Any thought on DiMarzio Area-T's Vs. Duncan Vintage Stack

Al Watsky · June 17th, 2008, 12:14 PM

Howdy folks, anyone have an opinion on the DiMarzio Area T's Vs. The Duncan Vintage Stack ?
My guitar was "delayed" by the Airlines, I guess that means "lost" in normal language and I need some noise less Tele pickups quick.
Bill and Becky are off to a trade show so I have to check out some other options , I have 280's in my other stage guitar.
Any thoughts on the 2 above mentioned PU sets ?
Thanks !!!!

rdchapman · June 17th, 2008, 04:08 PM

I just installed Area T's in one of my teles and I find them to be pretty close in sound to the Original Vintage I got in the guitar. Bright and clear

ReddRanger · June 17th, 2008, 04:45 PM

Area T's. I own a set and would recomend them. However, I cannot say I've personally tried the Duncan Vintage Stacks. But my local store who I've gone to for a decade prefers the Areas hand down over the V-Stacks.

For what it's worth, Brad Paisley has the Area T bridge in a couple of his teles.

Al Watsky · June 17th, 2008, 11:32 PM

Cool, I'll give the T's a try.

Peter Krasov · June 19th, 2008, 01:22 AM

I think that if you want stacks or minihums it is better to go with DiMarzio. Seymour's stacks, including Vintage Stack, sound a bit sterile.
Personally, I tried Vintage Stack bridge and Area T neck.
Vintage Stack is good, but it has less dynamics and feel (IMHO) I expected from a tele bridge pup. It doesn't sqeal or feedbacks when overdriven heavily, but his sound becomes thin. Sometimes it seemed to me that it was harsh.
In contrary to Vintage Stack, DiMarzio Virtual T has more subtle, gentle and dimensional sound, but it is weaker.
Area T is good, but i prefer Twang King to it, just because I traditionally prefer true single coils to stacks (with some exceptions), especially in neck in middle positions. I think in bridge position stack will work better, and is this case I always vote for DiMarzio.

Al Watsky · June 19th, 2008, 09:25 AM

PK, I like to use the stacks because of the noise when using multiple gain stages and compression. I love the sound of traditional single coils but find myself being much more relaxed on stage and in the studio with a low noise floor. Have recently been using Lawrence 280's which although they are very "Hi-Fi" drive pedals well and are silent.
I'll be happy to compare the Area T's to the Lawrence 280's. I have heard lots of good stuff about the DiMarzio's. After years of ground hum its a pleasure to enjoy some silence for a change.
Thanks to all for the input.

Al Watsky · June 22nd, 2008, 04:41 PM

Had a moment to install the Area T's in my back up guitar.
Interesting differences between the Lawrence 280's and the T's.
The T's have more pronounced midrange and sorta crunch more. They sound
more Rock and Roll. They are touch sensitive , dynamic and don't seem overly compressed , nor are they dark sounding.
The 280's sound more balanced , but possibly simply have less mid content, perhaps less output ,slightly less charactar.
The T's bridge pickup is slightly more brash than the 280.
I get the impression that the DiMarzio's rely on the idea of unbalanced coils to preserve high end.The cavities on both guitars are fully shielded and have the same 250k pots and .5 caps. The T's sound pretty close to real single coils , without the hum. More trad. sounding than the Lawrence. Like the fact that I can body mount the neck pu without modifying it. Thats a plus.
An interesting pick up. We'll see how it likes effects in a day or so.
Right now just comparing through my BFPR. All in all a good product at a good price.

June 17th, 2008, 12:14 PM	#1 (permalink)
Al Watsky TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: New Jersey Age: 56 Posts: 92	Any thought on DiMarzio Area-T's Vs. Duncan Vintage Stack Howdy folks, anyone have an opinion on the DiMarzio Area T's Vs. The Duncan Vintage Stack ? My guitar was "delayed" by the Airlines, I guess that means "lost" in normal language and I need some noise less Tele pickups quick. Bill and Becky are off to a trade show so I have to check out some other options , I have 280's in my other stage guitar. Any thoughts on the 2 above mentioned PU sets ? Thanks !!!!

June 17th, 2008, 04:08 PM	#2 (permalink)
rdchapman Tele-Meister Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Saratoga, NY Age: 54 Posts: 412	I just installed Area T's in one of my teles and I find them to be pretty close in sound to the Original Vintage I got in the guitar. Bright and clear

June 17th, 2008, 04:45 PM	#3 (permalink)
ReddRanger Tele-Meister Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: California Posts: 249	Area T's. I own a set and would recomend them. However, I cannot say I've personally tried the Duncan Vintage Stacks. But my local store who I've gone to for a decade prefers the Areas hand down over the V-Stacks. For what it's worth, Brad Paisley has the Area T bridge in a couple of his teles.

June 17th, 2008, 11:32 PM	#4 (permalink)
Al Watsky TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: New Jersey Age: 56 Posts: 92	Cool, I'll give the T's a try.

June 19th, 2008, 01:22 AM	#5 (permalink)
Peter Krasov TDPRI Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Russia, Moscow Posts: 21	I think that if you want stacks or minihums it is better to go with DiMarzio. Seymour's stacks, including Vintage Stack, sound a bit sterile. Personally, I tried Vintage Stack bridge and Area T neck. Vintage Stack is good, but it has less dynamics and feel (IMHO) I expected from a tele bridge pup. It doesn't sqeal or feedbacks when overdriven heavily, but his sound becomes thin. Sometimes it seemed to me that it was harsh. In contrary to Vintage Stack, DiMarzio Virtual T has more subtle, gentle and dimensional sound, but it is weaker. Area T is good, but i prefer Twang King to it, just because I traditionally prefer true single coils to stacks (with some exceptions), especially in neck in middle positions. I think in bridge position stack will work better, and is this case I always vote for DiMarzio.

June 19th, 2008, 09:25 AM	#6 (permalink)
Al Watsky TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: New Jersey Age: 56 Posts: 92	PK, I like to use the stacks because of the noise when using multiple gain stages and compression. I love the sound of traditional single coils but find myself being much more relaxed on stage and in the studio with a low noise floor. Have recently been using Lawrence 280's which although they are very "Hi-Fi" drive pedals well and are silent. I'll be happy to compare the Area T's to the Lawrence 280's. I have heard lots of good stuff about the DiMarzio's. After years of ground hum its a pleasure to enjoy some silence for a change. Thanks to all for the input.

June 22nd, 2008, 04:41 PM	#7 (permalink)
Al Watsky TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: New Jersey Age: 56 Posts: 92	Had a moment to install the Area T's in my back up guitar. Interesting differences between the Lawrence 280's and the T's. The T's have more pronounced midrange and sorta crunch more. They sound more Rock and Roll. They are touch sensitive , dynamic and don't seem overly compressed , nor are they dark sounding. The 280's sound more balanced , but possibly simply have less mid content, perhaps less output ,slightly less charactar. The T's bridge pickup is slightly more brash than the 280. I get the impression that the DiMarzio's rely on the idea of unbalanced coils to preserve high end.The cavities on both guitars are fully shielded and have the same 250k pots and .5 caps. The T's sound pretty close to real single coils , without the hum. More trad. sounding than the Lawrence. Like the fact that I can body mount the neck pu without modifying it. Thats a plus. An interesting pick up. We'll see how it likes effects in a day or so. Right now just comparing through my BFPR. All in all a good product at a good price.