Dimarzio Area 61 Pickups Review

A few months ago I bought a set of Dimarzio Area 61 pickups for my Strat clone. I wanted to try another set of Kinman's but the price was cost-prohibitive. I took a chance on the Dimarzios because of the price and some soundclips I had heard. After playing the guitar at a few gigs and several open jams I can safely say I like the Area 61 pickups. They don't sound dull like some noiseless pickups and aren't weak in the mids. Now I do like the Texas Specials I had in there, but the hum at higher gains and in some of the bars was not acceptable. The Area 61's are extremely Stratty and very humless. I even got to hear my rig from a listener's point as someone sat in for a few songs with the band a couple weeks ago and the guitar sounded Stratoriffic.

Anyone else tried these pickups?

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Originally Posted by DoobieK

A few months ago I bought a set of Dimarzio Area 61 pickups for my Strat clone. I wanted to try another set of Kinman's but the price was cost-prohibitive. I took a chance on the Dimarzios because of the price and some soundclips I had heard. After playing the guitar at a few gigs and several open jams I can safely say I like the Area 61 pickups. They don't sound dull like some noiseless pickups and aren't weak in the mids. Now I do like the Texas Specials I had in there, but the hum at higher gains and in some of the bars was not acceptable. The Area 61's are extremely Stratty and very humless. I even got to hear my rig from a listener's point as someone sat in for a few songs with the band a couple weeks ago and the guitar sounded Stratoriffic.

Anyone else tried these pickups?

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Hi, i have this set in one of my strats. i have 2MIM strat w/ real singles coils and the area58/61 in my red MIM. they sound great! gotta have atleast one noiseless axe :salud:

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Originally Posted by DoobieK

Anyone else tried these pickups?

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A friend of mine has a 58/61 combo in his strat. They sound wonderful. They rival most better traditional strat pickups imho. I’m getting a set soon.

Only thing I can say about those Dimarzio "Area" pickups ( and Im a duncan guy), is that it seems most of the tone is specific to the pickup. In other words, Not organic-doesnt let the vibes of the instrument shine.
I may be totally out of my mind on this though.
The SDS-1 and the classic 55's are more in my baliwick for nice tone.

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Originally Posted by jerryjg

Only thing I can say about those Dimarzio "Area" pickups ( and Im a duncan guy), is that it seems most of the tone is specific to the pickup. In other words, Not organic-doesnt let the vibes of the instrument shine.
I may be totally out of my mind on this though.
The SDS-1 and the classic 55's are more in my baliwick for nice tone.

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Thr SDS-1 and Classic 55 may be great pickups, but I need noise cancelling. True single coils under medium to high gain in some of the bars I play make waaay too much noise. Poor house wiring, neon lights, etc. My guitar is shielded very well too. I haven't tried the Area 61 in any other guitar than the one they are in now. They may impose a specific sound, but it is the sound I like. Not for everyone for sure.

Hi everybody.
My setup:
- fender strat highway. I replaced the stock pickups with dimarzio area 58(neck,midle) and area 61 (bridge).
- fender deville 212

The demo movie for the dimarzio's area on youtube convinced me to by these piks. I wanted to get rid with the classic fender's hum and still to keep the single coil sound.
First I played through a chinesse 15W amp. The expected sound with strat sparkle and no hum was there.

But when I played the guitar through the HRDV the sound was quite dark and the strat sparkle wasn't there like I have expected.

Is my HRDV the problem?
Or suggest me an amp with more sparkle tone?
The bad part is that I'm living in Romania in a little town with no musical stores around to try other amp.
Thanks.

The tubes in the amp can make a huge difference in the harmonics, sparkle and such. How old and what brand tubes are in the DeVille? Also, the DeVille is a 60 watt amp. I find that a lot of times amps cannot get turned up loud enough to sound good, even when using a clean tone. Tey get too loud too soon.

If the tubes are old and worn out, you could try a set of JJ's. A lot of people like them, they seem reliable and are not too expensive. If you have Sovteks in the amp, I don't doubt it doesn't sound that great. I had a HRDX and once I swapped tubes and speaker, the amp came to life.

My Strat sparkles with my Dr. Z's and Allen Old Flame.

I have the stock tubes (3pream tubes fender, 2 power 6L6 Fender), 1year old.
I've heard that tese are cheap tubes.
The volume is way too loud over 3, so I never had the chanse to try the sound over 3.
The speakers are the stock and get a little flubby at the low ends when raise the volume.
The potz in the strat can influence ? Mine are 250k.

I want that sparkle (SRV - Leny) in the 2,4 strat positions.
My Deville don't deliver this sparkle, is like is cutting the high ends. Should I get another amp?

60 watts is more amp than some folks need. Maybe an HR Deluxe with speaker and tube upgrade. You could try swapping tubes. They are cheap enough and eventually you will need new ones. It is a good idea to have a spare set anyway.

Maybe try a EQ pedal with the Hot Rod. I use a "V" pattern to give me a little extra Strat/Blackface sound. Works well on my Marshall and Epi Valve Junior. It can be overdone and I need less of it in a live situation.

In my #1 strat I have 61's in the Neck and Middle and a Dimarzio VV Solo Pro in the Bridge. Absoluteley a great setup. Very stratty sounding and the Solo Pro was not to overpowering. Still very strat like but with lots of punch.

My next setup will be 58's in the Neck and Middle and 61 in the Bridge. I'm thinking that combination may sound more like the 57/62's that I have in my 60th anniversary MIA Strat but without the hum ?