P90

DLX Plus™ Bridge DP154BK.

When DiMarzio first decided to introduce a humbucking replacement for the “soapbar and mini-humbucker we found that many players wanted a pickup with more power and definition. We wanted to preserve some of the clean and open character of the original soapbar so we reduced the mids on the DLX Plus™ a little while making the lows tight and punchy and the highs strong and defined. The result is that the DLX Plus™ has power but it’s not muddysounding. The Neck model has almost as much power as the Bridge model with a leaner bass response so low notes sound more defined. Both come with 4-conductor cable for coil-splitting and parallel options.

Recommended For Bridge position in solid body guitars.

Tech Talk
The DLX Plus™ was not designed to duplicate the sound of a standard soapbar. The sound is more like that of a modern full-size humbucker most similar to a Steve s Special™. Turning up an amp s midrange control even with high gain will produce a fat punchy sound that retains a lot of definition. Cover dimensions 3.38 x 1.38 x 0.75 86 x 35 x 19 mm. Not available in a dog-ear version.

Specs. DP154BK
Finish Black.
Wiring 4 Conductor.
Magnet Ceramic.
Output mV 400.
DC Resistance 17.28 Kohm.
Year of Introduction 1988.
Patent 4501185.

DLX Plus™ Neck DP162BK.

When DiMarzio first decided to introduce a humbucking replacement for the “soapbar and mini-humbucker we found that many players wanted a pickup with more power and definition. We wanted to preserve some of the clean and open character of the original soapbar so we reduced the mids on the DLX Plus™ a little while making the lows tight and punchy and the highs strong and defined. The result is that the DLX Plus™ has power but it’s not muddysounding. The Neck model has almost as much power as the Bridge model with a leaner bass response so low notes sound more defined. Both come with 4-conductor cable for coil-splitting and parallel options.

Recommended For All positions.

Tech Talk
We designated the DP162 a neck model because the low end is a little tighter and brighter than the DP154 so the two pickups function together as a gently calibrated set. However it s also a pretty nasty bridge pickup — this is our production version of the mysterious Yamaha Q100 which is in both positions on the AES 1500. Cover dimensions 3.38 x 1.38 x 0.75 86 x 35 x 19 mm. Not available in a dog-ear version.

Specs. DP162BK
Finish Black.
Wiring 4 Conductor.
Magnet Ceramic.
Output mV 380.
DC Resistance 13.8 Kohm.
Year of Introduction 1993.
Patent 4501185.

DiMarzio Soapbar™ DP167BKS.

Why do so many players love the old “soapbar pickup? Probably because it’s the friendliest sounding single-coil ever. High notes are always fat with just enough bite to cut through the mix. Low notes are bright but not thin and the tone stays even — all the way up the neck. Our version of this classic pickup also punches up the mids and tightens up the lows. The DiMarzio Soapbar™ comes in “soapbar black or cream and “dog-ear black only versions. The cover is included.

Recommended For All positions on solid body guitars.

Tech Talk
We ve made a pickup that performs almost identically to the old ones but we did it with a unique combination of ceramic magnets and iron loading instead of the original Alnico magnets. We didn t do it just to be different — our pickup s magnetic field won t weaken with age so the sound won t change in time.

Specs. DP167BKS
Finih Black.
Wiring 2 Conductor.
Magnet Ceramic.
Output mV 270.
DC Resistance 8.6 Kohm.
Year of Introduction 1997.
Patent 5980998.

DiMarzio Soapbar™ DP167BKD.

Why do so many players love the old “soapbar pickup? Probably because it’s the friendliest sounding single-coil ever. High notes are always fat with just enough bite to cut through the mix. Low notes are bright but not thin and the tone stays even — all the way up the neck. Our version of this classic pickup also punches up the mids and tightens up the lows. The DiMarzio Soapbar™ comes in “soapbar black or cream and “dog-ear black only versions. The cover is included.

Recommended For All positions on solid body guitars.

Tech Talk
We ve made a pickup that performs almost identically to the old ones but we did it with a unique combination of ceramic magnets and iron loading instead of the original Alnico magnets. We didn t do it just to be different — our pickup s magnetic field won t weaken with age so the sound won t change in time.

Specs. DP167BKD
Finish Black.
Wiring 2 Conductor.
Magnet Ceramic.
Output mV 270.
DC Resistance 8.6 Kohm.
Year of Introduction 1997.
Patent 5980998.

P90 Super Distortion™ DP209BK.

A Super Distortion in a P90 cover? Cool! DiMarzio’s Super Distortionhas been the industry standard since its introduction in the early 70s. The new P90 Super Distortion™ is our highest-output humbucking “soapbar replacement and it gives players with guitars routed for P90-style pickups the ability to upgrade their pickups without any modification to the guitar. Like the original Super Distortion it has 12 adjustable pole pieces and 4-conductor wiring for split and parallel humbucking modes.

Recommended For Solid body guitars.

Tech Talk
Because of its slightly different coil architecture the P90 Super Distortion has a little smoother treble response than the original which you ll hear mostly at the higher frets. Like the original Super Distortion the P90 version was intended primarily for use in the bridge position. It can also be used in the neck position where you ll get the best results with most amplifiers’ clean or moderate-gain channels. Parallel and split wiring drop the volume and increase treble response and these modes are equally useful in any position. Not available in a dog-ear version.

Specs. DP209BK
Finish Black.
Wiring 4 Conductor.
Magnet Ceramic.
Output mV 400.
DC Resistance 13.50 Kohm.
Year of Introduction 2003.
Patent n/a.

The Tone Zone P90™ DP210BK.

The Tone Zone P90 is a high-output humbucking soapbar pickup with the same sound and power as The Tone Zone humbucker. Because of their plastic cover “soapbar pickups usually can’t be adjusted quite as close to the strings as standard humbuckers and compared to full-size humbuckers soapbars have a slightly narrower magnetic window to “see the strings. We’ve taken both factors into account by slightly increasing power and broadening the magnetic field around the coils to allow The Tone Zone P90 to sound as great as the original Tone Zone. Designed for the bridge position it comes with 4-conductor wiring enabling series-parallel humbucking or split-coil modes.

Recommended For Bridge position solid body guitars with soapbar pickup cavities.

Tech Talk
Because of the plastic cover soapbar pickups usually can t be adjusted quite as close to the strings as standard humbuckers and compared with full-size humbuckers soapbars have a slightly narrower magnetic window to “see the strings. We ve taken both factors into account by slightly increasing power and broadening the magnetic field around the coils to allow †he Tone Zone P90™ to sound as great as the original Tone Zone. Not available in a dog-ear version.

Specs. DP210BK
Finish Black.
Wiring 4 Conductor.
Magnet Ceramic.
Output mV 385.
DC Resistance 16.77 Kohm.
Year of Introduction 2004.
Patent 4501185 & 5908998.

Virtual P90™ DP169BK.

The original single-coil “soapbar design had a special sound low notes were solid and not tubby — they had an almost “piano tone quality — while high notes were fat all the way up the neck. We’ve always thought this was a devastating combination and we naturally wanted to reproduce this sound without 60-cycle hum. In the end we found the best approach was to use our patented Virtual Vintage technology to create the Virtual P90™. The two coils are tuned to different frequency ranges and output voltages so tone and balance can be tuned by adjusting pole piece heights. It’s almost the same effect as adjustable high-fidelity speaker crossovers.

Recommended For Neck and bridge positions.

Tech Talk
An obvious question is how the Virtual P90™ differs from the DLX-90™. The Virtual P90™ is a little more raw-sounding high notes have a little more snap and low notes more growl. If you have a fairly warm-sounding guitar and amp setup the Virtual P90™ would be a good choice for neck and bridge positions. If your guitar is more on the bright side try the Virtual P90™ in the neck and the DLX-90™ in the bridge. Not available in a dog-ear version.

Specs. DP169BK
Finish Black.
Wiring 4 Conductor.
Magnet Ceramic.
Output mV 280.
DC Resistance 9.14 Kohm.
Year of Introduction 1999.
Patent 5908998.