software

I just bought these a coupla weeks ago and finally got to installing them in my Japan Ibanez SCA220 this afternoon, after I bought me a new soldering iron I got a matched set, one for bridge and one for neck. Let me tell you, for me, these are the holy grail pickups! Neck:
This is what is most important to me: sweet, singing neck pickup tones for leads. I'd prior found that vintage single-coils have the tone, but not all the power I needed, and that vintage humbuckers have the muscle, but not the tone I wanted. So here it is, the HUMBUCKER FROM HELL! The fine mix of glassy, rich, and soulful single-coil tone paired with the muscle and solid sustain of a good humbucker. The sound is everything I've ever wanted, and this is honestly the clearest, most defined pickup I've ever played. You can hear the definition of every note in every chord. The tone reminds me a lot of SRV, but crank up to high-gain and look out! It's like a super-defined Yngwie tone, which I adore. Couldn't ask for more, this is one excellent pickup, it's no wonder Paul Gilbert uses it! On cleaner settings, it is very Hendrix-esque, so basically, you're classic Strat sound is compacted in this pickup, but with more output and sustain. I wired it to be tapped as well, and once you do that, the tone is traditional single-coil, with almost no noticeable drop in output. Very cool indeed. For anyone who craves clarity and loves a beefy single-coil sound in a humbucker size, this is THE pickup to have!

Bridge:
I was afraid at first that this pickup would be too bright in the bridge position. WRONG! It, once again, sounds like a single-coil on humbucker steroids in the bridge position, with extreme clarity, a more aggressive kind of Strat-twang, sweet balance of note-roundness all over the fretboard, and just an overall clear tonality. It did the Yngwie/SRV thing as well, depending on how much gain you put it under, and handles EQ very well; it was never ice-picky or thin, always full of body and definition. For clean situations, I found myself playing CCR, finger-picked stuff, surf, and old '50s rock. As with the neck pickup, splitting it yielded a classic Strat tone. Excellent!!!The Humbucker From Hell makes me want to play more! It also enduces getting me into quot;the zonequot; when improvising, which is so so so so important. My new favorite pickups: HUMBUCKER FROM HELL!!! For those who need a buff single-coil sound in the form of a medium output humbucker, this is the ticket! Absolutely divine!

Biu, what amp do you use. I have the HFH in my Rg1620, i use crate V58, but i cant get that single coil sound. Its not even close to single. Oh and can you make some samples - clean, dirt.

the onlyu problem that i´ve found with the neck HFH is that it gets muddy with lots of distortion
Q

Very cool pickup in the neck. I never tried it in the bridge, but I would probably like it. Less output speaks to me more these days.

Man, that is literally a very good review, do you work for DiMarzio? Just kidding, anyway was there anything about the pick-up that you didn't like?

Since my favorite pick-up in the duncan JB do you think the lower output of the HFH would bother me. Just wondering!

Rock On

Hmmm, there's nothing about this pickup that I don't like. The tone doesn't go outside of single-coil though, so if you're a humbucker-fiend, you'd best look elsewhere. But for me, that's exactly what I wanted, so no gripes here! Just think it as a very powerful vintage single-coil tone.

Hmmm, if the JB is your fav, it is difficult to compare. The HFH is medium output, so I would check out some vintage pups, anything thing with lower output and see if you dig that. Get accustomed to pups that aren't in the high-power, distortion range. If you're only considering putting it in the neck position, it probably won't be a problem. Just make sure you like the single-coil sound in general, because that's what the HFH will do...but better

Biu, Thanks for answering my questions so fast, I do like the JB, but not for everything, so I hope I can try some HFH's sometime!
ROck On Bro ~

No problem, Kac! I enjoy spreading the HFH religion, haha. I think you will dig it if you've ever liked the tones of classic Stratocaster gods like Hendrix, Clapton, SRV, etc. Or even modern shred demons like Yngwie and Paul Gilbert. Even if you don't, it'll definitely provide some fresh sounds to experiment with. Nothing quite like a single-coil on clean

Oh, WFD, how did you manage to get the HFH muddy?!?!?! It's the clearest pup I know of! Then again, you DO play with more distortion than any living or nonliving thing on the face of the earth...no, SOLAR SYSTEM!

durrr.... what is the quot;Yngwie/SRV thingquot;? Completely different animals.


Originally Posted by twoheadedboydurrr.... what is the quot;Yngwie/SRV thingquot;? Completely different animals.I think he meant that it can do SRV and Yngwie equally well.


Originally Posted by Benjy_26I think he meant that it can do SRV and Yngwie equally well.

Yup!

Sounds good Biu!

I´m gonna check the Fred and Paf Pro for my Ibanez. Hope it´ll be fine too

Rock on!

thats cool dude

i tend to like single coils alot now, and am looking for a single coil for the neck of my charvel. they sound great!

I pretty much agree with the review. The HFH is really a landmark pickup in my opinion and Dimarzio really deserves a lot of credit for this one.

Want a chimey strat neck sound in your Les Paul?? This will get you much of the way there. It really sounds like a single coil in humbucker housing....although it's got just a little more *punch* than a regular single coil. I wouldn't use it in the bridge myself because I'm not a fan of single coil bridges really but in the neck it has been a great pickup for me. But it does what it does very well....it has nothing in common with other hums such as the JB etc...I don't know how it could ever get muddy though...that one confuses me.


Originally Posted by ranalliI don't know how it could ever get muddy though...that one confuses me.

Haha, WFD's UNHOLY distortion is just too much for us mere mortals!


Originally Posted by ranalliWant a chimey strat neck sound in your Les Paul??

lt;bogglegt;

I don't want to be a Dimarzio racist , but i tried the HFH and Jazz neck in the same guitar and prefered the Jazz : same amount of clarity but more and tighter bass , stronger pick attack . ( I felt the HFH had a compressed attack , no clong here ) .
And i was disapointed of the HFH compared to the clip of Paul Gilbert , you can't rely when the sound is so processed .


Originally Posted by Biu... I wired it to be tapped as well, and once you do that, the tone is traditional single-coil, with almost no noticeable drop in output. ...

glad you have found a tone that is so pleasing to you, Biu

the snippet i quoted above is preplexing to me (and i am assuming you meant split, not tapped - is this a correct assumption?) ... could you explain the circumstances under which you made this observation? ... it seems to me that in order for it to be accurate, it would require a TON of compression ...

please expand?

thanks
t4d

I had the HFH in the neck position of a Japanese RG for a while and really liked the tone I got from it. I'm a sucker for SC neck pup tones in general. While I won't go on record saying that the HFH sounds quot;just likequot; a single coil in HB housing, I will say it has something that SC's have that NO OTHER HB has, and that's that classic quot;chimequot; or quot;bell-tonequot; or quot;glassynessquot; or whatever you want to call it.

I'd be scared to death of one in the bridge spot though.


Originally Posted by sosomethingI had the HFH in the neck position of a Japanese RG for a while and really liked the tone I got from it. I'm a sucker for SC neck pup tones in general. While I won't go on record saying that the HFH sounds quot;just likequot; a single coil in HB housing, I will say it has something that SC's have that NO OTHER HB has, and that's that classic quot;chimequot; or quot;bell-tonequot; or quot;glassynessquot; or whatever you want to call it.

I'd be scared to death of one in the bridge spot though.
I agree...you're right it's not *exactly* like a single coil but it has enough of the qualities in the tone to get you 80-90% of the way there IMO and that's before you split it or tap it or whatever.