DiMarzio D Activator pickup demo song by High Z Productions
9DiMarzio D Activator pickup demo song by High Z Productions. Same settings, same amp sim. In summary there’s a big difference in playing feel but the sound is closer than one might expect.
----------
Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c/HighZ?sub_confirmation=1
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HighZProduction
Instagram: https://instagram.com/nos_corvidae
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@highzproductions
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/highz
----------
Full video: https://youtu.be/AjRTmMGqTgI
I switched out the pickups in the RG652AHM and was pretty surprised with the results. One might expect the D Activators to be significantly brighter than the Tone Zone/Air Norton but through either consistent playing or the power of the amp sim, the sound was very close. So much so that the difference can’t be noticed unless you’re directly comparing them and are really listening closely.
Was it worth it? I think so based on the guitar solo tone. Fitting a solo into the mix can be challenging and was my biggest issue with the Tone Zone bridge. Getting that to fit into songs took a lot of thought, EQ, and signal shaping so having something that fits in much more naturally is worth it. Otherwise if you’re not looking to solo, using different amp settings or a different amp for metal rhythms are going to be a better use of your time than changing out your pickups. For some styles of music i.e. rock, either pickup set will work just fine. Overall the differences are minor so I would recommend changing your amp settings or amp before changing your pickups.
In terms of production, I used the NeuralDSP Archtype Petrucci for the guitars and the Parallax on the midi bass (no time to track actual bass), and Addictive Drums 2 for the drums. The microphone used is the Shure SM-7B and I use Cubase as my DAW. I wrote the song specifically for this video, so it’s my own original composition and playing.
00:00 Panned rhythm
00:04 Rhythm with lead
00:10 Harmonized lead plus rhythm
00:20 Lead solo tone
00:24 Neck pickup lead tone
00:28 Clean neck tone