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Dimarzio Model One

#2
knedy said:
Anyone has information about these older Dimarzios with chrome(brushed aluminum?) cover? Someone said their pre-77.
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Further digging - my oldest DiMarzio catalog is from 1978, and it shows the pickup in black. However, here is an isolation from a shot I took in late 1977 at Madison Square Garden - 1977 was the first year Gene used the Spector, so we could assume that the silver was used up until that time. Also, I called DiMarzio awhile back to ask if they could make one in silver for me, and they told me no - but I suppose if Gene called...
M1_77Gene.jpg
 
#3
I bought one and installed it in my EBO bass AROUND 77-79. Pretty sure it was chrome. Sorry, I don't remember the exact year. I no longer have that bass either. I got it (the pickup) through an AMS catalog, I think.

The Model One gave my EB-O more flexibility and an okay tone. But it still had the inherent "mud", due to the pickup being positioned right against the end of the fingerboard. I miss that bass though. It's the one I cut my teeth on.
 
#5
Yeah, they had a coil switch. I didn't know what that was at the time. But Dimarzio's sales info on the pickup said it could imitate a P bass or a Rik at the flip of a switch. That's stretching it, but the concept is there.
 
#7
Yeah, they were chrome or nickel plated in the beginning. Probably chrome plated brass, not aluminum. They started making them black in the 80's I think. That was around the same time they made most of their pickups black. They used to be all cream.

The mini switch was for series/parallel, parallel being the "Ric" tone.

You can wire it as single coil, but Series to Parallel will give you a larger tonal change than Series to Single coil, because of the change in impedance. Single coil is kind of in the middle of the two.
 
#9
SGD Lutherie said:
You can wire it as single coil, but Series to Parallel will give you a larger tonal change than Series to Single coil, because of the change in impedance. Single coil is kind of in the middle of the two.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the great info! Does this hold true for the new (black case) Model Ones as well? (Series/parallel more useful than series/single coil) I bought one for my EB0 (with varitone) a while back and haven't decided how to wire it up yet. :)

ps Does parallel hum cancel?
 
#10
My Dimarzio catalogue from sometime around 1980 shows the Model 1 already changed over to black (from chrome) and the model P and J pickups with cream covers.

The Model 1 had 4 conductor wiring and came with a double pole/double throw mini switch. This could, as has been said, be used for either S/P switching or as a coil tap. I never tried it with this pickup, but I once had a bass with both s/p and coiltap switching and I wouldn't say either option had a more pronounced effect, just subtly different.
 
#11
Yeah, it's the same pickup, they just changed the color of the case.

The way series/parallel/single works is like this. The Model One is 11.31K in series. So each coil is half of that, or 5.66K. In parallel it's 2.83K, which is 5.66K divided by 2.

In series you get more lows and a mid hump. In parallel you get a brighter tone with a little less output. Single coil is somewhere between the two... it wont be as full sounding as series, and not as thin as parallel.

If you use a three way on-on-on switch, you can wire it for series/single/parallel. It's the same wiring as the two way switch.

Back in the 70's all my basses had series/parallel switches, and a lot of them had DiMarzio Model P and J pickups. They were very popular when they first came out.
 

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