AS 73 DiMarzio upgrade report

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Author Message Writersf4011 Username: Writersf4011 Registered: 08-2005 Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 9:56 pm:    After a fair amount of research that included some helpful input from this group, I installed DiMarzio PAF classics in my AS-73. The originals were pure mud, except when playing individual note blues leads. The DiMarzios are an amazing improvlement and worth every penny. Because they tend more toward the warm, fat side overall, they're not what you'd choose for hard rock, but neither is a semi-hollowbody guitar for the most part (despite the ES335 I saw Keith Richards playing in Anaheim last night). But that's just overall. They have a tremendously wide range, with tons of high end bite. They're 20 times better than the ones that came on the guitar — louder, sweeter, great clarity, with nice note seperation on chords, and they can really bark when you want it. I need to raise the neck pickup because I have it way down low and it's tooooo mellow -- unless you're playing Wes Montgomery. For blues & R &B leads, these things are perfect and you can certainly play most types of rock. The only let down is that they're so much louder that I can't crank my hot-rodded '66 Princeton Reverb up to even "2" when someone's in the house, and at that low volume, neither the amp nor the pickups show much personality. They sound better than the old ones did at low volume, but they're pretty ordinary sounding until you get a little volume going. All in all they're wonderful. My $289 Ibanez AS-73 is totally transformed and now sounds better than the $800 Gretsch I was looking at when I chose it. Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Saturday, November 05, 2005 - 10:03 pm:    Glad you like them! They are some nice sounding pickups. And I think an ES335 style guitar CAN rock pretty hard. Not metal hard, but they can do a really nice crunch with that open sound that only a chambered guitar can have. -Sven Benito1300 Username: Benito1300 Registered: 09-2005 Posted on Sunday, November 06, 2005 - 6:50 pm:    interesting... i've got an as73 as well, and i love it, but i guess i just haven't had enough experience with better pickups to be dissatisfied with the tone at all. i'll have to try out a semi hollow with alnicos in it sometime, to see if a pickup replacement would be worth it. right now i don't really have the cash to do anything of the sort, but perhaps it'll be something i do in the future. anyways, thanks for the report and enjoy the improved AS73 -ben Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Sunday, November 06, 2005 - 7:23 pm:    Ben, experimenting with pickups is a lot of fun, but it's also a pain in the butt! If you're happy with your sound, then who cares? Ignorance is bliss You'll probably sound better in the end if you just practice instead of spending all your time fiddling with pickups, amps and guitars like I do. -Sven Benito1300 Username: Benito1300 Registered: 09-2005 Posted on Sunday, November 06, 2005 - 11:16 pm:    i agree totally, funkle... before i start pouring money into a guitar that i bought because it was relatively cheap, i need to learn alot more about developing my own playing style, then i can get into the finer areas of particular tones n' stuff. yeah, ignorance IS bliss Writersf4011 Username: Writersf4011 Registered: 08-2005 Posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 12:18 am:    I agree. Technique is everything -- by comparison, gear's a minor consideration. Great tone adds a certain kind of satisfaction, but it doesn't improve the music. Jazzzbo Username: Jazzzbo Registered: 09-2005 Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 9:42 pm:    JUST got AS 73 and im pretty impressed, i believe its all stock, and the seller said it was set up by a pro, so far so good, i play jaz z and blues and this will be one of my 3 axes, the others being a Parker Fly and Ibanez 2355 jazz box, will report later on my take on the pick ups etc, JAZZZ

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