Description
Chasing that mythical late-50s Strat tone usually means accepting a side of 60-cycle hum and a pickup that fights back with heavy string pull. DiMarzio built the Area 58 around a single reference pickup – a genuine 1958 unit the design team considers the best-sounding vintage single coil they’ve encountered. Rather than clone its flaws, they kept what made it special: a bright, articulate top end that never turns brittle, and a dynamic range wide enough that pick attack alone reshapes your tone, hard digging pushes the sound forward, backing off cleans it up, and where you pick across the string changes the color.
What DiMarzio changed is just as important. Magnetic pull on the strings is dramatically reduced compared to a true vintage-style Alnico 2 unit, so sustain and intonation stay stable even set close to the strings. Hum cancellation is also well ahead of a standard single coil, quieter than DiMarzio’s own Virtual Vintage 2.1 that this model replaced, and among the quietest in their single-coil lineup.
Height adjustment matters more than usual here. Set the Area 58 tight to the strings for a fatter, slightly compressed blues-friendly growl, or drop it back for glassy, crystalline clean tones. It’s voiced for neck or middle position but works fine in the bridge if that’s the flavor you’re after.
- Wiring: 4-conductor
- Magnet: Alnico 2
- Output: 125 mV
- DC Resistance: 6.15 kOhm
- Introduced: 2006
- Finish: Aged White
- Patents: 4,442,749 and 5,908,802
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