Guitars

Joined: 29 Nov 2012 Posts: 39 Location: Dallas, TX

hey guys, been turned on to a few DMT models this past year by Buddy Blaze and have gradually been trying out a few more. I've tried the Blazebucker bridge and neck, the Nostalgia neck and the Baker Act. I definitely like the Blazebucker bridge, Nostalgia neck and the Baker Act, although I find the Blazebucker neck to be a little heavy and saturated for my preference. so now I'm interested in learning more about the Time Capsule and the Equalizer.

as being more familiar with the Duncan line of pickups, I'm curious to see if anyone could help line out the TC and the Equalizer in relatable terms. such as, I can see where the Nostalgia could be close to the '59. and the Baker Act could be close to the JB. I've heard some people compare the TC to the Super D, but I've also seen it compared to a Custom or even the '59/Custom Hybrid. and I've not been able to find too much so far about the Equalizer.

additionally, I'm also curious is anyone has specs on the wire gauges of the windings of any of the DMT line... for the purpose of possibly considering options to make some DMT hybrids.

thanks for your time.

Joined: 04 Apr 2005 Posts: 2434 Location: Midwest, Sweden

this calls for a DMT-specific forum! Very Happy

Joined: 30 Nov 2003 Posts: 10625 Location: Canada

The Baker Act is one of my fav pickups, period.

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 4:43 pm

Armitage wrote:

The Baker Act is one of my fav pickups, period.

My ATF has a Baker Act bridge, and a Time Capsule neck. I can honestly say that they're the best pups I've ever had. Far nicer than EMG's. They are both very hot, and insanely clear. Each note is very defined. They will be my go-to pups from now on I think. Cool

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

The TC is closest tonally to the Gibson Classic Plus with a little more output. I don't find it to be like a Super D at all. If I had to compare it to a Duncan I would say it's closest to a 59 but with a little more output, maybe like a Custom. They sound really good but don't have the output of a JB if you're looking for something like that. I recorded all the rhythm tracks of my band's last album with a TC equipped guitar. Many hours of intimate recording time with it. It's definitely a dynamic pickup. I'm considering buying a set for my current guitar. I just have to check if they can be coil split.

Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 341 Location: cali.

great topic,good info. Carry on...

Joined: 04 Apr 2005 Posts: 2434 Location: Midwest, Sweden

what about the Blazebucker? I was under the impression that it was discontinued?
would've been fun to try one of those, but as of now, the Lights Out looks interesting Smile

Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 341 Location: cali.

I M Evil wrote:

what about the Blazebucker? I was under the impression that it was discontinued?
would've been fun to try one of those, but as of now, the Lights Out looks interesting Smile

I agree but I wonder if what Dean Sells is what Schenker is playing. I assume it is since the owner is playing bass on stage right next to Micheal. I wish I could own a company and go on stage with my hero Lol !

Joined: 04 Apr 2005 Posts: 2434 Location: Midwest, Sweden

ibmorjamn wrote:

I agree but I wonder if what Dean Sells is what Schenker is playing. I assume it is since the owner is playing bass on stage right next to Micheal. I wish I could own a company and go on stage with my hero Lol !

you never know Wink

for all we know, Michael could be playing his old T-tops,
Duncans, Schallers or even the DiMarzio that eventually turned Dean Cool

Joined: 06 May 2007 Posts: 4150 Location: southern ohio

I think you can still get the blazebucker from buddy

Joined: 29 Nov 2012 Posts: 39 Location: Dallas, TX

so the TC is a little more like the Duncan Custom?

does anyone have any time with the Equalizer?

and I've heard the MoT is like a JB, but the Baker Act seems to nail the JB pretty well to my ears. is there a more accurate description for the MoT?

I M Evil wrote:

what about the Blazebucker? I was under the impression that it was discontinued?
would've been fun to try one of those, but as of now, the Lights Out looks interesting Smile

yeah, you can get them directly from Buddy. typically via ebay, but you can probably call or email via his site. right after Thanksgiving he was running a black friday or a cyber monday (one of the two) sale on the for around the $40 range.

the BB bridge is really quite nice. I have one in an alder Blaze K2-H2 and I have 2 bridge models in my Kramer NightSwan. they sound great in both.

Joined: 29 Nov 2012 Posts: 39 Location: Dallas, TX

Lanning is Killdozer wrote:

The TC is closest tonally to the Gibson Classic Plus with a little more output. I don't find it to be like a Super D at all. If I had to compare it to a Duncan I would say it's closest to a 59 but with a little more output, maybe like a Custom. They sound really good but don't have the output of a JB if you're looking for something like that. I recorded all the rhythm tracks of my band's last album with a TC equipped guitar. Many hours of intimate recording time with it. It's definitely a dynamic pickup. I'm considering buying a set for my current guitar. I just have to check if they can be coil split.

that's very interesting, as a guy I know that just tried a TC actually compared it to a Duncan '59/Custom Hybrid. I made a '59/C hybrid earlier this year and like it a lot. true, it doesn't have quite as much drive as the JB, but it has a nice open tone that's actually quite versatile. I know dudes that play metal with it and I know dudes that play grandpa rock with it.

your description really makes the TC very interesting.

Joined: 07 Jun 2010 Posts: 352 Location: Illinois

DrShredder97 wrote:

Armitage wrote:

The Baker Act is one of my fav pickups, period.

My ATF has a Baker Act bridge, and a Time Capsule neck. I can honestly say that they're the best pups I've ever had. Far nicer than EMG's. They are both very hot, and insanely clear. Each note is very defined. They will be my go-to pups from now on I think. Cool

Downside to being a complete nub: No idea how good these pickups sound (I have a trans-braziliaburst AT). Don't get me wrong, I can get some great tones out of these bad boys (I prefer the Baker Act, thus far), but I've had no other good pups to compare them to. She's only my 2nd axe and I love her to death, but the lack of variety is killing me, lol.

Haven't even tried EMGs yet, but I think that's between active and passive (for the Baker Act/Time Capsule).

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:58 pm

GuitarNewbie wrote:

DrShredder97 wrote:

Armitage wrote:

The Baker Act is one of my fav pickups, period.

My ATF has a Baker Act bridge, and a Time Capsule neck. I can honestly say that they're the best pups I've ever had. Far nicer than EMG's. They are both very hot, and insanely clear. Each note is very defined. They will be my go-to pups from now on I think. Cool

Downside to being a complete nub: No idea how good these pickups sound (I have a trans-braziliaburst AT). Don't get me wrong, I can get some great tones out of these bad boys (I prefer the Baker Act, thus far), but I've had no other good pups to compare them to. She's only my 2nd axe and I love her to death, but the lack of variety is killing me, lol.

Haven't even tried EMGs yet, but I think that's between active and passive (for the Baker Act/Time Capsule).

I see what you mean. Theyre the nicest pups ive had so far. But, I havent had any super nice pups except these. The only pups ive had to compare are EMGs and these pretty badass Randall pups in my old vindicator. These have topped those IMO, but like i said i havfent used many pups to compare them too.

Fact of the matter: DMT kicks arse!

Joined: 17 Jan 2011 Posts: 995 Location: Arid-Zona!

I have always been a huge Duncan fan. Have soldered about a hundred pups in and out of my guitars, emg, dimarzio, japbrands, gfs, deans, duncans.... Overall i still play exclusively duncans, they sound the best for what and how i play...

That being said, the only Dean pup i ever liked has been the Baker Act. It is an amazing pickup! Period,! I would compare it to a custom, but with clarity like the patb... Not as much gain and seethe as the sh6... That's my take.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 10221 Location: New Jersey USA

I like the DMT pickups a lot. I have loads of Duncan and Dimarzio equipped guitars, and the DMT's sound as good as any of them to me, but for a lot less money, because I can get them through Dean when we go to the DOA events, etc. So I have amassed quite a stash of Dean DMT pickups. Especially ones that have been wound right in front on me, which is cool.

I love the Time Capsule the best. It has a lot of great tone, and articulation, without being too muddy. It has really wonderful harmonic content as well. I do find it to be similar in tone to the Dimarzio Super Dist, but without the harsh overtones, and a little less crunch. I find it to be a great all around rock and metal pickup. and dont think it is a mellow pickup because of what lanning said. It runs about 14.5 k on the meter, which is pretty hot. I have maybe a dozen sets for TC's and love them. I wont go ripping the Super Dist's out of my USA Deans, but I certainly have put them in a lot of other guitars that came with questionable pickups.

The MoT is a really hot and sounds great with some guitars, but not good with some guitars too. Same with the Baker Act. It sounds killer with a Z or V, but sounded like pure ass with my Deceiver. I've used a few Baker Acts in the neck spot and they make a killer neck pickup for hot beefy neck pup lead tones. The Blazebucker is really crunchy. Very very crunchy. But nice and tight. It has a really unique sound. I've had two or three of them, and they are great for a lot of things, but not a good all around rock pickup.

The lights out set is also very good, although I got really spoiled with a set of the Dimarzio Custom Shop Schenkers in my USA Z. They are truely killer pups, and the DMT versions dont stand up to them as far as nailing that Schenker tone. But they are good pickups in their own right. I have a few sets. So if you are looking for a great Super Distortion type of tone, they are spot on. But if you are looking for a killer schenker tone, I got really spoiled by the Dimarzio versions.

I've had quite a few of the others too. All the DMT pickups are really good.

Joined: 15 Dec 2008 Posts: 4257 Location: Derry, N Ireland

The Baker Act is amazing in my ATF3000. But as Brad said, sounded like ass in the deceiver FM I had.

I would love to throw a couple of Baker Act's in a Les Paul Cool

Joined: 29 Nov 2012 Posts: 39 Location: Dallas, TX

BradWorld wrote:

The MoT is a really hot and sounds great with some guitars, but not good with some guitars too. Same with the Baker Act. It sounds killer with a Z or V, but sounded like pure ass with my Deceiver. I've used a few Baker Acts in the neck spot and they make a killer neck pickup for hot beefy neck pup lead tones. The Blazebucker is really crunchy. Very very crunchy. But nice and tight. It has a really unique sound. I've had two or three of them, and they are great for a lot of things, but not a good all around rock pickup.

could you go in to more detail about the MoT?

thanks!

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

darthphineas wrote:

could you go in to more detail about the MoT?

thanks!

It's the Leslie West signature pickup. It's all I used for about 2 years. It's like a Duncan JB on steroids but if you're not a very clean player it will show your faults. It's super powerful but the way it's eq'd you have to be a pretty clean player to get the best out of it. Otherwise it's a beast.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 10221 Location: New Jersey USA

Leslie was looking for a pickup that had the punch, growl and articulation of a P90 without all the noise. He found it in the Mountain of Tone pickup. It is a very hot pickup with a lot of growl and punch like a P90. But it is a true humbucker, so it has no noise, and has a bunch of humbucker tone on top of everything.

Here is a decent video of Satch and Leslie jamming on some blues riffs, both using Leslie's guitars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewR9-Tb-58o

Joined: 28 Sep 2012 Posts: 379 Location: Kent, UK

When I get my next humbucking non jazz guitar, I'm going to chuck the HWS pickup in the neck. Thats for certain.

Joined: 29 Nov 2012 Posts: 39 Location: Dallas, TX

has anyone had any time with the Equalizer model?

thanks!

Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2012 10:38 am

I have tried the tyrant, and TC love them both.

Joined: 04 Apr 2005 Posts: 2434 Location: Midwest, Sweden

After posting this in that other pickup thread,
it got me thinking: "why not do something like that for the DMTs?",
you know, have someone of our seasoned pros or atleast anyone
with easy access to the whole DMT line record a song or a portion
of a song multiple times with different pickups each time?

Joined: 10 Feb 2006 Posts: 1390 Location: Lutz, Fl.

darthphineas wrote:

has anyone had any time with the Equalizer model?

thanks!

One of my earliest posts on the forum had the same question you have. Unfortunately, I still have no answer. If someone can give you an answer, I'd love to know as well.

Joined: 29 Nov 2012 Posts: 39 Location: Dallas, TX

I M Evil wrote:

After posting this in that other pickup thread,
it got me thinking: "why not do something like that for the DMTs?",
you know, have someone of our seasoned pros or atleast anyone
with easy access to the whole DMT line record a song or a portion
of a song multiple times with different pickups each time?

that's a trip, as I had a SD question today and called in and the the guy that made that video answered. in my opinion that video is a quantum shift forward in helping the end users know what's going on. the parts are brief, the pup models are put next to other models to help show the best differences, and the last part is just the same parts without backing tracks.

he did a 7-string version not long ago, but he was playing along with someone and the passages were much longer... so, to my ears, it was harder to get a handle on the differences. plus, the 7-string video was more about that newere heavier rock/metal samples and I'm more of an 80s guy, so it was a little lost on me.

Joined: 07 Jun 2010 Posts: 352 Location: Illinois

That was by far the best pup comparison video I have ever watched. And I've spent God knows how many hours on Youtube trying to differentiate between pups and see what I'm interested in.

Why I haven't seen more like this I have no idea. 11/10

That JB has officially pulled me in, though. Need to hear more from it!!!

Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 7:26 am

I M Evil wrote:

ibmorjamn wrote:

I agree but I wonder if what Dean Sells is what Schenker is playing. I assume it is since the owner is playing bass on stage right next to Micheal. I wish I could own a company and go on stage with my hero Lol !

you never know Wink

for all we know, Michael could be playing his old T-tops,
Duncans, Schallers or even the DiMarzio that eventually turned Dean Cool

I'd say the Schenker (lights out) comes close to DiMarzio Super 2. They were the first Dimarzios I got when I bought my Ibby V in 77. Great pickup. not as boomy as a SD. But still punchy.

Joined: 04 Apr 2005 Posts: 2434 Location: Midwest, Sweden

GuitarNewbie wrote:

That was by far the best pup comparison video I have ever watched. And I've spent God knows how many hours on Youtube trying to differentiate between pups and see what I'm interested in.

Why I haven't seen more like this I have no idea. 11/10

That JB has officially pulled me in, though. Need to hear more from it!!!

I know

very informative Smile

and I figured, Dean has some really good players,
so why not have one of them do something similar? Smile

couldn't hurt to boost
the interest for the DMT-line and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't hurt the sales figure either Smile

Joined: 07 Jun 2010 Posts: 352 Location: Illinois

I M Evil wrote:

GuitarNewbie wrote:

That was by far the best pup comparison video I have ever watched. And I've spent God knows how many hours on Youtube trying to differentiate between pups and see what I'm interested in.

Why I haven't seen more like this I have no idea. 11/10

That JB has officially pulled me in, though. Need to hear more from it!!!

I know

very informative Smile

and I figured, Dean has some really good players,
so why not have one of them do something similar? Smile

couldn't hurt to boost
the interest for the DMT-line and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't hurt the sales figure either Smile

Because who needs logic in business? lol. No idea why more companies, not even just Dean, don't do stuff like this.

Joined: 04 Apr 2005 Posts: 2434 Location: Midwest, Sweden

GuitarNewbie wrote:

Because who needs logic in business? lol. No idea why more companies, not even just Dean, don't do stuff like this.

meh, think of it as a cheap/free way for some extra commercial Wink

There's gotta be someone here that's up for it? Smile

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 10221 Location: New Jersey USA

I M Evil wrote:

GuitarNewbie wrote:

Because who needs logic in business? lol. No idea why more companies, not even just Dean, don't do stuff like this.

meh, think of it as a cheap/free way for some extra commercial Wink

There's gotta be someone here that's up for it? Smile

I gotta tell you, I listened to that Duncan video, and it sounds like a lot of over processed crap to me. You cant really tell the "real" differences in the pickups from one to the next. I find the tone samples for each pickup on the Duncan web site to be much more helpful.

Joined: 04 Apr 2005 Posts: 2434 Location: Midwest, Sweden

are you kidding me? Shocked

you can hear the differences between the pickups very clear Smile

Joined: 29 Nov 2012 Posts: 39 Location: Dallas, TX

I M Evil wrote:

are you kidding me? Shocked

you can hear the differences between the pickups very clear Smile

agreed.

and it's a great tool when considering any of the pickups in that list, as it has a frame of reference from one model to the next. most of these videos out there are just of some guy wanking to the one pickup in his guitar on his amp, which has totally no relevance to how it's going to sound in your rig.

this one has a lot of that, but uses it as a bedrock to test multiple models in a productive way. chances are that you use or have used at least one of the pickups in that video.... so you can relate to how it sounds and base a better-informed opinion off of it.

Joined: 07 Jun 2010 Posts: 352 Location: Illinois

I don't know what "real" differences means, but I found the video(s) to be quite helpful. The pickups all sounded different in their own way, granted some sounded a bit similar to me as my ears aren't trained to pick up the eccentricities of a pup. The JB has a nice mid-range, the Alternate 8 and Blackout series has a lot of low end, etc, etc.

Unless you mean that a video can never really bring out the sound of a pickup because it's just that, a video.

Joined: 29 Nov 2012 Posts: 39 Location: Dallas, TX

I've gotten some feedback indicating that the Equalizer is similar to the Duncan JB. the same person is saying the Time Capsule is like the DiMarzio Super Distortion, if that helps.