Dimarzio Area T bridge pickup

[RFurman]

jmclaren,
Are you using the Hot Area T in that bridge combo with the Area T neck? I talked with a tech on the phone today at DiMarzio and he said that it should work. My biggest concerns are that the Hot bridge might be way over the top as compared to the neck. A little greater output on the bridge is ok for me, but a huge difference might be another problem. Thanks for your input here . . .
RFurman

[jmclaren]

RFurman;
No, I'm using the standard Area T bridge. I haven't heard the Hot Area T, but it would probably overpower the neck Area T more than I'd like, based on my experience with the standard pup. I almost bought the Hot version initially, and am now glad that I didn't. But don't get me wrong, their outstanding tone and lack of 60 cycle hum make it all worthwhile for me.

[Chrismo]

I was told the Area T/Area Hot T would pair okay - but I'm thinking the Area Hot T is the solution for Tele players with a 'bucker in the neck.

In my next Tele I'm doing a Dimarzio Minibucker and an Area Hot T.

[jmclaren]

Chrismo;

I had the exact same thought when I first listened to them. The combo with a Mini bucker in the neck would be awesome. Might sound good with a chambered body, too (335-ish).

[RFurman]

To chrismo and jmclaren:
I take it that both of you are using regular Area T's in the bridge and the neck on your teles. Do you feel that you get enough grind out of the bridge when you need it considering this pup will be a little twangier (this word would only be found on a tele site, not Bennie's dictionary) and a little less output than a Hot Area T? I really appreciate all of you fellas replies, believe me . . . .
Thanks,
RFurman

[jmclaren]

RFurman;
When I turn my amp up or use a mild OD pedal, I get plenty of grind with the regular Area T. It reminds me of the Tele tone that the lead player for the Pretenders got in the early days.

[RFurman]

Fair enough, sir, fair enough . . . . thanks for your help and insight.
Rfurman

[Chrismo]

Rfurman - I certainly get the grind and grit when I need to - with the lower output it makes it easier to clean it up and let it roll when I need to.

Jmclaren - I'd really like to try that combo in a thinline Tele, but it'll likely be a solidbody.

[hal]

No one is address one of the most important things about these pickups--less noise.

I have the original VV pickups in my 68. I originally got them to put in a G & L Asat Classic I had. I sold it to a guy in Australia for a tidy profit, but I put the pickups in the 68. They have been in there about 2 years now. And yes I still have the originals. I did not have to mess up the wiring to do this.

The church service I run is in a room that has the dirtiest power ever. EMF, video and light feeds that are not grounded, shared circuits with who knows what. A regular single coil pickup is just about impossible in that room. These pickups really fix all that and still sound great to me--like a Tele should.

[jmclaren]

Hal;
The less noise issue is a given. That's what caused me to check them out in the first place.

[clapointe]

I installed the Area T into the bridge of my Telecaster ! WOW .......... what a great sounding pickup ! I have a Dimazio Twang King in the neck and now the Area T in the bridge !!! It's a great sounding telecaster ! :-)

[jmclaren]

Clapointe;
How's the balance between the two. Does the Area T overpower the Twang King?

[clapointe]

Originally Posted by jmclaren

Clapointe;
How's the balance between the two. Does the Area T overpower the Twang King?

I had to raise the neck pickup and lower the bridge pickup to balance the volume output of the Area T ! What a great sounding combo with Area T and the Twang King !!!

[dividedsky]

So the Area T's are pretty powerful? I have a low powered amp and decided I need pickups at least as powerful as the ones that came stock in my Mexican Standard.

[TG]

Originally Posted by dividedsky

So the Area T's are pretty powerful? I have a low powered amp and decided I need pickups at least as powerful as the ones that came stock in my Mexican Standard.

They are fairly standard vintage output, I believe. But the magnets being alnico2 with a 'softer' magnetic field you can set them closer to the strings if you wish.
But, yes, it should be at least as loud as your MIM pickup. High output pickups don't necessarily just make things 'louder', incidentally. The general rule is that the more output a pickup has the worse it sounds played clean, so choosing 'powerful' pickups to compensate for an amp being low powered wouldn't be the approach I'd take.
For high-gain shenanigans super hot pickups work really well but they don't usually sound very good just plugged into a little amp. Most of us use relatively low output 'vintage' style pickups to get the best clean sound possible and then use the amplifier and/or some sort of boost to get volume and/or dirt. Remember that some of the finest 'loud' recordings were done with old standard 'vintage' pickups. Led Zep, Hendrix, etc...

There is the Dimarzio Virtual Vintage Hot Tele pickup, by the way. Same as the AreaT but with more output.

[randysmojo]

The Virtual Vintage Hot was replaced by the Area Hot T. In reviews that I checked out, it almost seemed like the Virtual Vintage Hot was hotter than the Area T And the Area Hot T. There was a VV Hot T on ebay yesterday that might still be there.

[Chrismo]

Originally Posted by randysmojo

The Virtual Vintage Hot was replaced by the Area Hot T. In reviews that I checked out, it almost seemed like the Virtual Vintage Hot was hotter than the Area T And the Area Hot T. There was a VV Hot T on ebay yesterday that might still be there.

I had one of these in an Esquire - they were rather ballsy for a singlecoil. Sort of like a P-90 in a way.

[randysmojo]

After a gig last weekend, I decided I've had enough with hum, so I sold off some stuff and just paid for an Area T Bridge pickup. I should get it and have it installed by the end of the weekend. I'll post back with what I think about them.

[clapointe]

The Area T is really the best of both worlds of a 50's and 60's telecaster bridge pickup !

[randysmojo]

Well I played with the Area T last night. It was a wow moment. It sounds completely like a single coil with none of the stale lifeless-ness of other hum cancelling singlecoil like designs I've tried. Actual, it sounds better than the original pickup in my Custom Shop Tele, and equal to the Harmonic Designs Vintage Plus I have had before. This is the bridge pickup for me! Now to find a neck pickup I like as much. Of course I should probably try the matching neck model, but who knows. I might just try to take the cover off the current neck pickup. I't just a little bit dark, but sounds great otherwise.