Description
Before the Super Distortion showed up in the early ’70s, there simply wasn’t such a thing as a “replacement pickup.” DiMarzio changed that by building a humbucker with one job: push a tube amp past clean and into snarling overdrive, note by note, chord by chord. Decades later it’s still the benchmark every high-output humbucker gets measured against, and it’s the sound baked into countless platinum records from Ace Frehley to Al Di Meola to Paul Gilbert.
Tonally, it’s got that unmistakable ceramic-magnet signature — boosted mids with real thickness, low end that stays tight instead of flabby, and highs that cut without turning brittle. Single notes leap out of the mix, chords slam, and the whole thing feels like it’s got more headroom to push than a typical humbucker.
Because it ships with 4-conductor wiring, you’re not locked into one sound. Split the coils for a surprisingly Strat-like voice in both tone and touch-sensitivity, or wire two in parallel (a trick Paul Gilbert used back in his Racer X days) for a humbucking tone that’s a bit airier and more hollow than full series mode.
This is a bridge-position pickup first and foremost — it was engineered for solid-body guitars, and it can work in the neck slot if your amp isn’t running super hot. Hollow and semi-hollow bodies tend to fight back against this much output and warmth, so stick to solid-bodies for best results.
- Wiring: 4-Conductor
- Magnet: Ceramic
- Output: 425 mV
- DC Resistance: 13.68 kOhm
- Year Introduced: 1972
- Finish: Black
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