Dimarzio Tone Zone

I hope some one can give me some good advice. I have an American Stratocaster(Fat Strat H-S-S) with a SD Pearly Gates in the bridge and two Tex Mex single coil pickups. I have a Line 6 Flextone II Plus (1x12). I like and play all types of music, however the sound I want to have is that of a guitarist named Stephen Egerton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Egerton). He sounds like recent Paul Gillbert or Joe Petrucci. He plays a Music Man. His tone is distorted/hi gain but articulate with an almost synthesizer quality. He kind of sounds like Prog Metal (Dream Theater). I was thinking of getting a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge and Fast Track, Super Distortion or Tone Zone strat-sized humbuckers in the middle and neck. I realize that part of the equation is improving my technique, but will changing the pickups I have help?

I have one guitar with a Dual Sound (4-wire Super Distortion) and an identical guitar with a Tone Zone. Both are installed at the bridge. If you use Tone Zone as the keyword for an Advanced Search, you should find lots of discussions on both of these pickups. I've never owned a Pearly Gates, because I've never played a SD-equipped guitar that inspired me to want to cop their sound.

I think the Tone Zone is probably closer to what you want. The Super Distortion has a thicker sound than the PG, but the Tone Zone is better at making harmonics and overtones jump out at high gain, without getting muddy. Quasi-synth tones are there for asking. The Dual Sound gets that same classic Super Distortion crunch in series connection, while giving some tasty lower-output tones in parallel mode. The Tone Zone also allows series/parallel coil connections, with its own voicing.

'Modern' heavily-processed rigs are not kind to the Super distortion. It was developed for the tube amps being used in the 70's, and that's where its happiest. The Tone Zone works well with my old tube amps too, but it was developed for the newer rigs, and I think it would be a better choice for you. Install it with 1 Megohm pots for both the Tone and Volume controls. Use a 0.022 uF cap for the Tone control, and install a 0.001 uF cap between the 'top' of the Volume pot and the wiper terminal, to prevent treble roll-off at reduced Volume settings.

I suggest a ToneZone at the bridge and an Air Norton at the neck. I was thinking of getting a ToneZone combo before and emailed the techs at Dimarzio, they were very helpful and pretty much advised against combining it with the SD. They recommended the AirNorton. Check out the sound bites for Theodore Ziras on www.guitar9.com for an idea of the sound (technical pro/neo-classical shred)

Thanks. Great advice Lord of the Rings. I think I will go with the Tone Zone. I have heard the Pro Track is the PAF Pro equivalent for strat-sized humbuckers-is this true? Also, I have replaced pickups before but not potentiometers. Is it harder to replace a pot and can you get them some where like Guitar Center? Finally, does the pickup really make that much difference in your tone? Thanks again to everyone who gave advice.

What amp model(Flextone) would most replicate the type of sound I said I am after?

Review the PonyOne >pickup replacement< thread.

Go to >GuitarNuts< and check out their wiring & shielding >Modifications< section, particularly the article called >Quieting The Beast"<.

Forgot to mention, another recommendation from the techs at Dimarzio was the Tone Zone at the neck with a Paf Pro at the bridge... hope that helps.

I have a PAF Pro at the neck, paired with a Tone Zone at the bridge.

I ordered the Tone Zone and a 500k pot. I talked to a guy at Dimarzio and he said 500 was the way to go.

Can't go wrong with a Tone Zone. I bet you'll love it.

Originally Posted by: sgreggI ordered the Tone Zone and a 500k pot. I talked to a guy at Dimarzio and he said 500 was the way to go.

For my mahogany-bodied SBG1000, I found 500k was still a bit dark, so I bumped that up to 1 Meg. For a Strat, 500k is probably just right.

I received the new pot and Tone Zone and put them in my Strat today. It is definitely higher out put and it makes my Strat more versatile. Also, there is a lot more buzzing now. Before, with the Pearly Gates and a 250 volume pot, I would turn my guitar volume up to ten with the gain at 10 and the overdrive on and would get no buzzing. Now I can only turn my guitar volume up to 5-6 before it starts buzzing. I already have a noise gate and the people at Dimarzio said this is normal because I essentially doubled the output. I am thinking of having my guitar shielded. Does anyone think this will end the buzzing and has anyone had this done to their guitars? Any other ideas?

Originally Posted by: Lordathestrings... Go to >GuitarNuts< and check out their wiring & shielding >Modifications< section, particularly the article called >Quieting The Beast"<.

I shield all of my guitars. I had reasons for pointing you to these articles back in Post #6.

I didn't ask how to do shielding. I am not an electrician and I will be sending it to a pro. I asked if anyone has shielded their guitars and if it fixed the problem.

Swapping pickups without addressing the other details is like changing the oil in your car, but leaving the old filter installed. Its always best to do the whole job.

Does anyone else have any experience with shielding?

What LATS gave you was the best rescource for shielding. If you can't make do with that, I really don't know what else you could do.

I must be phrasing this question horribly, so let me try again. I am not interested in the website about shielding. I read the website and it explains how to shield. It looks like a great resource for someone interested in shielding their guitar themselves. What I am asking is whether or not anyone here has done it(I know LATS has) and did it work well for them. I have read other places that say shielding did not help. I would like to know this before I pay a tech to shield my guitar. Please forgive me if my question was confusing.

I had my guitar shielded and there is still some hum when I play on the tone zone with the volume on 10. If I play in certain places, the hum goes away. The tech guy at Dimarzio said that because this is a higher output pickup, it is picking up waves or electric current(I don't know a lot about this stuff) or something. He said it is normal. Does anyone have experience with this and a solution?

Trying moving the guitar around and sit in different spots in the room. You'll notice noise if you face the pickups towards your pc monitor, lights and or other major electric outputs. Happens with all electrics, you just have to find a quiet spot and try turning the gain down a little (some houses have a lot more electrical interference than others). The alternative (necessary for a big rig) is investing in a noise reducer like a Rocktron Super Hush or an ISP Decimator.