DiMarzio
| Private | |
| Products | Guitar pickups |
| Website | DiMarzio.com |
DiMarzio, Inc. (original name: DiMarzio Musical Instrument Pickups, Inc.) is a United States manufacturer best known for its direct-replacement guitar pickups.[1] The company also produces miscellaneous guitar accessories, such as cables, straps and hardware.
DiMarzio became known for its Super Distortion model, which was the first after-market replacement guitar pickup. It was introduced in 1972 [2] and is still one of the most popular models.
The Super Distortion pickup produced a higher electrical output than the pickups normally fitted as standard to guitars at the time. It has around twice the impedance of a PAF-type pickup, and a stronger ceramic magnet. This drove the input stage of guitar amplifiers with roughly twice as much voltage as a PAF pickup, so that an overdriven distorted sound was easier to obtain.
Two of the technologies that they are known for are:
- their patented Dual-Resonance design which uses two asymmetrical coils tuned to different frequencies to produce unique sounds.
- their Airbucker™ design which reduces string pull and increases sensitivity and sustain.
Notable users past and present
- Tosin Abasi of Animals as Leaders (Ionizer 8 Neck, Ionizer 8 Middle, Ionizer 8 Bridge)
- J.D. Cronise of The Sword (Super Distortion)
- Jason Becker (PAF Pro, HS-2, Tone Zone)
- "Fast" Eddie Clarke of Motörhead (X2N, SDS-1, Super Distortion)
- Jerry Garcia (SDS-1, Super 2, Dual Sound)
- Chris Broderick of Megadeth (D Activator Bridge, D Activator Neck, D Activator 7 Bridge, D Activator 7 Neck)
- Kurt Cobain of Nirvana used a Dimarzio Super Distortion and a Dimarzio PAF in both of his 1965 Fender Jaguar dual humbuckers.
- Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins uses DiMarzio pickups, and his signature stratocaster uses DiMarzio pickups as standard.
- Dave Davidson of Revocation uses DiMarzio D Activator Bridge, Liquifire neck and Super 2 neck pickups
- Ace Frehley of KISS (Super Distortion, PAF)
- Manny Charlton of Nazareth (Super Distortion)
- David Gilmour of Pink Floyd (FS-1)
- John Five (D Activator Bridge, D Activator Neck)
- Terrance Hobbs of Suffocation (band) (Super Distortion (bridge))
- Eddie Van Halen (used on his discontinued Ernie Ball signature series guitars. Now produced as the Axis and Axis Super Sport. These pickups are custom made for Ernie Ball only).
- Eric Johnson (EJ Custom, HS-2)
- Greg Howe (Air Norton S Neck and Custom GH5 Bridge)
- Paul Gilbert (PAF Pro, Super Distortion, Humbucker From Hell, Air Classic Neck & Bridge, Tone Zone, Area 67, The Injector)
- Steve Morse (Steve Morse Model)
- Phil Collen of Def Leppard (Super Distortion, Super 3)
- Ehsan Keramati of (Dimarzio/ibz)
- Michael Romeo of Symphony X (Tone Zone, X2N)
- Yngwie Malmsteen (previously used HS3 and HS4)
- James "Munky" Shaffer of Korn (Blaze)
- Noodles of The Offspring (Tone Zone)
- Jake Bowen of Periphery (band) (Titan, LiquiFire and Crunch Lab)
Bridge)
- Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi used a DiMarzio PAF Pro humbucker in his now discontinued Fender Stratocaster signature model.
- Herman Li of DragonForce (Evolution, Blaze, FS-1, HLM)
- Dave Murray of Iron Maiden (Super Distortion, PAF DP-103 (neck))
- Steve Lukather (Transition)
- Mark Morton of Lamb of God (band) (Dominion Neck and Dominion
- Ian MacKaye of Fugazi (Super Distortion)[3]
- John Petrucci of Dream Theater (Humbucker From Hell, Tone Zone, Air Norton, Steve's Special, Custom Modded Air Norton and Steve's Special, D-Sonic, LiquiFire and Crunch Lab, Illuminator)
- Rob Caggiano of Anthrax and The Damned Things (Tone Zone, Humbucker From Hell, Air Norton, FRED)
- Randy Rhoads (Super Distortion, PAF)
- Pete Townshend of The Who (Dual Sound)
- Leslie West of Mountain (Megadrive, Fast track II)
- Buckethead (X2N, Air Norton, ToneZone)
- Dave Sharman (The Tone Zone, Super Distortion)
- Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden (Super Distortion)
- Chuck Schuldiner of Death (band) (X2N)
- Steve Vai (PAF Pro, The Breed, Evolution, Evo 2, Blaze II, Gravity Storm)
- Billy Sheehan (Model One, Model P, Will Power)
- Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (Tone Zone, Chopper)
- Sam Totman of DragonForce (Evolution, HLM)
- Andy Timmons (AT1 Custom (bridge), Cruiser (middle), Cruiser (neck))
- Joe Satriani (PAF Joe, PAF Pro, FRED, Mo' Joe, Pro Track,Satch Track Neck)
- Frank Zappa
Patents
Lawrence P. DiMarzio holds following US patents:
- US patent 4133243, DiMarzio, Lawrence P., "Electric pickup", issued 1979-01-09
- US patent 4227434, DiMarzio, Lawrence P., "Adjustable soundhole mount for a musical pickup", issued 1980-10-14
- US patent 4320829, DiMarzio, Lawrence P.; Altilio, Daniel, "Merchandise display container", issued 1982-03-23 — a special container for merchandising pickups.
- US patent 4442749, DiMarzio, Lawrence P.; Blucher, Steven L., "Electrical pickup for a stringed instrument having ferromagnetic strings", issued 1984-04-17
References
- ↑ Guitar World Magazine May 1994
- ↑ DiMarzio Super Distortion Specifications
- ↑ "FUGAZI: A guitar gear summary (Guest Post)". Effects Bay. 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
Further Reading
- Guitar World Magazine, "The 100 Most Important People In Guitar", San Francisco, CA, May 1994.