Description
Before the early ’70s, there was no such thing as a “replacement pickup.” Then DiMarzio built the Super Distortion, and the whole idea of chasing overdrive from the guitar itself was born. Decades later, it’s still the benchmark every hot-rodded humbucker gets compared against.
What made it different wasn’t just output — it was how the gain was shaped. Push a tube amp with this pickup and you get boosted mids up front, low end that stays tight instead of turning to mud, and highs that cut through without getting brittle or ice-picky. Chords hold together as a wall of sound; single notes still poke through with their own identity. That’s a harder balance to strike than raw output alone, and it’s why the Super Distortion became the template rather than just another loud pickup.
The track record speaks for itself — five decades of platinum records and players with wildly different styles leaning on it, from Ace Frehley’s snarl to Al Di Meola’s fusion runs to Tom Scholz’s arena-rock wall and Paul Gilbert’s shred attack. That range says a lot about how usable this pickup actually is once you get past the reputation.
This version (DP100W) comes with 4-conductor wiring, so you’re not locked into one sound. Wire it straight for the full-throttle humbucker tone, or take advantage of the flexible wiring to dial in Strat-like coil-split and series-parallel options for cleaner, thinner voices when you need them. One pickup, a lot more range than the “high-gain humbucker” label suggests.
Regular spacing, bridge position — drop it into anything built around a standard humbucker route and you’re set.
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