DiMarzio X2N

dual razor style passive humbucker, 510mv output (HOT!)

I installed the X2N in the bridge position for my new Jackson KVX10 King V guitar. for the neck I'm using a DiMarzio D-Activator X which is also a razor style pickup. The pickups been replaced was the stock Duncan Designed pickups, they sounded too weak and a bit muddy.

the output of this pickup is so much that it usually overdrives your amp's clean sound. so, I think this one is definitely made for playing METAL! I'm running Guitar --> Boss GT-10 multifx pedal --> Peavey Bandit 112 effect return. Using just amp's distortion, the X2N offers a really rich bottom sound, very punchy, but at the same time the sound tends to get a bit muddy (comparing to the EMG 81 I have on my Jackson Kelly guitar). But if you can get a good pedal, you can adjust the EQ, like adding a bit more of high freq, and adjust the prescence too. Then you can get a really brutal distortion. I have my guitar tuned 1 step down, so my distortion sound really roars and all my band mates envy my tone now. :)
I play thrash metal only (old good metallica & megadeth) so this pickup really serves me well.

If it gets damaged, I think I'll get an active one instead, I think the sound I can get from an active pickup is more crunchy than the X2N. However, with my current setup, I'm 100% satisfied. plus, the look of the X2N is really killer, you'll get everyone's attention and ask about your pickup change. :)

Humbucker passive
See MFG website

1961 SG Special, replaced the P90 in the bridge with the X2N back in the late 80's, my version of a BFG.. ahead of its time, original P90 in the neck, wanted more of a bite than the P90's had... sure got it.
As far as who else uses it? Who cares...

VERY HOT PUP.... biased towards the mids and highs, have to reign it in with the tone pot and vol control... or just let it loose, depending on the mood. Will cut through any mix, I play metal and blues, excellent for both with the right settings, I run it through a Marshall 50 watt 2 x 12 combo, and a Randall 50 watt 1 x 12, drives the Marshall much better (tubes) the Randall is solid state.. sounds artificial with the X2N

Been playing for over 30 years, if my SG was stolen I think I'd cry, I've had it since '74. I own a 2007 1960 LP VOS Historic (sweet), and a Martin D-15 custom acoustic. I would definately get this PUP again, very happy with it. Very powerful magnet, back it off the strings!

humbucking, passive, 510 mV output, like 14k resistance. pretty balanced frequency response

bridge position on a b.c. rich warlock and in a custom RRV. replacing the stock bridge pickup in the warlock. i changed the pickup because the stock pickup didn't have enough output.

huge output. one of the highest output passive pickups on the market. i'm running it into a peavey supreme and it is very grainy and bright on the top, but the bottom is round. i play a cross between pantera, iron maiden, and dimmu borgir. the only effects that i use are a dimebag wah and a behringer noise reducer. in the b.c. rich, it sucks out some of the mids and gives it kind of a hollow feel to some of the notes. almost like a suped up p.a.f.

i've been playing for five years and this will be a pickup that i'll be using until i die, or until they make something more powerful. this is the first dimarzio that i ever used and i'm sold on them.

Humbucker with 4 wires. I measured the impedence around 14k dc. The coils were identical to 1/100th of a kohm. (match within ten ohms!)This particular one has 1979 stamped on the back, so it is one of the early ones!

I put it in an off shore Lado Hawk (PRS copy,mahogany with maple cap rosewood fret board) bridge position, replacing stock pup. The neck is an Ibanez V1 (previously replaced). When I purchased the guitar, I was impressed by it's tone and feel considering its negligable price, and bought it with the intention of upgrading the PUPS. An easily justifiable upgrade on this instument.

Output is super hot, rich, layered and down right tasty. I am using it directly into a Peavey classic 50, with a second amp for effects. This PUP makes the Peavey sounds less classic and more high gain when the lead channel is used. On the clean channel, it reminds me of a compressed tele in the bridge position. Not that it is identical but it has that clear but dirty feel. Very nice indeed. Being a high impedence source, the tubes are an easy load, that is probably why it is so rich, it does nice things to tubes. Might be ugly in solid state.

I would get it again, and I may even buy another for a second guitar. It is not a pup for "clean and smooth". It is a high output pick up, it was designed as such, and it is one of the best when implimented as intended. I do not think that it is necessarily limited to heavey metal palying, any one who likes rich distortion, and edgy clean will love it. I am a Steve Morse, Johnny Hilland, Andy Timmons kind of guy, and the X2N suits me just fine.

Humbucker,passive

Dean From Hell.Bridge position.Replacing the L-500XL.Dimarzio Paf Pro in the neck position.Artists using,Ekaitz Garmendia,Dave Looney.The L-500XL sounds good,better than a Dimebucker.Dimarzio Rules.The X2N is the best bridge pickup for my needs.

High output.I use a Crate BV120HR Red Voodoo head loaded with a quad of E34Ls and ECC83s in the preamp,5150 slant cab,power brake and a GT-6."TONE FROM HELL".The Paf Pro and the X2N is the very best pickup combo I have found.I play all styles of Heavy Metal,no cover tunes.This pickup is a great bridge pickup.

I have already put this in another Dean ML.I have been playing for 26 years.In the past I used Seymour Duncan.I switched to Dimarzio several years ago and they ROCK.

My latest (1999) DiMarzio X2N was a little weak compared to one that I bought back in 1991. And I noticed the leads coming from the PU were ultra small, roughly twice the size of the wire used in the PU coil. I noticed the wires on the 1991 X2N were much larger, so remembering the old ???slot car??? trick, I opened up the newer X2N and soldered the two coil wires together, eliminating the ???duel-Sound??? option and soldered in some 20 gauge wire, a hot, a ground and a ground to the PU base and I twisted the wires together. It went from a reading 14.5 ohms to 15.89 ohms; I guess mine is running a little hot!

It is in the bridge position. The old Super Distortion PU I took out had a reading of 13.99 ohms and it appears to have bigger wires and a longer magnet than the new PU???s. I haven???t been able to crank a plexi heads to 7 yet with the new setup but it causes the ???Pandora???s Box??? to clip. I plugged it into the ???Splawn/Marshall??? and it will rock the clean channel, I know the PU I took out will make a Marshall tube amp scream and this PU has more highs and higher output, I???d say it will rock hard. Slot car technology works wonders???

It sounds much better too. before the mod I had tried this X2N in several guitars but I was not satisfied. I knew the 1991 X2N would set a solid Mahogany Les Paul on fire, and after the mod I installed the newer PU in a 1978 solid mahogany Gibson Explorer. I had 1978 Super distortion PU's in the Explorer and I had used them for years to over drive 100Wt. Marshall heads but I always wanted to try an X2N to remove the lows and it did the trick. Both are good but the X2N has more highs. The trick is to not have the X2N too close to the strings, because the strong magnets will pull the strings a little sharp. If it is too far away it will lose some of the hot rod tone you are looking for.

It does what it was designed to do...On an old X2N or one with 20 gauge leads added, I would say the X2N will clearly over-drive a Marshall head with out the need for a Distortion pedal. But keep in mind I'm talking with the amp volume knob between 6 and 9, with mid-soft(6)GT tubes. The X2N will have more highs than the Super Distortion Humbucker but both will rock very nicely. Actually all you need to do is crank the volume knob on the guitar back a little to clean it up when you don't want the distortion. If you want a stock Les Paul tone go for a PAF, there are many variations to chose from, but if you want to rock, my choice is always old Marshall heads and DiMarzio Pick Ups.

Please keep in mind that the Super Destortion Humbucker and the X2N were designed as a replacement Humbucker with the sole purpose of overdriving a 100 Watt Marshall stack with 6550 power tubes and volume cranked to 7 or 8. They aren't limited to this function but when installed in a Les Paul, an Explorier or an SG, they bring out the warm over-driven tones that rocked the world of many fans back in the 70's. So if you put them in a guitar that is not made out of Mahogany and you play them thorugh a different amp you might not like them as much. I have a Super Distortion Humbucker in a Swamp ash body, maple neck strat; and, in the studio, with a 100 watt Splawn/Marshall head on 10, it was chosen as the best sounding, perfectly saturated rock tone, ever. So there are exceptions to the Mahogany-Marshall rule. One more thing, pedals are ok and digital modelingis ok, but when you have a tube amp cranked and naturally delivering warm over tones and sometimes controled feedback you have it all. Digitization just can't duplicate the real thing perfectly...especially the controled tonal feedback you can achieve depending on where you stand on the stage.

You know the features.

i use an Aria guitar, some vintage strat shaped shit.
Clearly you'd swing this badboy into the bridge.
i had a seymour duncan jb-t4 in the bridge before, wanted something more brutal the duncan was good but didnt have as much oompf. i woz please with how well it;s takes maximum gain on the amp, my only woe is that i wish it we're a tad clearer, but other than that it's a great natural sounding pick up (i hate that electronic sound EMGs give you)
really solid harmonics, good sustain etc.
even though i play in drop B it's doesnt get muddy and dirty with looser strings and lower action

I play metal/death metal/hardcore but do a lot of 80's, Testament style solos.
i run through a shitty randall RH200 at practice and a Messa dual rectifer when recording and playing live.
once again great sound just wish it had a tad more clarity.

this pickup is great for me. i mean fast, heavey music just seems so effortless, i love the fact that you can get so much output from a passive pick up =D
im quite satisfied and all i have to say to people that have written shit reviews about this pick up is:
shove it up ya cunt slutt.
i mean for fuks sake try the pick up out, each pickup has unique characteristics, fits different styles.
talk to people who have one, ask around, dont just buy it coz of the reviews you read.

Features have describe very detailed in all the other reviews so no need to reply it here.

I had it installed at an Epiphone Custom Les Paul. I didn`t like the Epiphone stock pick ups which are more like crap in my oppinion ( Igive those 4,5). I use EMG 81 for a long time and was looking for an passiv alternative. After playing this pickup for 4 weeks I took it out and replaced it by an EMG 81.

Like others said in their reviews the level is tremendous and even more than an EMG 81. The pickup has lots of distortion. It has it`s very own sound which is great for metal and especially for downtuned kinda stuff. I somehow had the impression "the lower the better".

For those who feel the EMG 81 sounds to clinical but like to play metal this pick up might be an alternative. But it doesn`t sound as warm and natural as you might expect. I liked this pick up for recordings (SM 57 and Marshall DSL 401 volume half way up). I received great results here. But playing really loud live I didn`t like that pick up that much cause the sound became a little undefined. You have to take the Gain out at your amp to get good results IMO (only half way up max).

Compared to the EMG 81 the pick up lost it for me. It is a nice alternative but not an replacement. The EMG 81 sounds more enrgetic and driving to me and really fits better and a loud band live situation.

Good pick up but couldn`t really do it for me. Replaced it by an EMG 81 and now love the sound of my guitar in combination with the Marshall DSL 401. For beeing a passive pick up it has a very stril sound as well so nothing for Blues, Pop and not the best choice for Rock. Suits well for Metalheads tuning down low. But check out an EMG 81 and compare it before you go out and buy the Dimarzio.

Humbucking Pickup, High Gain.

Conklin Elec/Trick Axe; Bridge. New Pickup for this Guitar. I have used Seymour Duncan Pickups since the 1970's and missed out on DiMarzio's X2N, and to me, this IS the Greatest High Gain Passive Pickup on Earth for a Baritone Axe like I own!

The Output is beyond the EMG-81 for sure. I use Emery Sound Amps for the Studio in Class-A cathode-bias. Very balanced and great Highs and Mids with proper Bass that's tight. This is a Definite Metal or Goth Pickup all the way. I use a Baritone Axe and it Sings for this! Very Happy about the X2N.

I have had several Pickups by Seymour Duncan in my Axes over the years and the X2N even blows away the Duncan Active Live Wire HMET! That's High Output! If it were lost or stolen, I would have to replace it in a heartbeat. I LOVE the X2N. It's got singing sustain with the Kahler 2300 Tremolo. It's a Metal Pickup with its super high outputs and ceramic magnets. It blows away the Duncan LW-HMET and the EMG 81 because they only use alnico-V magnets, anyway. And I've Been There, Done That with those crappy pickups. I have my X2N wired with just the Volume knob and no splits or out-of-phase stuff. Tone capacitors suck tone out of any pickup bad. So consider going just the Volume knob for the X2N alone and I don't think You'll be disappointed one bit.

This is passive humbucker full sized, genuine design mark is DP104 X2N. Has 4 wires, more than 500mA output and DC resistance is more than 15.7kOhm measured. Offer is covering many color combination and with wide double blades looks dangerous and seriously in guitar. I ordered zebra combination, because guitar is black/white, just to make better look.

I ordered it for replacement of stock pickups in German's Keiper?? BK-104 Flying V guitar. This is solid 3-pieces ash body, alder neck and rosewood fingerboard. Together with this PU I ordered DiMarzio Super2 DP104 for neck position. Even stock PU in guitar were powerfully (DC=15-16kOhm) I ordered them because I thought that DiMarzio would give a "color" and charm to the sound. replaced PU were unknown, classic open coil humbuckers. Artist that use this PU is Vinnie Zummo, Jeff Labar, Steve Vai and myself, of course.
Reason for replacement is need for mighty PU suitable for HM sound, long sustain, trebled, violent sound, good squeeling, shredding...

Output is moderate, not measured by some device just by ears. Pickups has good sound for rhythm, riffs but too fast is loosing sustain during solo and I lifted up PU closest to string. In situation when PU is near strings like old PU were, PU is producing too much noise until I cover strings by palm (uncomfortable). I'm playing HM, thrash and sometime blues and for riffs it is good, not excellent as many already said... unfortunately he isn't "take no-prisoner" PU... sounds classic, like Gibson 490, nothing more nothing less.

In my opinion, 80USD is too much for this PU and characteristics that he is offering. I expected a very "wild" PU, violent riffs, long sustain but looks I missed thanks to review of many users that evaluate this PU like Dimebucker-killer or so...
I like sound of riffs of this PU but don't like noise and loosing sustain during solo. Seems that his position should be on neck than bridge, but X2N is already muddy.
I would like that he has more treble and sustain, because tapping and squeeling are almost things that simply is very hard to make using it! Former PU offered this simply and easy like piece of cake... Funny is that Keiper guitar has equal price like 2 DiMarzio PU but make better sound! It seems that name isn't all in music.