Has anyone tried the Dimarzio Area '61 singlecoil pickups?

DrewPeterson7

DrewPeterson7

Sage of the Order
I could have sworn I remember Light, I think, being really impressed with either these or the '57s, but a search turned up nothing.

I've got a Heavy Blues 2 in the neck and middle positions of my Strat right now (and an Andy Timmons 'bucker in the bridge), and while they sound great they're just not quite for me. It's a very thick sounding pickup, and it growls nicely and feels very organic in the way that it responds, but, well, it's a bit darker than I'd like. The Area '61 meanwhile is a little lower output (basically the same as the cruisers I had in for a while) but quite a bit brighter, so I think it might give me a clearer, more bell-like neck pickup tone.

I play bluesy shreddy sort of stuff, and plug into a Dual Rectifier Roadster. I'm kind of a bright guitar/dark amp sort of guy, tonally, and if I ended up with something similar to Division Bell era David Gilmour (but passive) I'd probably be happy. Thanks!


EDIT - oh, and I haven't been around much lately - hi everyone! I'll probably be posting a bit more these days. :)
 
Also, I finally got around to recording a video clip with the Heavy Blues set. They're hardly bad sounding pickups, by any means, it's just not quite what I want, I think. They're very Jimi, especially clean, which is what I thought I wanted, ironically...

 
Not that this thread has generated a whole heck of a lot of interest, but if anyone cares I ended up giving an Area '61 a try.

It's definitely more 'traditional' sounding than a Heavy Blues 2 - the later is a lot more midrange heavy and a little more humbucker-flavored, while the Area '61 is brighter, a bit scooped, and Strattier while still having a fair amount of output - this is sort of Dimarzio's take on a noiseless SRV style pickup (hence the name).

It still isn't 100% there, but I think it's a better fit for me. I've made two videos with it so far, a sort of ambient bluesy mid-gain lead thing against a moody backing track I put together:



...and a dry A/B I recorded before and after the swap. The tone here really leaves a lot to be desired for either pickup, TBH - I should have spent more time trying to find a slightly more balanced mic position:



Anyway, we'll see how long I leave this one in, and what I try next... I might just give up on the noiseless front and try a set of Texas Specials (I've really liked what I've heard recorded with them), or splurge on a pair of Bareknuckles or Wolfetones.
 
Hey notCardio - pretty bare bones. I plugged straight into my Rectoverb head (there was technically a modded tube screamer in line, but it was bipassed), with a Line6 DL4 in the loop and a THD Hot Plate at -8db or -12db (I forget, and I'm not at my place at the moment) between the head and my V30-loaded Recto 4x12. The mic position is at the end of the video, and my exact settings are in the description. I was on Channel 3 Modern, which that and 3 Vintage is a tossup for my favorite lead mode on the amp.

In the mix, I added a bit more stereo delay (really, I should have left off the Line6), and made a few minor EQ tweaks (if I recall right, a high pass or low shelf around 100-120hz and a low pass around 6-7k) and added a bit of compression, maybe 2:1. EQ-compressor-delay was the signal chain. Barring the delay of course the tweaks didn't really change the audio much - there were a few places where the low end just bloomed out a bit too much that I wanted to tame, and that did the trick.
 
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