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DiMarzio to Release Ionizer 8 Pickups for 8-String Guitars

Staten Island, NY (December 13, 2012) – DiMarzio, Inc. welcomes Tosin Abasi, trail-blazing pioneer of modern heavy music and lead guitarist of progressive instrumental band Animals as Leaders to

Staten Island, NY (December 13, 2012) – DiMarzio, Inc. welcomes Tosin Abasi, trail-blazing pioneer of modern heavy music and lead guitarist of progressive instrumental band Animals as Leaders to its roster of endorsers. DiMarzio announced it will release three new Ionizer 8 pickups developed for Abasi’s new signature 8-string Ibanez guitar in January of 2013. DiMarzio will also make the Ionizer 8 pickups available for retail sale.

The Ionizer 8 Neck Model (DP809) is warm and open like a vintage humbucker, solid and tight like a modern metal pickup, and performs like a classic single-coil in split mode. It’s unusual for a player to request a humbucker with the single-coil sound as important as the series humbucking sound, but Abasi was clear on this point. The split mode has lower resistance than a vintage Strat 6-string pickup in order to let the 7th and 8th strings stay clean, but all the other specs nail the classic Strat sound.

DiMarzio specifically created the Ionizer 8 Middle Model (DP810) single-coil to work with the Ionizer 8 Neck and Bridge Models. It’s clean, bright, and well-balanced. Although its construction bears little resemblance to a vintage 6-string single-coil, it performs similarly. Treble response is bright without being thin, and bass response is clean and solid.

When Abasi described what he wanted for the Ionizer 8 (DP811) humbucking Bridge Model, he said it is all about the mids. 8-string guitars have extended low-end response, and the mids need to power the bridge position so the sound doesn’t wash out. It also needs to have enough output to overdrive an amp without making the sound muddy, and enough headroom to clean up when the volume is rolled down.

The long scale length of an 8-string guitar can make the sound of the unwound strings brittle, but the Ionizer 8 Bridge Model has a low resonant peak that warms them up, and the high E doesn’t sound thin, even at the upper frets.

The 4-conductor wired humbuckers allow multiple coil connections, enabling a wealth of diverse sounds within the Ionizer 8 three-pickup combination.

DiMarzio’s new Ionizer 8 Neck, Middle, and Bridge Model pickups are made in the U.S.A. and will be available from DiMarzio dealers in January of 2013. Suggested List Price for the Ionizer 8 Neck and Bridge Models is $139 each, and the Ionizer 8 Middle is $79. DiMarzio will show the pickups at the January 2013 NAMM Expo in Anaheim.

For more information:
www.dimarzio.com