DIMARZIO WILLPOWER P W/ DIMARZIO MODEL J
Both 4 lead humbucking ceramic magnet pickups
Both wired in series
Loaded into an acoustically midrange bass. Output better than average. Little hum killed by touching strings. No finger/flatpick transfer of consequence. Worked well to finger and flatpick. Sensitivity to attack, technique, hand position average to low average. Sustain on the upper side of average.
Primarily P/EBO oriented tones. Ample bass, mids, and enough treble but getting the mix right for anything beyond an P/EBO like tone took work - mostly getting clarity. Even getting close to a vintage Fender P took some tweaking. Tones usually had a good solid bass but getting some focused midrange tone to compliment it was tough. Treble had a wide range of application and was useful from nearly full cut to boosted a couple steps - where it would become boxie.
Pups tended to be on the warm, soft side (even the edge exhibited by the pair was noticeably rounded without a crispness), and lacking clarity. Little bit of rawness to tones at times but mostly on the mild side. Occassionaly there'd be a nice buzz, fuzz, biting edge, and complimentary finger transfer but that was the exception. Some punch on some settings but pretty punchless in general. Negligible growl.
Fairly easy to get a useable tone but hard to get beyond that. The lack of clarity was somewhat appealing and definetly just what i wanted for some tunes but it got on my nerves when I wanted to get some focus and bite to a tone and could seldom accommodate. Didn't require much adjustment to actually play to tunes. Majority of adjustment was just to see what the pups would do. Variations in tone adjustment produced noticeable variations to tunes but it basically amounted to a darker or brighter version of the same tone but about half the time they all worked so there was quite a bit of flexibility in that sense. Tones sounded much clearer more appealing solo than to music and probably some decent solo tones in the mix.
Using the treble boost/cut bass setting that got the J-like tone with the Willpower alone, when combined with the model J sounded pretty much the same. So combining them basically took the edge off of the J from when the J was used alone.
Played passably to roughly 65% of the tunes which could probably be extended to 90% if marginal tunes were thrown in. I pulled a tone at the end of the session that may expand those estimates so I'll make note, give it a try, and update at a later date. Better than average to about 25% - Reggae, Blues, R&B. Volume, tone, sensitivity, clarity, and cut fairly balanced across the board for tones played to tunes. Relative to other pups cut and clarity were low average.
FLUFF:
May not sound like a stellar impression but the pups have very appealing vintage P/EBO vibe that I like and could easily see as being a set of choice for someones main bass depending on personal preference and what music they play.
Both 4 lead humbucking ceramic magnet pickups
Both wired in series
Loaded into an acoustically midrange bass. Output better than average. Little hum killed by touching strings. No finger/flatpick transfer of consequence. Worked well to finger and flatpick. Sensitivity to attack, technique, hand position average to low average. Sustain on the upper side of average.
Primarily P/EBO oriented tones. Ample bass, mids, and enough treble but getting the mix right for anything beyond an P/EBO like tone took work - mostly getting clarity. Even getting close to a vintage Fender P took some tweaking. Tones usually had a good solid bass but getting some focused midrange tone to compliment it was tough. Treble had a wide range of application and was useful from nearly full cut to boosted a couple steps - where it would become boxie.
Pups tended to be on the warm, soft side (even the edge exhibited by the pair was noticeably rounded without a crispness), and lacking clarity. Little bit of rawness to tones at times but mostly on the mild side. Occassionaly there'd be a nice buzz, fuzz, biting edge, and complimentary finger transfer but that was the exception. Some punch on some settings but pretty punchless in general. Negligible growl.
Fairly easy to get a useable tone but hard to get beyond that. The lack of clarity was somewhat appealing and definetly just what i wanted for some tunes but it got on my nerves when I wanted to get some focus and bite to a tone and could seldom accommodate. Didn't require much adjustment to actually play to tunes. Majority of adjustment was just to see what the pups would do. Variations in tone adjustment produced noticeable variations to tunes but it basically amounted to a darker or brighter version of the same tone but about half the time they all worked so there was quite a bit of flexibility in that sense. Tones sounded much clearer more appealing solo than to music and probably some decent solo tones in the mix.
Using the treble boost/cut bass setting that got the J-like tone with the Willpower alone, when combined with the model J sounded pretty much the same. So combining them basically took the edge off of the J from when the J was used alone.
Played passably to roughly 65% of the tunes which could probably be extended to 90% if marginal tunes were thrown in. I pulled a tone at the end of the session that may expand those estimates so I'll make note, give it a try, and update at a later date. Better than average to about 25% - Reggae, Blues, R&B. Volume, tone, sensitivity, clarity, and cut fairly balanced across the board for tones played to tunes. Relative to other pups cut and clarity were low average.
FLUFF:
May not sound like a stellar impression but the pups have very appealing vintage P/EBO vibe that I like and could easily see as being a set of choice for someones main bass depending on personal preference and what music they play.
