DiMarzioDP417 °C Pickup for Electric Guitar Black

Here are a couple of things I discovered that may be helpful to you. First, the Area T fitted perfectly in the body and pick guard of my American Standard Tele without modification to the instrument. Second, the pickup is deeper than the stock single-coil it replaced. The Area T comes with new, longer screws and springs to hold the pickup in place. The original pickup used compressible rubber spacers. The screws that came with the Area T bottomed out in the hole, so I had to shorten them by about 1/8" so they would screw down flush in the pick guard and not hit the bottom of the pickup hole. Be careful that you retain good threads on the screws after shortening them, as they have to screw into the Area T to mount it and you do not want to strip the threads in the plastic. It appeared to me that the springs were a bit too short, and I discovered that the rubber spacers fit about half way into the cone-shaped springs. I inserted the spacers first, followed by the wide end of the springs, and they provide a good amount of tension to hold the pickup in place. Third, the wiring is simple, but one point needs clarification if you are not used to wiring pickups. You will find that there are three leads coming off the pickup - a black, a white, and a gray. In my stock wiring to a 5-position switch, the white goes to the switch, and the black goes to the back of a pot. The instructions could be clearer in explaining that the gray also connects to the pot along with the black. While the information is in the instructions which address a few different models of pickup, it is not made clear that the Area T has 3 wires that need connecting, not just 2 as the instructions specific to the Area T indicate. Finally, the pickup is substantially quieter than the single coil stock pickup, and seems to have a fuller tone. I really could not use the stock pickup for recording or rehearsals due to the hum, and that problem seems to have been eliminated by replacing it. It will take some time for me to find the best EQ settings, but the pickup sounds full and clear, with some added warmth. It blends well with the other pickups on the instrument (it is a Nashville Tele which has a middle pickup as well).

The pickup is fine, but I’m actually writing about the seller. What I received was clearly a used pickup. Two of the wires were capped off and one of them had a soldering iron burn in the center of the wire… The screws that were included were not long enough for installation and the tele, which does not make sense for a product marketing for a tele. Clearly this was repackaged. Now, don’t get me wrong… I don’t mind purchasing used gear. But, if I’m paying full price for a brand new product, I expect it to be brand new. My Lucier took a lot longer to try to salvage the situation. Thankfully, he made it work, but I bought these two pick ups for full price for what I could’ve picked up for $50 apiece, if I chose to actively pursue getting used pickups. This seller is not on the up and up when it comes to selling “new” products. Buyer beware!!Having said all that, with respect to the actual sound, it seems to be pretty cool, but I’m going to have to have more time to actually play with it to make a real judgment call. It is indeed noiseless, as advertised, but not sterile like a mini noiseless pickups you may hear.

Great pickup, sounds vintage but quiet with more punch than stock fenders. But the height adjustment is critical in getting a good vintage sound. Too close and you loose some of the tele sweetness and you get more thick sounding response kinda like a cross between a hot overwound tele pickup and a HB. If that's what you like you got it. But with the a little tweeking it sounds bright and clear with great string separation, a nice piano clear string tone on the wound strings. Chords sound distinct with good string separation. Roll off the tone pot a little and it has a fantastic jazz sound. I love it so far.

hands down the best noiseless tele neck pickup I've ever heard. very open and strat-like without sacrificing the qualities that make a tele neck pickup special. they removed the wooliness and noise issues and left the good stuff

Great Tele pickup, powerful and love the warm tone

Perfect sound

Great output and tone. Replaced the stock 1976 Tele neck pickup which had a nice tone but was just too weak and noisy. Now the two pickups are somewhat balanced and the middle selector position is useful.

My Tele still sounds like a Tele- minus the RF noise form the many noisy venues I play in. I love 'em.