Dimarzio Area 58 (neck and mid pos) on Strat

Installed on my 97 American Stratocaster today.

Very impressed. Amazing warmth in these pups, noiseless or not they just sound incredible.

Always been a Duncan guy but these 58's are as good as any noiseless I've heard. I still use a Duncan Hot Rail set real low in the bridge for singing lead tones and it mixes perfectly with the Dimarzios in the second (quack notch) position.

I have been recording extensively lately and really needed some vintage spec single coil strat tones. Both crystal clean and overdriven, the 58's sound like vintage strat pups to my ears except no hum. I cant tell you how much I despise that 60 cycle hurricane of noise when recording.

I will post some sound clips as soon as I really get them dialed in. They are very sensitive to small adjustments but I haven't been able to get them to sound bad - high or low. Just searching for that sweet spot, almost there!

I'm a long-time user of the DiMarzio Areas. I tend to swap pickups a lot, but these Areas have proven to be keepers! I have two Strats, one running 58/58/61, the other 58/67/61; and a Tele running a pair of Area Ts. I find them immensely satisfying to play with strong vintage voicing. Since I'm also "vintage", I value DiMarzio's excellence very highly!

What are you running in the bridge position?

Since I'm also "vintage", I value DiMarzio's excellence very highly!

Hey I'm the same "vintage!" '53 was a very good year for Teles and being born! Anyway, I love my DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Hot Tele Bridge pickup. It kills through my Vox Pathfinder 15R. But I have also been very curious about the Area '58s mixed with the Area '61 in the bridge of a Strat.

I'm a long-time user of the DiMarzio Areas. I tend to swap pickups a lot, but these Areas have proven to be keepers! I have two Strats, one running 58/58/61, the other 58/67/61; and a Tele running a pair of Area Ts. I find them immensely satisfying to play with strong vintage voicing. Since I'm also "vintage", I value DiMarzio's excellence very highly!

What are you running in the bridge position?

I am running a Duncan Hot Rails for strat in the bridge but set pretty low from the strings. And I kept the stock 250K pots for the purpose of having the three pups match output-wise, which they really do! I thought about the '61 but I really needed more sustain on the bridge for those "singing" type lead tones. And I tend to rock pretty heavy at times. Not all the time, but I do need the capabilities at hand for just such occasions!

Hey, question....I have a Tele that I have wired with no-name single coil Strat middle and neck pups and a Fralin Blues Special bridge. Would the Dimarzio Area 58s be a good match? Do they have too much output to pair with the Fralin bridge pup?

I too have been giving these pu's a serious look. Question: Would a triplet of Area 67's be too thin/bright for a Hendrix set-up?

Aren't the Area 67's modeled after late 60's Fenders, which encompasses much of the Hendrix sound? Keep in mind, The Hendrix Marshall S100's were a darker sounding amp than more recent Marshall models. The 67's might sound too bright with many amps. The 61's might be a safer bet. More like early Hendrix, I'd think.

My understanding is the Area 67 is designed for those late 60s Hendrix-type strat tones. I'd do a pair for the neck and middle with a Virtual Vintage 54 Pro for the bridge. Never bonded with the Area 61 and felt the 54 Pro gave much needed thickness for the bridge.

That sounds like a good set, or maybe an Injector in the bridge? I guess the Injectors are more aggressive in the mids, while the VV 54 Pro is probably smoother.

I've got a set in my Strat and I really like them.

That sounds like a good set, or maybe an Injector in the bridge? I guess the Injectors are more aggressive in the mids, while the VV 54 Pro is probably smoother.

Paul Gilbert used 3 Area 67s and then had the Injector Neck/Area 67/Injector Bridge setup. Having played the Injectors, they are nice, fat, ballsy Strat pickups but not quite vintage. I think the '54 Pro would balance best with the two Area 67s.

Paul Gilbert used 3 Area 67s and then had the Injector Neck/Area 67/Injector Bridge setup. Having played the Injectors, they are nice, fat, ballsy Strat pickups but not quite vintage. I think the '54 Pro would balance best with the two Area 67s.

Listening to the injector demos and considering the specs, the 54 pro sounds like the way to go.

Listening to the injector demos and considering the specs, the 54 pro sounds like the way to go.

I had one in my Strat for a while (until I decided I wanted more crunch and swapped it out for a Chopper) but it sounded great!

The Injectors remind me of SDS-1's, but a little more articulate. Neither seem to have much sparkle, but it depends a lot on the cable capacitance. They are probably pretty high inductance. The Pro 54 might be just the ticket.

Not to steal Larry DiMarzio's thunder, but you could get the same kind of thing from Wilde (Bill Lawrence) for ~30% less. An NF series L280SN/L280SM/L290SL or L298SL set with a GFS Aluminum pick guard shield (like the pre CBS Strats had to soften the midrange edge) will give you great soulful Hendrix sounds with excellent punch and clarity without any upper mid harshness. The L298's have fatter lower mid/mids, while the L280's/L290SL are more like early 60's Fenders with improved punch and clarity. I have some L280's and use Al shielding. I have always been a big Hendrix fan. It's a really good choice for that type of sound. Bill actually came up with the same kind of more efficient hum free design back in the mid 90's. He actually "mentored" Larry DiMarzio on pickup designing back in the early 70's when Bill worked in NY. Either way, you'll get some great pickups.

i decided to go 54 pro neck, area 67 middle, injector bridge. will report how it works out. I'm confident the area 67 was a good choice in the middle. Will see how well the output matches up with the other two hotter p/u's.

I too have been giving these pu's a serious look. Question: Would a triplet of Area 67's be too thin/bright for a Hendrix set-up?

I was thinking this set up as I personally prefer to have the same pu's in all three positions - like a vintage Fender which a lot our Hereos used.

It took me a long time to break away from Humbuckers, I guess I don't Rock out as hard as I used to. So basically I gave up on the bridge position on a Strat for that purpose (btw, I set my sound up around the neck position)

Also, everytime I try to go hotter in the bridge - I lose the quack in the bridge/middle. That's the sound I can not live without. I've also learned to use the middle position more.

I've been jonsing for this set up for a while now. I will try it out and let you guys know how it sounds. I don't own a Marshall but my Blackstar Artisan gets me real close. My '59 Bassman RI is no slouch too.

I was thinking this set up as I personally prefer to have the same pu's in all three positions - like a vintage Fender which a lot our Hereos used.

It took me a long time to break away from Humbuckers, I guess I don't Rock out as hard as I used to. So basically I gave up on the bridge position on a Strat for that purpose (btw, I set my sound up around the neck position)

Also, everytime I try to go hotter in the bridge - I lose the quack in the bridge/middle. That's the sound I can not live without. I've also learned to use the middle position more.

I've been jonsing for this set up for a while now. I will try it out and let you guys know how it sounds. I don't own a Marshall but my Blackstar Artisan gets me real close. My '59 Bassman RI is no slouch too.

Your Bassman is probably closer in tone to his modified KT66 based Marshall S100 lead amps than the EL34 or EL84 based Blackstars. Hendrix was quite fond of his Bassman as well. Brighter pickups work very well with a darker amp like that. I think Hendrix would have gone for a fatter sounding bridge pickup if there was one available that also had good highs. Of course, he relied on a very high capacitance coil cable to boost ~2kHz for live use. he used a short low capacitance cable in the studio for smooth extended highs.

The Wilde NF series have thiner wire than could be consistently wound back then. The active half of the NF series coils is much smaller and denser than a standard Strat coil. That and other design elements give them great fundamental and bass response, improved clarity with smoother extended highs and strong output. I had already mentioned the traits of the series, but to elaborate: the L290SL and L298SL are very versatile bridge pickups that are a little higher inductance than the original Strat bridge pickups, but not too high inductance to roll off all the highs with a reasonable capacitance cable. The L280's are great 60's style middle and neck pickups at virtually the same 2.4H inductance as the originals.

The DiMarzio Pro 54 would probably give you that type of sound in the bridge, but you may find the Area 67's to have too much upper midrange unless you use a low capacitance cable for smooth extended highs, or a very high ~3000pF rated cable, or an actual ~2 - 2.5kHz 2nd order LP filter (as would be created by the high capacitance cable and the pot resistance with pickups in the 2-3H inductance range).