CLIP: Lollar Vintage-T VS DiMarzio Area-T .... Neck pickup A-B-C Test

[Jim Soloway]

I did a recording this morning to compare neck pickups. One has a swamp ash body with a Lollar Vintage Style T pickup; one has a swamp ash body with a DiMarzio Area-T pickup; and the third has a korina body with a maple top and a DiMarzio Area-T.

I recorded the same passage with all three guitars. The settings on both the amp and guitars are the same for all three version. I have not identified which version is which in a effort to keep things as objective as I can.

Thoughts? Comments? Opinions (I know we all have lots of those )?

http://www.jimsoloway.com/TascamDemo...ollarA-B-C.mp3

[boneyguy]

Interesting. My initial impressions are that all three clips sound very similar with only subtle differences.

I would say that clips 1 and 3 sound more compressed overall than clip 2. 1 and 3 seemed to have a bit more of a mid range hump to them. Maybe!!

Clip 2 stood out to my ear as having a bit more clarity and definition and perhaps a slightly broader frequency range to it. A slightly more 'open' sound to it overall.

Again all 3 sound good and have more similarities than differences I would say.

[Tritone]

Originally Posted by boneyguy

1 and 3 seemed to have a bit more of a mid range hump to them. Maybe!!

Clip 2 stood out to my ear as having a bit more clarity and definition and perhaps a slightly broader frequency range to it. A slightly more 'open' sound to it overall.

Again all 3 sound good and have more similarities than differences I would say.

I agree with that. I'd say clip 1 had a much more pronounced midrange, and 2 had the least, but 2 and 3 sounded very similar to me.

This is such a cool experiment! I can't wait to find out what setups go with each clip!


My completely uneducated, wild guess:
1 = Lollar pickups, ash body
2 = Area T pickups, ash body
3 = Area T pickups, Korina/maple body

[Mark Davis]

1. is the Dimarzio T in ash body
2. Lollars
3. Dimarzio in Korina body

Thats my guess

[91xlntS-3]

I'm not wagering any guesses, my impressions are:

1 & 3 sound very similar, although to my ears, 1 has the most articulation of the 3. 2 has a more "jazz" tone to it, if that makes any sense.

They all sound so good, It would be a hard choice to make! For my use tho, #1 would be my personal choice of the 3.

[RomanS]

1. Sounded the warmest, with slightly less treble - mahogany (EDIT: korina is what I meant) body? My favorite...
2. is my least favorite one, slightly nasal upper mids, slightly less "3-dimensional" than the others.
3. is the most "classic" Tele sounding one to my ears, slightly less mids, slightly scooped, with a bit more "string" than body.

[odiemann]

I am really interested in 1 and 2, let us know.

[Nick JD]

Guessing the uber-subtle differences through my Logitech speakers/sub would be like taste-testing fine, boutique-brewed ales straight after cleaning my teeth!

If I was standing next to your amp, I'd have a guess. And if I were to test the integrity of cheap computer speaker setups - I'd guess:

B and C were the DiMarzios, C was Maple topped.

Still, sounds nice, Jim. Is that the 27" scale?

[Jim Soloway]

Some interesting responses. For those of you who are interested, #1 is the korina/maple with the DiMarzio Area-T. #2 is the swamp ash with the Lollar. #3 is the swamp ash with the Area-T.

[91xlntS-3]

I may have to investigate that DiMarzio Area-T, a very nice sounding p-up!

Thanks for the info!

[reverberocket2]

Thanks for the clip Jim, very nice playing and tone.

On Friday evening I orderd an Area T neck and VV Hot T bridge for my tele, can't wait to receive them and load them.

That Korina/Maple top is warm and sweet, it definitely imparts a slightly fatter Gibsonesque tone

[tpaul]

Interesting experiment. To my ears, clip #1 was more shimmery