Dimarzio Area T bridge pickup

[clapointe]

Needing your input on the Dimarzio Area T bridge pickup ! I'm wanting to play classic rock , blues and COUNTRY !!! Will the Area T do the twang for country ???

[Chrismo]

Yes yes YES. It's the best bridge pickup I've ever used.

[TG]

It's very good, but being alnico2 you need to take time setting the height. Alnico2 is very height sensitive and a few turns of a screwdriver can make a big difference.

I actually prefer the pickup that the AreaT replaced...the DP412 Virtual Vintage Tele regular output. That's what I have in my tele and esquire and they aren't coming out. Ever.
I did put an AreaT in a thinline I had until recently and I did some experimenting swapping the AreaT and the DP412 between it and my esquire and I felt that the DP412 had the edge over the AreaT, even though the AreaT was very good. I can't remember exactly why now, but I liked either guitar that much more when the DP412 was in it. I ended up leaving the AreaT in the thinline and selling it.
I emailed Dimarzio to tell them that they needed have bothered trying to 'improve' the DP412...and that they didn't anyway. They had it right with the DP412. They emailed back that they didn't agree and that they need to constantly improve and change and move forward, blah, blah, blah....which didn't make sense to me considering that they still make the FS1 strat pickup.
If it ain't broke...

You sometimes see DP412s on eBay.

[Ignatius]

I've tried the Area T twice. I want to like it. I have an Area Hot T and although I like it a lot, there are times when I wish it was just a tad less hot. I found the Area T to not be hot enough. And this is after carefully experimenting with pickup heights.

TG, I agree with your comments about leaving well enough alone. Perhaps it's the guitar it's in too, but I really like the Area Hot T's predecessor, the DP413. Oh well.

[loudguitars]

I tried to like my area T. I installed it, gigged with it, tweaked it and removed it. Enough said. It had no balls! In my opinion.

[Chrismo]

Originally Posted by loudguitars

I tried to like my area T. I installed it, gigged with it, tweaked it and removed it. Enough said. It had no balls! In my opinion.

The Area Hot T has balls. I'd give that one a shot.

[Funkybot]

I love my Area T's but I'm not a country guy so I won't comment on the twang factor. But tor rock tones, it's certainly more than capable and sounds great.

[Voicing 13]

Is it a stack pickup?

Chrismo is making me very curious about the pup.

[TeleJelly]

Don't hate me...but maybe the deciding factor as to whether the pickup sounds great or not has more to do with the instruments they are in. Some guitars really shine acoustically/electrically if the neck and body mate well. Just a thought

[Chrismo]

TeleJelly is right - the pickup should fit the guitar.

Voicing 13 - I believe it does utilize a stack design in order to be hum-canceling. I may be mistaken as it does not look as tall as the Duncan stacks to me.

[Voicing 13]

Thanks Chrismo!

V

[Funkybot]

Originally Posted by Chrismo

TeleJelly is right - the pickup should fit the guitar.

Voicing 13 - I believe it does utilize a stack design in order to be hum-canceling. I may be mistaken as it does not look as tall as the Duncan stacks to me.

I read somewhere that they use a weird stack design where the "second" winding is incomplete thus keeping the height down. According to them it's also what allows them to still sound like single coils. It's supposed to be a unique design to Dimarzio.

[Voicing 13]

Funkybot,
thanks I'll do more research on these. The website doesn't say much.

V

[RFurman]

I am also curious about the Hot Area T. Would it sound bad if it was paired with a regular Area T neck and also use the 4-way switching option?
Thanks,
RWF

[Chrismo]

Funkybot - that's very similar to what I was told a long time ago. Almost like a dummy coil with the actual coil. They do that with the Bluesbucker...

RFurman - it would not sound bad at all - your bridge pickup would just be slightly gainier than a typical Area T. In fact I was suggested the Area Hot T with my Area T neck because I do play classic rock often.

[RFurman]

Chrismo,
Question for you -- can you effectively back off your volume pot on that Hot Area T, get it to clean up rather well, and get a little of a part of that vintage twang out of that bridge pup? I really do like the sounds that I have heard (for what little they are worth) on the DiMarzio site and the UTube. You would be a good judge as to whether that pup can get that good sweet sustain and crisp sound that I heard on the DiMarzio site. Thanks for your reply . . .
RFurman

[Chrismo]

Originally Posted by RFurman

Chrismo,
Question for you -- can you effectively back off your volume pot on that Hot Area T, get it to clean up rather well, and get a little of a part of that vintage twang out of that bridge pup? I really do like the sounds that I have heard (for what little they are worth) on the DiMarzio site and the UTube. You would be a good judge as to whether that pup can get that good sweet sustain and crisp sound that I heard on the DiMarzio site. Thanks for your reply . . .
RFurman

Anytime you roll back your volume you will be cleaning up a pickup - I think with the Area Hot T you should be able to clean up just nicely. It's not so hot that it loses its singlecoil qualities - just a tad thicker for an increased bite with gain.

[clapointe]

Are you guys using 250k pots or 500k pots ?

[Chrismo]

I use 250K pots for singlecoils.

[jmclaren]

I've been using both the Area T bridge and neck pups in my Tele for a couple of weeks now. I'm amazed at how "Tele - like" they sound. I've literally tried dozens of pickups in this same Tele during the past 25 years and I like these the best. I play all kinds of music and find the neck pickup to be great for jazz and blues, while the bridge works for both rock and country. Plus,the middle position has a cool funk / R&B tone. This is an extremely versatile pickup combination. The only downside is that the bridge pup is louder than the neck no matter how I adjust their height.

By the way, I'm in the process of trying different pot combinations and currently have both the volume and tone pots bypassed. I have a 1 meg tone pot on the way from Acme. Will install it when received and let you know how it sounds.