DiMarzio's Billy Sheehan 'Relentless' pickups

[Killed_by_Death]

There's also a Relentless wiring-diagram:

https://d2emr0qhzqfj88.cloudfront.net/s3fs-public/2020-10/WDRL1_Relentless_SheehanStereo.pdf

 

[Reedt2000]

They look cool, but it's important to remember that they don't come with Billy Sheehan's relentless fingers

 

[Shannon C.]

I really like the tone of the DiMarzio Will Power middle pickups. I would love to hear how these new Relentless middle pickups compare tonally from someone who has direct experience with both models.

 

[PawleeP]

These look cool! But, doesn't metal interrupt the magnetic field sensing the strings while countering interference?

 

[JEDI BASS]

These look cool! But, doesn't metal interrupt the magnetic field sensing the strings while countering interference?

Supposedly not when it’s nickel. Btw, I’ve had several basses with metal pickups.... no issues.

 

[PawleeP]

Are these bar metal or pole metal slugged with the dual ceramic strips like a model p or ultra p?

 

[therhodeo]

They look cool, but it's important to remember that they don't come with Billy Sheehan's relentless fingers

I hope they're good for sounds other than his. Playing and or sounding like him is not at all a goal of mine.

These look cool! But, doesn't metal interrupt the magnetic field sensing the strings while countering interference?

Metallic pickup covers have been a thing for guitars for something like 70 years. Some materials can roll off a bit of highs but others are pretty transparent.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

I had been wondering if there was some reason why metal covers for bass pickups were so uncommon. Apparently builders just hadn’t gotten around to it often. I already have an excess of pickups but I think I have been waiting for something like this.

Eddy current . Attenuation of treble frequency.

 

[micguy]

These look cool! But, doesn't metal interrupt the magnetic field sensing the strings while countering interference?

Yes it does - the same thing (electrical conductivity) that makes a metal a good Faraday shield (interference shield) also makes it a good producer of eddy currents (which slice off some treble). Ever see Les Pauls without metal covers? What about Telecaster neck pickups? Yep, that's done so the pickup has more bite. So, it's a compromise - the better shielded a pickup is, the duller it'll sound.

Dimarzio rates these as having more bass than a Model P - it's all relative; what they probably really mean is less treble. Billy clanks with the best of them, so he probably doesn't need the brightest pickup to cut through a mix - his playing technique supplies a lot of high end via bouncing the strings off the frets, plus he distorts his signal a lot. With all that gain, some shielding is probably a good thing for him.

 

[Stempelloos]

Supposedly not when it’s nickel. Btw, I’ve had several basses with metal pickups.... no issues.

@ HardNHeavy, not all metal is magnetic (only iron, nickel, kobalt, gadolinium or alloys of those), so copper, brass or bronze are often used for pickup covers because of that.

These Diamond/Cavern H510B Bass Pick-Ups were around in 1961, there's a pair of them on my Cavern bass, they don't sound dull.

So the Relentless™ Neck appearance was already around 60 years ago.

 

[wraub]

My search for a P pickup has ended, but I might be interested in a Jazz Bass set...

 

[4stringz_77]

Are these bar metal or pole metal slugged with the dual ceramic strips like a model p or ultra p?

There's also a Relentless wiring-diagram:

https://d2emr0qhzqfj88.cloudfront.net/s3fs-public/2020-10/WDRL1_Relentless_SheehanStereo.pdf

I wonder if wiring these in series/parallel will make a noticeable difference in sound. The DiMarzio Split P doesn't have much difference due to each half being a complete humbucker. Not 100% sure if these are as well. They should be coming this Friday so I'll wire it up on the weekend and post a response.

 

[4stringz_77]

My search for a P pickup has ended, but I might be interested in a Jazz Bass set...

I think Billy said in the video that they may be coming out with Relentless jazz models in the future. Guess they're waiting to see how these sell.

 

[wraub]

Yes, towards the end.
That was my impetus to post... I have no need for more P bass PUs, but if the BS P Dimarzios sound good, the Barts in my J may have an exit in store.

I think Billy said in the video that they may be coming out with Relentless jazz models in the future. Guess they're waiting to see how these sell.

 

[JEDI BASS]

Yeah, Billy replied to me on Facebook saying there would be (at least)a PJ set coming.

 

[Slater]

Billy replied to me on Facebook saying there would be (at least)a PJ set coming.

I wonder if the J pickup will be radiused?

 

[JEDI BASS]

I wonder if the J pickup will be radiused?

That's what everybody is expecting. It should be a radiused metal covered version of a hot-rodded Model J.

The bass that I have my Relentless going into has Armstrong chrome lipstick J pickups. But, they're single coils. So, I'm pretty sure that I'll be swapping them for a set of Relentless J pups, sooner or later, depending on how much I love the Armstrong/Relentless tones.

 

[Domespeed]

I wonder if the J pickup will be radiused?

If so, I hope the magnetic poles will be staggered as well, because I really don’t like the E and G strings being louder than A and D

 

[4stringz_77]

Cool review in a Precision (short scale) by Phillip McKnight:

 

[Hotnote]

Yeah, Billy replied to me on Facebook saying there would be (at least)a PJ set coming.

Did he say when they would be coming out?