Comments about DiMarzio PAF DP103 Humbucker 36th Anniversary Guitar Pickup:

I have been playing guitar for 45 years professionally. I have owned many quality guitars and occasionally done my own repairs and upgrades to my instruments. But generally leave it to the real pros for my guitar work. This is just to let you know I am not an amateur, that my experience and expertise is extensive.

I recently purchased a PRS Single cut SE for playing live. Not the quality of my Gibson Les Paul Custom, but a less expensive quality guitar that could take the rigors of live performance and still sound good.

I decided to upgrade the stock pickups to get a better quality sound. I heard the Gibson 57' Classic's, Dimarzio and Seymour Duncan were all about the same. (NOT! Read on.)

I looked at the price of all 3 brands and decided on the Dimarzio DP103 and DP223. The Gibson's were twice price. I then had the best guitar work guy in the state install the new Dimarzio pickups.

I soon discovered why there was such a price difference between Gibson and Dimarzio. And it is NOT just the name brand thing. The Dimarzio DP 103 and DP 223 pickups are poor at best. And that's being way to kind.

The pickups are very thin sounding, no warmth, no bottom end, no roundness! They were so trebly and "twangy" sounding that the guitar sounded more like a really cheap single coil Stratocaster than a PRS with Humbucker's. Frankly, Dimarzio pickups don not rate one star.

But it gets worse. Read on.

One of the reasons I chose the Dimazio was they have an "exchange" program. Supposedly if you are unhappy with the product they will exchange for a different pickup. Yeah right!

So I called Dimarzio and spoke to their "tech support" guy. I politely explained the pickups were just not the sound I expected and would like to exchange them for one of their other pickup models. From the start, he was extreme rude. I was told there was nothing wrong with the pickups and there was no way Dimarzio would exchange them. Period!

I politely asked again, saying that I really needed to exchange them and was there someone in management that I could appeal to for an exchange. The Dimarzio "Tech Support" guy replied NO! Not going to happen. Period! Without a doubt this was the rudest and worse support I have ever encountered in my musical career. (I suspect they only have one "Support Guy" too. I finally advised him, I would probably have to return them to the retailer then. He said "You do what you have to do", and then he hung up on me.

So that's just what I did. I returned them. Musician's Friend is awesome. I had no such problems with them. They happily exchanged them for the Gibson 57' Classic and Classic plus no problem. And WOW! What a Difference. Pay the extra amount for the Gibson 57' Classic's. They have an incredible sound that just keeps giving. Just go read the reviews on the Gibson's. They are all true.

Avoid Dimarzio products like the plague. Trust me. This is THE review to read for the Dimarzio pickups. Buyer beware.

Comments about DiMarzio PAF DP103 Humbucker 36th Anniversary Guitar Pickup:

I installed two of these in an Ibanez AS53 Semi-Hollow which structurally is a wonderful guitar, but had a dark muddy tone. It was like turning the lights on! These pickups have a wonderful clarity AND depth. Nice and warm, but still have bite, especially when splitting the coils at the bridge. If you don't split the bridge coil, you're missing out on a great usable tone. I highly recommend these pickups. Using a Digitech guitar modeling processor to do the work of creating sounds, these pickups create a crystal clear conduit for transmitting the true sound of the guitar to be modified.

Comments about DiMarzio PAF DP103 Humbucker 36th Anniversary Guitar Pickup:

was looking for some new pup's to drop into my ibanez artist, never had Dimarzio but always heard great things, figured these would be way better than the stock Ibanez AH-1 pups ...ahhh no, very thin sounding, no warmth, no bottom end, no roundness, I guess I have no clue what a PAF is supposed to sound like, I never owned a 57 les paul, but really I can't imagaine they would sound like this, didn't the blues guys in England dig early pauls for expressive creamy tone, these are not it, very plain jane IMO, ended up exchanging them with Dimarzio for air nortons, which are much better than these IMO

Comments about DiMarzio PAF DP103 Humbucker 36th Anniversary Guitar Pickup:

I have this pickup in 2 guitars. I paired it with PAF 36th Anniv Bridge in my Gibson SG, and with AT-1 bridge in my Music Man BFR Petrucci. Balance is a little better with the PAF/AT-1 combination IMO. This pickup has a nice open sound. Works great for rythym and solo. Compared to the stock Gibson, the pickup is more clear and articulate with more of a vintage tone. Handles extreme overdrive without squealing and cuts through nicely. Compared to the stock Liquifier in the BFR, it is night and day difference. Much less compressed and it has less of the mid boost of the LF. Really lets the tone of the wood come through. I mainly play the JP6 guitars live, and I wanted one of them to have a more vintage sound. This pickup fit the bill perfectly !

Comments about DiMarzio PAF DP103 Humbucker 36th Anniversary Guitar Pickup:

overall this is a great pickup i reccomend it to anyone if you really want some good sound get this along with the dp 100 super distortion pickup
Dimarzio pickups are really good pickups and this one is very good no noise no issues what so ever
The sound is awesome its the perfect balance I have this pickup combined with my dp 100 super distortion pickup and it sounds great this pickup gives you a warm creamy clean sound along with the a good solid crunch
its awesome enough said

Comments about DiMarzio PAF DP103 Humbucker 36th Anniversary Guitar Pickup:

Installed these in my Cort TS250 Les Paul Model.... UNBELIEVABLE! I'm not even kidding, these pickups are so tight, crisp and clean it's not even funny. I play in Church (Hillsong/Jesus Culture styles) And also Hard Rock to Metal these things sing! I'm very happy with this purchase.... quit scouring the net and reviews and BUY THEM! You will not regret it.
Amazing Sound!
Very solid build. Quality materials.
I mean this price for each! How can you beat that?

Comments about DiMarzio PAF DP103 Humbucker 36th Anniversary Guitar Pickup:

Many players make the mistake of buying high output pickups that lack clarity and warmth. These pickups have both clarity and warmth-as bright as a single coil with the amp set clean and plenty of great tone and sustain with the amp overdriven.Plenty of output too.I have DP103s in both neck and bridge of a frankenstrat and am well satisfied

Comments about DiMarzio PAF DP103 Humbucker 36th Anniversary Guitar Pickup:

I don't usually write reviews for anything, but I had to for this pickup. First thing's first, I play a heavily modified Epi Les Paul Standard through a tubescreamer, phaser, and delay. It comes through nice and clear when played through a heavily overdriven Fender tube amp (I mainly use a Fender Mustang amp for practice at home). It's sounds amazing clean with lots of fullness and clarity. It's very woody sounding and I feel like I'm hearing my guitar's true tone at it's best. Highs aren't at all harsh, the midrange is good and the bass isn't flabby like my previous neck pickup tended to be (a Seymour Duncan '59). My playing nuances are really noticeable with this pickup no matter what I'm playing which includes everything from "Layla" to "Master of Puppets", and I'm surprised at the pinch harmonics I can get. Also, the other wiring modes sound really great, and I use both just as much as the normal wiring mode; classic single coil tones plus parallel wiring (which is basically a slightly less powerful humbucker with more highs and mids). All in all, a wonderful all-around pickup. I highly recommend this pickup to anyone for all styles and for those wanting more from their guitar.

Comments about DiMarzio PAF DP103 Humbucker 36th Anniversary Guitar Pickup:

Put the DP103 with the DP190 in my Epi Les Paul Ultra. This pickup is amazing. It is not an extreme high output pickups so no one should expect extreme distortions out of it. Pushed hard thru a tube amp however, will give you loads of creamy distortion or thick warm cleans without any harsh top end. I had already tried Duncans and they are stone cold compared with these. I would recommend this pickup to anyone looking for an all-around vintage voiced pickup with incredible clarity and warmth.

Comments about DiMarzio PAF DP103 Humbucker 36th Anniversary Guitar Pickup:

Playing an LP standard through Marshall VM w/1960a cab. I've tried the SD Jazz, '59, AlnicoPro2, PearlyGates & Dimarzio Breed, Evolution, AirNorton, PAFPro in the neck position. None of these gave my guitar the beef and dynamics it has now- for both clean and overdriven tone. A truly awesome pickup & the best I've tried. Mine is paired w/an Evolution bridge and they sound fantastic together.