I’m a high-output guy. I love “PAF’s” and have a few guitars loaded with them, but at the end of the day nothing (that I should mention in a review) makes me happier than pummeling the input of a high gain amp into submission…but high output pickups are typically a sacrifice: you get more power while losing clarity. Your riffing sounds huge, but your chord work lacks definition. Its the eternal stuggle of wanting clarity and a sound reminiscent of a nuclear warhead raining hot death over those who oppose you.
I searched for months and read enough about pickups to make me regret playing guitar. Some were seemingly perfect (and expensive), but lacked enough info to get me to make a purchase while others had too much info and scared me off with their technical mumbo-jumbo and advertising. By the time I made it back to the Dimarzio offerings I was ready to give up. That’s when I found the Titan.
At 418mv it doesn’t appear to be a very high output pickup, in fact, it comes in just behind the Super Distortion, but don’t be fooled – the magic is in the wind. At “only” 11.07k you get an incredibly clear pickup that sounds absolutely crushing. If I had to choose on word to describe this pickup, it would be “Accurate” – but those of you that know me know that I’m a verbose guy so let’s get wordy.
I put this pickup in an 83 Roadstar with a basswood body and maple top and plugged it into a Hovercraft Dwarvenaut…but enough with the shit that you don’t care about, lets talk Rock.
Low gain is crisp and crunchy, almost like a suped-up PAF with balls. As you get into medium gain, you start breathing fire: Riffs stay tight, power chords sound massive, and whatever I try to pass of as leads cut through with ease. Now were having fun.
High gain is unreal. So unreal that I needed a page break to put my thoughts into English. If medium gain is like a beast breathing fire, high gain is like molten napalm spitting through your speakers. The lows are like a Comet hurdling towards Earth but never get boomy, the highs cut with precision without getting shrill, the mids are full and focused like something full and focused and fill out your sonic palette. Even with as crushingly massive as this pickup can be, it never gets congested or falls apart. Everything stays right where it should be.
With an even response in the lows and highs coupled with a slight mid bump, I’d say that this pickup would work in just about any guitar if you’re willing to play with your height adjustments. It doesn’t just “Djent”, it is more than capable of doing whatever you need…as long as you need it to kill.
Whether it’s Doom, Stoner, Thrash, or Death – this pickup brings metal in spades. Hell, I’d even recommend it for anyone that just wants a little more push through a vintage amp.
I like it so much that I may buy another. I should probably mention how well your picking dynamics come through since I forgot to do so previously. So yeah, they translate exactly the way you think they should.
You can also find out more about DiMarzio pickups atDiMarzio.com, on their Facebook page or by following them on Twitter at @DiMarzioInc
Special thanks to guest contributor Devin Bartnikowski for this review
