DiMarzio "Super 3"...any users?

[heymcz]

Well I am loving the Breed bridge. I plan on it staying right where it is for the forseeable future, soon to be mated with an Air Norton neck.

But I am very curious about another pickup I saw on DiMarzio's site, a high-output, obscene-looking thing called the "Super 3" (25 K D.C. resistance, pretty high on mA as well.) Anybody here try it? I have absolutely no concern about how it sounds split or whether it would clean up nicely.

1. Does it SCREAM for leads, and if so, is it peircing?
2. Is is FAT and crunchy as it looks like it might be?
3. What woods would it sound best in? (Esp., mahogany?)
4. How does it compare to other DMZs (Evo?) or Duncans (Dist.? Cust.?)

Thanks.

[devastone]

I've used them a few times, they are fun pickups to play, it's kinda similar to the Breed but louder and more aggressive. To answer your questions:

1. It can scream I guess, it's got pretty dark top end, maybe a little darker than the Breed, but it still gets great harmonics and has very tight low end. Not piercing at all.

2. Yes

3. Probably not a good choice for LP mahogany set neck type guitars. Better for brighter sounding bolt-ons with maple necks. From my experience it works well in basswood and alder bodies, probably would work fine in ash, maple, etc... Works fine with maple, ebony, or rosewood fretboards.

4. Doesn't really compare to Duncans. As I said earlier, I would call it a higher output, more aggressive Breed to compare it to DMZs, don't really know what else to compare it to, it's kinda its own beast. I really don't like the EVOs, too bright and thin sounding to me. Vai uses 250K pots with them to round off the top end some in his guitar named Evo. He uses the Evo2 in Flo, it's a much better sounding pup IMHO.

[Benjy_26]

I have one in the bridge of my HM strat. It sounds quite good in basswood. As far as the lead tone, it's more of a singer than a screamer and the rythm tones are plenty chunky.

It's a LOT more compressed than a Super D or an Air Zone, but it doesn't feel that much hotter.

BTW, it splits beautifully and has great cleans when combined with a mid position single coil.

[frankfalbo]

It's a pretty small coil for 25k. So they're either using 45AWG or some other method to get the resisitance up. The top end is dark and blistery. It's best in a Superstrat with a tremolo IMO. Something like Basswood, Alder, Poplar, etc, all those Japanese Superstrats from that era are perfect for it.
I think the PATB Distortion wipes the floor with it. It has about the same output but better top end definition. That's probably the only Duncan that you could compare it to. I have both. I always put the Super3 in guitars and then pull it after awhile. It's always been a temporary pickup. Next up it's going into a Basswood RG with a Breed neck, where it'll probably be fun for awhile, and then I'll convert the guitar to something else.

[heymcz]

Cool, thanks for the info, guys! I'm just kicking ideas around for "Guitar #2", somewhere down the line. Seems like I would go with a brighter guitar to put it in based on your experiences.

Best,
Michael (heymcz)

[Ascension]

Think the tones on Def Leppards Pyromania album as all the solos were done with a Super 3 in a Jackson. Super fat and creamy solo voice with a solid bottom.
I have used a few of those over the years the last one was in a neck through 1990 Carvin DC120. That one had a maple neck poplar body and an ebony board with the FT6 fixed bridge.

[Pete Galati]

I put a Super 3 in the bridge position of my '83 Les Paul Standard years ago, and never really liked it.

It just didn't work with that guitar. I was expecting it to be a good choice because I liked the Super II in the neck position of that guitar. A Super Distortion probably would have been a better choice in that guitar.

[Rand-O-Monium]

I recently had one put in my Epi LE LPC(Maple on Mahog),it's fat & pretty tight.As someone said somewhere,it's everything the Tone Zone aspires to be,only better at it.
I'm still kinda tweaking it,but I think it's staying put...

[JeffB]

Think the tones on Def Leppards Pyromania album as all the solos were done with a Super 3 in a Jackson. Super fat and creamy solo voice with a solid bottom.

DiMarzio would like you to THINK that. However it was NOT the case. That was a regular Super Distortion in his Destroyer for Phil Collen's parts, and Steve used stock Gibbo pickups in his Pauls.


Super III was not even "invented" at the time.

[JohnnyGuitarCA]

You are correct.

DiMarzio would like you to THINK that. However it was NOT the case. That was a regular Super Distortion in his Destroyer for Phil Collen's parts, and Steve used stock Gibbo pickups in his Pauls.


Super III was not even "invented" at the time.

[Diocletian]

Phil does use Super 3's though, and, I believe, has done for years.

Phil never did "all" the solos on Pyro anyway. There was another guy in the band, y'know!