. Very trebly and mid-range oriented and sounds quite good through a hefty/bassy 6L6 type amp like the Hot Rod Deluxe. Individual notes remain well defined at high distortion levels and additional compression is not especially necessary. My tastes range from prog metal to classic rock (TOOL, Rush, Dream Theater, Megadeth, Boston, Soundgarden, Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, Metallica, etc..) and I feel that this is certainly a suitable stylistic match. Not getting alot of crazy harmonics with the Hot Rod Deluxe tube gain however I have yet to attempt to use the pup with a distortion pedal. The other thing I should briefly point out here is that if you are worried about how this pick up will sound with a clean signal, worry not as it sounds excellent IMHO. Mind you, I am using a "real deal" Fender amp so who knows for sure.

I would replace this pick up. I have been playing rock, punk, metal, blues guitar for 21 years and I have primarily owned stock Gibsons over the years. I love how this pickup cuts through and makes my LPS sound like a tone generating rock machine in comparison to the stock Gibson pups. Nothing to hate about it unfortunately. I chose this pick up because I heard a few demos and they sounded great. Here's my final word.. This is an excellent metal and hard rock bridge pickup replacement. Let me put it to you this way folks: It turned my particular guitar and amp combination into a high gain metal rocker. Yes!! Believe it or not.

It's 4 conductor Passive Humbucking pickup. Other specs have been supplied by others who have reviewed this prior to my review.

The guitar in use is an Ibanez RG1570 in Mirage Red. I use it for the bridge like pretty much anyone who uses this pickup: John Petrucci, Marco Sfogli. I use it with the bar towards the neck. Other pickups include a dummy middle single coil and a Dimarzio Paf Pro in neck position.

I thought the original V8 is a bit boring, nothing else really. It's a much better pickup than what people claim to say about it to my opinion. I don't understand the people who keep bashing the V series.

It's got a high output indeed, very noticeable. I use it with my old Peavey Bandit Solo series combo amp which is a solidstate, while not very appealing with its distortion it does the job for a practice amp though. Every now and then I'll go to rehearsal rooms and use it on various tube amps such as JCM900 or Classic 50 or a Hot Rod Deluxe.

The pickup sounds very compressed and very straight forward. it gives you the "in your face" figure but it lacks dynamics due to the excessive output and compression. it feels like you're hitting a nail with a sledge hammer. When you lower the volume on your guitar, it cleans up a bit. However it still sounds very high, meaning that you don't feel much articulation with your picking, this is where the Paf Pro excels for sure.

This explains why there is no dynamics what so ever when you hear the recent Petrucci rigs, it's a brick of wall, no flexibility what so ever.

The tone itself is very balanced I must say, given that you install the pickup the way Petrucci uses it. When flipped with the bar towards the bride it sounds too muddy to my opinion. With this current use of mine it really sounds balanced both drive and clean.

My style is obviously some kind of metal, otherwise I wouldn't bother trying this pickup. I love 80's metal, 90's metal, the older Dream Theater, that is the Ibanez era. I don't think this pickup would work in other position than bridge. It's too loud for neck and it really lacks the dynamics required for a neck pickup, and in general.

The reason I'm not giving it a 5 is due to its advantages. It will sound clear and present even with extremely heavy sound processing
and it really brings up everything you play, every note is heard. It really behaves like the Steve's special in that aspect.

If it was stolen... hmm... who would bother stealing a pickup? it's too much of a hassle. However, I'd not buy it again for sure. In fact I'm quite sure it's going to leave my guitar soon.

I've been playing for the past 7 years, studying seriously and practicing and I keep going. The amount of gear that went through my hands is too big to count, so I'd not discuss it. I'll say that I've gathered lots of experience about it.

What do I love about it? good question. I don't love it in particular but it doesn't really bother me. It's useful for my band usage and recording so it's a relationship that works, but nothing more than that.

I tried dozen of Dimarzio pickups and many others. I wish it had more dynamics and less compression. The tone on this pickup is pretty much what I need.

I chose it because I got recommendations from friends, I didn't really choose it myself. But the Paf pro was my choice for neck and it proves to be the best choice.

I'm still looking for the right sound for the bridge position, so my search isn't done.

Don't buy pickups like these without doing an extensive research. I see a lot of people who buy or recommend it because Petrucci uses it. It's not the right way to choose a pickup, never... this isn't the way I chose it, and frankly, I'm glad about it.

I don't believe other people's recommendations, especially since this last one doesn't work for me that well. I read their opinions to find the cons mostly so it would help me to decide should I consider it or just keep searching.

6 pole and 1 bar totally cool humbucker.cery high out put.passive about 12.31k.

Pup went into a fender strat ultra.Duncans werent cutting it for me on this guitar.I also got a evolution in the neck.

the is awesome especially the clean very well balanced squaky as hell get harmonics any where you like!I like so much more than the distortion.It so quiet i dont need a noise gate i my amp on 2 with gain at 10(jcm 800 circuit on a 76 super.And its right next to a light and its quiet as hell!!.This and the evolution is just awesome,especially on a ebony board.

Hell i'm getting rid of my duncans.

This review is for the Dimarzio D Sonic Humbucking pickup.
I'm not going to bother listing the tech specs on here. You can find those at www.dimarzio.com
The D Sonic is a 4 conductor humbucker, which, of course, means that it is capable of humbucking, single coil, series/parallel and in and out of phase switching. While I have not tested the parallel option, I have tested everything else in a working music environment. As one might expect, the single coil tone is a bit less output than dual coil. However, it's not much lower. It's more like a high output single coil than a traditional single coil. While I'm at it, I should mention that there is a bit of a difference between the coils (I have my guitar wired with a phase switch ahead of the single coil switch enabling coil selection). It's not huge, but significant.
The series connection in dual coil mode (standard humbucking operation) is fantastic. It has a lot of power and punch. It's akin to the Seymour Duncan Dimebucker. Perhaps a little more bass than the Dimebucker. Fantastic overdrive sounds too! I would not recommend this pickup for "pretty" clean sounds. It's a rather rude clean tone actually. Quite distinct, but not for the faint of heart. The distorted tone is not quite as distorted as an EMG 81, but both clean and dirty tones are far more dynamic in my assessment than the EMG 81. High powered sound without the loss of feel.
It is a passive pickup by the way (so, no batteries to replace).

I installed this pickup into a modified Parker PM-20 in the bridge position. It's replacing the stock Parker Stinger pickup.
It's coupled with a Dimarzio PAF (Pro?) in the Neck. Together they make a nice pair. Although the D Sonic tends to overpower the PAF when both are on together, the PAF is a nice counterpoint to the D Sonic's power and punch.
A lot of other artists use this pickup. See www.dimarzio.com for more info on that.
I switched to this pickup to get better distortion out of my Peavey Valveking. It was a good choice! I get much improved tone all around and much tighter gain from the amp with the D Sonic.

The D Sonic's output level is high. High Gain and fairly high volume as well relative to the neck pickup (while not completely unbalancing the pickup to pickup volume balance).
I use various effects with this pickup. It does just fine getting through. As I said before, I use the Peavey Valveking amp with this pickup. Perhaps not the absolute best amp, but it matches up well with my guitar and pickups.
Overall tone is generally well balanced in the bridge position while being just a bit on the trebly side. Nice bass response when palm-muted though.
I play a lot of different styles of music. While I wouldn't recommend this pickup for lighter styles, it's great for heavier styles. That's not hard and fast though. If you like a distinct clean sound, this could be for you even if you play Jazz or the like.
This pickup is fantastic in the bridge. I can't comment on any other positions as I haven't tried them. You would need a rather high output bridge pickup to counter point this in the neck though.

I would definitely replace this pickup with the same thing if something happened to it.
I have been playing about 9 years now and I own various other sorts of equipment. Seeing as I'm lazy, I'm not going to list it all here.
I love the tone and the output of this pickup. I probably wouldn't want it for a single pickup guitar though as I like a lot of versatility of tones. For a two pickup guitar though, it's great!
I compared this to several other pickups, most notably, the Dimebucker. I prefer the Mid-range response of this pickup to the Dimebucker.
I think if Dimarzio offered this pickup with an option for gold polepieces, I'd be on that like a fat kid on cake!
I am satisfied with this pickup and am not looking to replace it.
Fantastic pickup for heavier styles or to counterpoint a deeper, cleaner neck pickup!

The D-sonic is a high output, passive bridge humbucker (no batteries requried unlike EMGs) designed for tight low-end playing. It comes as a 6 and 7 string version (6string version reviewed by me)
It features the standard polepieces as well as a solid metal bar, and the sound changes according to which way round you fit it:
Polepieces away from bridge: Tight and aggressive.
Polepieces towards bridge: Warmer and melodic, though still fine for metal playing.

I fitted the pickup in the bridge position of my Maverick F-1 guitar with the polepieces facing towards the bridge. The pickup I replaced it with was the standard Maverick bridge humbucker which came with the guitar.
The D-sonic is used by John Petrucci from Dream Theater as the 6 and 7 string version, as well as Brad Delson from Linkin Park.
What I wanted from a new pickup was increased sustain and a much clearer sound when soloing.

The output level was fine - perhaps a little louder than the Maverick pickup. I'm going through a Boss MT-2 pedal into a 100w Marshall amp. To my surprise the tone of the pickup was actually a little more trebly than my old pickup which made it good for rhythm, but a little over the top for lead playing,
My main influences are Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment, Opeth etc and the D-sonic definitely is designed for this style of music. Since Dimarzio claimed it is unsuitable for the bridge position, I would take their word for it, and just stick to the bridge.

Ive seen the D-sonic retailed at prices ranging from ??59 - ??90. I paid the latter and I do think it was worth it. Were it obducted by aliens, I might try another one, but according to the spec, this is the one for me really. It has a very good tone, though the sustain could be a little better - I guess that probably requires a Mesa Road King! I compared it with other hi-output pickups from Dimarzio such as Steve's Special, Evolution and the Tone Zone, but this one sounded right for me. Although I am happy with the pickup, I still am searching for 'that' sound, but it probably takes a better amp.

Passive humbucking pickup

This pickup has replaced stock bridge position pickups in a Steinberger Spirit double neck, an Epiphone LP Special and now it's going into a Mexican Fender Strat.

I got this new at auction on ebay cheap and wanted, originally, to change the dull sounding EMG Select in my double neck.

Don't let DiMarzio's Downtuning, Nu-Metal marketing fool you. This is a much more versatile pickup than advertised. (Why else would Petrucci play it?)

I play in a black metal band in standard tuning with 12 gauge strings. I have my H&K Matrix's 3 distortion channels plus two pedal distortions I use off and on (Boss Metal Zone & Metal Core). So I LIKE distortion! As tempted as I am to get an X2N or Invader I don't want my guitar to come screaming out of the gate. This pickup does well at making my powerchords sound big & doomy and is also quite articulate.

I don't know why but it has a certain "twang" to it that I really like when it's driven.

If this pickup dies on me I might try a D Activator.

I've been playing since I was 15. Bass for 23 years and I started playing guitar in the last 2 so I'm playing catch-up as far as learning what I like in guitar pickups. The first pickup I bought for guitar was a Super Distortion that I put in my Jackson. I like that pickup but the D Sonic seems to have a bit more personality.

I feel this pickup is a good compromise between the all out power I want and the articulation I need. Not perfect, but good.

Great high-power passive bridge humbucker. Impedance is about normal for a bridge hummer, slightly lower treble response than most bridge pickups, but with its power, it sounds more like a boosted bass & mid than a weaker treble.

I installed this into a home-made strat, along with Hot Rails (mini) in the mid and an Air Norton in the neck.
I've wired the whole thing up my own little way, allowing me to have all three pickups running in series if I want, expecting very good rhythm through a metal pedal. It seems now though, that the Dropsonic by itself does a better job though!
As everyone else has mentioned, petrucci used the 7-string version of this pickup - I think it was originally designed for 7-strings, hence its extended bass end.
I chose it because I like his rhythm tone, I figured I could get some Bodom and pink floyd tones out of it too with the right EQ, and could easily wire it in such a way, that I can short out one coil if I want to, getting pretty close to a single-coil sound from it for playing older stuff and clean stuff.
I'd recommend this to anyone who uses a lot of varied tunings - it handles chords in open C very nicely, unlike my old coils, where some strings suddenly started dominating the others.

As I said before... very good, consistent, strong sound - and various other sounds besides the norm, if you're willing to wire it for hummer, phasing, single, etc.
Very good for rhythm, and solos - I was slightly worried that DiMarzio said "single-note solos", and I like soloing in 3rds, but its been no problem at all!

Keep it at the bridge position... unless you've got plenty of money to spend and are tone-deaf.

I've been playing for around 4-6 years, used an Encore strat originally (nasty piece of ****), and added improvements over the years - this new strat with the new pickups (particulally the DSonic) is almost perfect for me (apart from bad woodwork :(), so if it got stolen, I'd probably buy an Ibanez and fit a DSonic into it... or maybe an ESP AX-400.

I compared this to most other pickups that my friends had in their guitars - DiMarzios, Seymoures, EMG Select etc. The DSonic was by far the best bridge one I heard.

Humbucking passive pickup used for bridge. high output.

Was installed by previous owner of an LTD Dave Mustaine Axxion(Beware of buying on an auction! This happens!!!). Used by Dream Theater' John Petrucci. The original Seymour Duncan Jazz is in the neck.

I use a Fender Blues Junior, with an Uber metal pedal.

The tone was very balanced, actually. On allmy settings on the Uber Metal, the PU was very responsive and clear; the main attraction of this PU by DiMarzio is that it's used for drop-tuning, but as the people before me have said, this PU is very clear in standard tuning as well. I was very worried that the D Sonic would sound terrible clean, but it was very full and clear. I agree that this is a bridge PU only. In the neck, the sound would be overpowering for leads... probably too thick. With the super-clear Jazz, it's a great match for my Metal Machine, stoner style, with melody LOL!

I can't give a PERFECT rating overall for any pickup: there are always improvements needed. I have gone through sooo many axes and pickups, it's insane. I was looking for an axe to change PUs to my specifications, and it turns out that this PU was a welcome( if not very unexpected) surprise. It has the biting, modern metal sound, but tonally it is very satisfying: not too harsh, not muddy, which made me very happy. Worth at least a try....Pick it up!

Adjustable poles and one blade. Got mine in blue, but it comes really in light blue, so be wary.

I installed it in the bridge position of a Jackson DKMG. They say John Petrucci of Dream Theater plays one. I changed to this pickup because out of all the humbucker clips at DiMarzio, the D Sonic had the sonic characteristics I wanted for rhythm and lead.

The output is high, but not terribly overpowering. I'm playing through a Crate MX65R only. I'd say the D Sonic's tone is bright, trebly, and middy. Pretty balanced with cool, bright edginess for rhythm and major high end on the treble strings - good for screaming solos. The clean sound is quite good and heavy.

I play hard rock - Metal with all my strings tuned down one whole step, so obviously one half of any problem is cleared up. Tonewise it does hard rock and Heavy Metal well. I think you have to turn up the gain on this p'up for some Thrash.

I wouldn't even jokingly putting this in the neck position.

I would essentially outfit all my axes with the D Sonic - tuned standard or low. Been playing 13+ years and love it's output and bright edge for pumping rhythms, but I'm still just getting used to it's stout, bright edge - I've only had it for a couple of weeks, but I doubt I'd replace it because it's what I was searching for altogether.

Good for shred and Heavy Metal rhythms.

Passive Humbucker Specs @ Dimarzio.com

Updating the bridge pickup in my MusicMan JP6 to the newer specs. No problem with the old pickup just always looking for something different to try out.

Much higher output than the original bridge pickup. Still very open sounding and more overtones, slightly brighter even with bar towards the neck. Great with every amp I've played it with. Sounds absolutely beautiful throught my Triaxis/2:90 rig. Still trying to even out the volume between the two pickups.

It's more of a modern sound that still feels thicker than standard bridge humbuckers yet it retains a heaviness that is so important to moderately high gain rhythm sounds