Description
The Crunch Lab is DiMarzio’s collaboration with John Petrucci, developed for the kind of high-gain precision progressive metal demands. Petrucci tracked Dream Theater’s tenth studio album, “Black Clouds & Silver Linings,” with this pickup in the bridge, and has called it the best live and studio tone he’s found in his career.
What sets the Crunch Lab apart is its focus on definition under gain. The ceramic magnet and 4-conductor wiring give you a pickup that stays punchy and articulate at high output, avoiding the compressed, boxy sound that plagues a lot of hot bridge humbuckers. Chords stay tight, single-note runs cut through, and palm-muted riffs retain their attack instead of collapsing into mush. It’s a pickup built for players who need aggression without sacrificing note clarity — think fast alternate picking, drop tunings, and dense harmonic content.
The 4-conductor lead wiring opens up coil-splitting and phase options if your wiring setup allows for it, giving you more tonal flexibility beyond the standard humbucker voice.
- Wiring: 4 Conductor
- Magnet: Ceramic
- Output: 410 mV
- DC Resistance: 11.03 kOhm
- Year Introduced: 2009
- Patents: 4,501,185 & 5,908,998
- Finish: Black
Pair it with a Crunch Lab-matched neck pickup for the full Petrucci setup, or drop it into your own bridge position for a serious upgrade in high-gain clarity.
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