DiMarzio Fast Track 1

Pickup features: single coil sized humbucker, dual blade
Impedence or other specs: see web site

Model of guitar or bass: Strat style
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Dimarzio virtual vintage
Other pickups on guitar: dimarzio virtual vintage
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): variety-classic rock, oldies, country, blues, jazz
Reason for pickup change: I wanted a warmer bridge tone. Loved virtual vintage for traditional strat tone, but needed mere versatility from a single guitar.

Perceived output level: Hotter than typical strat bridge pickup, but balances well with virtual vintage in the neck and middle.
Tone: Warm tone that blends well with other pickups.
Sonic evaluation: I'm using this in a custom strat style guitar that has a pickup selector that allows the bridge and neck to be combined in the middle setting. In addition, the tone control is wired to the bridge pickup only. I plug into a pedal board and then into a small combo amp. The tone is extremely versatile. It blends well with the other pickups for typical strat sounds, or I can use it by itself with some high end rolled off to get humbucker tones. It really is a sweet sounding pickup in this position.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: All styles. This pickup is very versatile for my needs. I have tried these in the neck position on another guitar and it was bottom heavy, which is not surprising.

Comments: I'm very pleased with the performance of this pickup. I am a huge fan of Virtual Vintage pickups, and this complements the VV neck and middle that I am using. It gave a little more oomph to the bridge and made that position much more useful.

Pickup features: Dual Blade in a singe coil size
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Tom Anderson Hollow Drop Top
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Virtual Vintage Blues, SDS-1, Pro Track, Lil 59'
Other pickups on guitar: Virtual Vintage 54 middle, Dimarzio Breed neck in the Bridge
Artists using this pickup: :?
You musical style(s): Jazz, Fusion, anything to pay the bills
Reason for pickup change: Trying to give my anderson a better jazz tone that is useable for other things as well

Perceived output level: only slightly hotter than a Virtual Vintage Blues but a more even and full humbucking sound that fills up more space with out as much volume
Tone: VERY VERY VERY even but some of that is due to the Vintage voicing of Tom anderson controls see below
Sonic evaluation: Tom Anderson Hollow Drop Top through one of three rigs
1. Bogner Shiva head with Mesa 3/4 back 1x12 cab for any thing where I am the feature
2. Holland lobo 20 1x12 combo for small blues gigs and jam sessions
3. Polytone Baby Taurus (1x8 85 watts rms) with a Old Digitech RP3 for club dates, weddings, straight ahead gigs.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Jazz is my passion but I play all styles to make a living

Comments: This is THE pickup if you are trying to get a good sound out of a Tom Anderson and you do not want a truely single coil sound (and you have a single coil space of course). The Anderson guitars that mix single coil and humbucking pickups have somthing called vintage voicing in them. I am not sure exactly what is done to acheive this but the end result is a smooth volume control that does not effect the tone when being utilized and also both pickups sounding good with 500k pots. It seem some pickups do not respond well to this as it cuts a little high and high mid and very slighly boosts bass. I did not take this into account when shopping for a new neck pickup for this guitar and wasted ALOT of dough. I originally had a virtual Vinage Blues in the neck and thought it was great but wanted a more humbucking tone so I first installed a Duncan LIL 59' and it was unimagineably bad. It was as though some had taken a graphic EQ and put everything on 0. Next I tried a Dimarzio Pro Track which was not bad but with the Vintage voicing the Bottom was a bit boomy and it was not really very articulate. Then an SDS-1 which was very similar but even more boomy. I decided to try a Fast Track 1 and it is perrrrrrrfect. I am not sure it would be this nice in any other guitar but it sounds like a cross between a Duncan jazz and 59' in this guitar. Almost like a high-fi p90 without hum. I am in heaven. I took it on a gig tonight and it cut through so nice sustained so nice and covered everything from Jimmy Buffet to Stevie Ray Vaughn to Pat Metheny with no trouble. My Anderson is again my favorite guitar. By the way split it is rather anemic so dont buy it with hopes of a great split tone just love its humbucking tone.

Pickup features: Single coil two lace hambucking
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender CustomShop strart
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: fender custom made
Other pickups on guitar: fender custom made
Artists using this pickup: Greg Howe
You musical style(s): all styles go's
Reason for pickup change: too mach ham not to mach power

Perceived output level: As hot it can get
Tone: balanced
Sonic evaluation: Marshall Bluesbraker Artist orginal from 72+digitch2120+crybabe535q+ibanez tube king.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: all kind of styles and the Fast Track do thim all

Comments: I'm playing for 11 years and allways have played fast riffs and all the pickups made alot of noise and didn't save the sound in a distortion so i've got my start customshop (hand made=grate guitar) with custom pickups but fender don't seems to know who to make a good pickup so i own fast track 1&2 and crouser in the middle and in sounded as god sound, i don't seems to over powered this pickup and it still have more to ofer so i hope some body from the grate brands try to make pickups as dimarzio do (learn brands)

Pickup features: Passive humbucker - single coil sized
Impedence or other specs: tappable.

Model of guitar or bass: '89 USA Strat Plus Deluxe.
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Blue Lace Sensor
Other pickups on guitar: Gold Lace Sensros
Artists using this pickup: Me?
You musical style(s): All of em.
Reason for pickup change: I wanted a tappable warmer hotter humbucking pickup.

Perceived output level: Noticably louder than the Sensor. Not overwhelming though.
Tone: Lots of bass, still enough high frequencies for clarity. Has a mid-scooped feel.
Sonic evaluation: Evaluated on my strat through TSL Marshall, J-Station and Johnson Marquis.
Very very pleased. Humbucking tone is beefy and warm, but with plenty of highs, drives my amp very nicely. Single coil sounds like the Lace Sensor. Hmmm i gues that's a good thing.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Works well for pretty much most styles. BUT! is unsuitable for a neck position. It would be waaaay too bassy / muddy for that.

Comments: Like it. I dunno if it gives me *that* sound - but that may just be a talent short-fall on my part ;o)

Pickup features: Dual rail humbucking designed to fit in a single coil slot
Impedence or other specs: See Dimarzio.com "strat replacements"

Model of guitar or bass: 1979 Guild S 70 Solid body neck through Mahogany 3X single coil
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Me
You musical style(s): Rock and Roll, Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughn
Reason for pickup change: The stock single coil pickups had screaming ?60-cycle hum from hell? and were muddy, lacked harmonics and power. The stock bridge pick up sounded extremely ?twangy? and cheap.

Perceived output level: The bridge is little brighter and hotter but similar to Stevie Ray Vaughn?s tone in the boost channel of my amp. The middle and neck are very acoustic like in the clean channel.
Tone: Honestly, all the above depending on the pick up selection and choice of clean or boost channel on my amp (details below)
Sonic evaluation: Guitar: 1979 Guild S70 solid body mahogany neck through, 3X single coil slots (strat like set up) with 5 position pickup selector and hum bucking to single coil splitter switch (I rarely use it though, 99 time outta a hundred, I'm bucking the hum:) 24 medium jumbo frets, and a rose rood fret board.
Amp: JTM 60 watt Marshall tube amp, with 3 10 inch Celest speakers and EL 34 tubes.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I?m playing a style influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughn when I?m rippin on this ax.

Comments: If it were destroyed or stolen, would you buy it again or get something else? I would buy the whole setup again.
How long have you been playing? 20 years
What other gear do you own? Recording eq, boss Flanger, Phaser pedals, cry baby wah
What do you love about it? Versatility
What do you hate? nothing
Did you compare it to other products? yes
Which ones? Other pickups at Sam Ash
Why did you choose this one? Tone
Anything you wish it had? nope
Are you satisfied with this pickup or still searching for that sound? totally
Anything else you'd like to share?
I had this setup installed a few years back however, I just happened along your site.
In my mahogany solid body guitar, which is normally tuned E flat, the bridge pickup (Dimarzio Fast Track II) provides a hot and harmonic rich Stevie Ray Vaughn like tone. It?s little more ?over the top? than Stevie?s tone with brighter highs when run through the Boost channel of my Marshal Amp. The combination of the middle (Dimarzio Chopper) and the neck (Dimarzio Fast Track I) pickups, when run through the boost channel sound totally like Stevie. When the middle and neck pickups are run clean, the guitar can pass as an acoustic, and yes, I have fooled many people who swear that I?m strumming an acoustic on a recording, when it?s actually my electric guitar. It is an extra-ordinarily versatile set up.

Pickup features: twin blade humbucker, single coil sized
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Warmouth Tele, semihollow, 3 pu
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Carvin AP11
Other pickups on guitar: Fast Track T
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock, jazz, blues, country
Reason for pickup change: Noise. The Carvins sounded great, but I couldn't handle the hum any longer.

Perceived output level: Louder than a standard Strat single coil, not as loud as the Barden
Tone: Darker than single coils or Bardens, brighter than stacked humbuckers
Sonic evaluation: I use this pickup in both the neck and middle position of my Tele. I've had the Fast Track T on this guitar for years, and I finally got sick of the 60Hz hum from the Carvins, which I loved otherwise, so I thought these would match well with the T. They do, but one thing I found right away was that their tone is EXTREMELY dependent on how close you put them to the strings. They are very dull UNTIL you get them real close to the strings, when all of a sudden the high end shows up. You can get away with this without throwing your Strat's intonation off because of their magnet design. They just don't pull as hard as stock Strat pickups. For those of you who were unhappy with the lack of high end you found, I recommend adjusting them before returning them.
These pickups are kind of a poor man's Joe Barden model. If money was no object, I would have just skipped Dimarzio altogether. As it stands, however, I absolutely love the sound of my guitar with these pickups.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play all styles of music except metal, and these work well for any clean application, but because they are so quiet, overdriven sounds are a dream come true now.

Comments: These pickups are a great value, but they have to be set up properly. I was searching for a single-coil sound without the hum, and there are lots of options out there now, but I found that I prefer the side-by-side designs better than the stacked designs because they are louder and have lower impedence (due to lower DC resistance). It's hard to get a stacked design which is both bright and loud. In the side-by-side school, you have these, Barden, or Duncan's Vintage Rails or Duckbuckers. All are good, Barden is best.

Pickup features: double blade single coil
Impedence or other specs: mid/high output

Model of guitar or bass: Ibanez RG-570
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: original middle single coil from Ibanez
Other pickups on guitar: DiMarzio Paf Pro (neck & bridge)
Artists using this pickup: I don't know but would think jason Becker did... but who cares
You musical style(s): My Own blend of:Hard Rock/Metal/"Jazz"/Blues/Country
Reason for pickup change: Difference in volume with the humbuckers and noise/hum was driving me nuts.

Perceived output level: Better than the original I had and it blends perfectly with the Paf Pro. Like expected by myself and the support staff at DiMarzio.
Tone: Somehow balanced, yet I like the tight bass it can get when distorted.
Sonic evaluation: Ibanez--->Morley Bad Horsie--->Digitech Whammy II--->Boss Volume--->Tech21nyc PSA-1 preamp--->Crest 300w power amp--->Marshall 4x12" cab.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play mainly either in a hard rock or clean bluesy/jazzy situation. This pickup is good for me because it's silent and really good on clean sounds. I also like it when it's distorted but not full on metal distortion. For a distorted/bluesy tone it's amazing for me.

Comments: I woul dbuy it again. I've been playing for 10+ years. I own lotsa of stuff music related, my current guitar chain setup is mentioned above. I love the fact that it blends well with my Paf Pro and that it's silent wich is what I was after, and his sound of course to me is what I needed.The only thing I "hate" about it might be that for me on metal type distortion it's not as I'd like, but then again no single coils is to me! I did compare it to other product before buying I checked with the guys at DiMarzio for that Fast Track 1 and their other 2 blade single coil pickups. i chose this one because it was what seemed to be the perfect choice, and i choose DiMarzio because the 2 other pickups on the guitar are DiMarzios, also because I've wired anothe rguitar of mine with DiMarzios with no problems and no disatisfactions. There's nothing I wish it had, it has more than one wiring possibility wich is good already and many colours to choose from so can i really ask for more... I'm satisfied with this pickup, I got the clean sound I wanted without the noise! A trick here for those who seem to get many problems with their pickups... and are never satisfied... 1- adjust the height of teh pickups in many ways before hating it! 2- if you just installed a brand new pickup in your guitar, chances are you have brand new strings on it... get them "used" to your usual string state before truly hating the thing! New strings don't sound like your average playing in the first place, let the thing a fair chance basically. Just my 2 cents for you. I give this one a 10 because for ME it's what I needed

Pickup features: single coil sized humbummer
Impedence or other specs: dimarzio.com

Model of guitar or bass: ibanez 540 r
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: dimarzio hs-3
Other pickups on guitar: EVOLUTION
Artists using this pickup: i dont know, i think phil collin
You musical style(s): rock
Reason for pickup change: wanted a new sound, was trying to get close to the hs-3 with a less tubby bottem end and more presence.

Perceived output level: average output, a good match for warm or hot bridge buckers.
Tone: MUDDY! well, i got more presence and less tub but it cost me a cement truck full of mud!
Sonic evaluation: ibanez mentioned above into a boss me-30 then into a peavy transtube bandit.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: rock, wanted this for kinda a versatile sound. the only positive use for this ive found so far is clean stuff. with any drive or compression the bottem end is too damn muddy.

Comments: im not sure if i will keep this one, probably send it back to dimarzio and get a full size bridge bucker just to have, i dont really know what else i can do for the neck position.
this pickup is kinda strange, it doesnt have many single coil characteristics and yet its billed as one. go figure. dimarzio should have done more homework on this one. it does sound great clean, can get snappy for funk or just clean picking. the presence is good, got enough output for hotter humbuckers, they just need to dump out the bottom end when driven. i liked it somewhat but still dont think i'll keep it.
considering it was a bitch to wire up i guess you could say that im pretty pissed of, guess im lucky i pretty much stick to the bridge anyway.

Pickup features: Dual blade single coil passive pickup
Impedence or other specs: ?????????

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Jaguar
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Jaguar Stock
Other pickups on guitar: Stock neck
Artists using this pickup: Have no idea
You musical style(s): was alternative way back when now is metal and blues and rock too
Reason for pickup change: If you own a Jag you know.......Squeeeeeeellllllllllllll...every 5 seconds couldnt hardly crank my amp.....i dont own this guitar anymore for money reasons but know i want it back as a collection guitar......anyway it was a single coil no gain harldy volume either and tons of annoying feedback....the front pickup was awesom for clean though.

Perceived output level: It has medium output.....hey its not a bucker.....i was gonna get a bucker but i couldnt find anyone who would do it routing required for cheap
Tone: a little more middy and trebly than bass but good bass too.....this is deffientely a great rock pickup if you want a good blues or rock tone in the bridge position and dont want the single coil noise or weakness......no where near hot enough for metal though....might be able to pull off some randy rhoads with a real high gain amp though
Sonic evaluation: at the time i was using a crate 2 ten inch 60 watt amp....but now im using a blue voodoo half stack.....if definntely would sound better with my voodoo but it was pretty good sounding for that shitty amp.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: i play rock blues and metal.........the only thing this isnt good for is metal or really hard rock......a great strat bridge replacement

Comments: i would by it again if i needed it....dont have the right guitars for it right now though....over all for a single coil pickup its pretty good.

Pickup features: Double bladed single coil/can be wired as a singlecoil/humbucker
Impedence or other specs: Passive pickup which is supposed to be a beefy single coil

Model of guitar or bass: Fender Mexican Stratocaster
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Stock single coil
Other pickups on guitar: 2 Fender Silver Lace Sensors
Artists using this pickup: Anyone who doesn't like a nice tone I guess
You musical style(s): Anything I can play
Reason for pickup change: I wanted a Strat that could maintain that clean Strat sound but cover a wide range of tones, so the Dimarzio was meant for heavy sounds.

Perceived output level: In comparison to the Lace Sensors it's noticably louder
Tone: Very muddy and bassy, which would be a tone I guess
Sonic evaluation: I'm using a Mexican Strat with 2 silver lace sensors in the bridge and middle position and the Dimarzio in the neck postion. The only reason I got this pickup is because it was half off the $ and I wanted
to diversify the tones of the Strat. Originally I had the pickup in the middle position and it really sounded awful, but in the neck position it gives me the crappy loud tone that I wanted

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I like to switch from clean sounds to fat distorted sounds a lot, so this pickup works.

Comments: It doesn't have a great tone but it serves my purpose. I wouldn't buy it again even at half $. I didn't really compare it to anything and I hadn't even heard it before, like I said it was cheap. I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for something that has a lot of tonal range.