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DiMarzio Announces New Solderless Pickguards

Strat replacement pickguards include Area, Vintage, High Power, HS and Billy Corgan setups. Tele, Les Paul, P-Bass and J-Bass models are also on the way.

New York, NY (April 2, 2010) -- DiMarzio has unveiled five new pre-wired Strat-style replacement pickguards. Simply remove your standard 11-hole pickguard, drop in the new DiMarzio assembly, reconnect your output jack and you’re done. The following options are available:


Area prewired pickguard, front and back. Photo: Guitar Center

Area setup
This is a hum canceling, vintage-style setup that will take you from Nashville to Texas, with an Area 58 in the neck, Area 67 in the middle and an Area 61 in the bridge. The pickups respond like great vintage single-coils: played hard, they sound louder and tougher than you'd expect from ordinary pickups, but they clean up immediately by picking softer or rolling down the volume control. These pickups deliver the sparkle and edge missing from other hum canceling pickups.

Vintage setup
Loaded with True Velvet bridge, middle and neck pickups, it sounds clean, bright and especially sweet above the 12th fret. DiMarzio accomplishes this by tuning the coil to a frequency range that is bright but not thin and by using a new magnet stagger specifically designed to enhance string balance, producing great clarity even with full chords. The middle pickup has reverse polarity for hum canceling in the 2 and 4 positions on the selector switch. The bridge pickup is just a touch warmer and loudelouder, so the transition between pickup positions is smooth and balanced. In true vintage style, the True Velvet pickups have hand-ground magnets and vintage cloth-covered wire.

High Power setup
This pickguard comes with a ProTrack in the neck position, a Fast Track 1 in the middle and a Fast Track 2 in the bridge for tons of power and punch.

HS (formerly YJM) setup
This is the most popular hum-cancelling set for classical metal players. The pickguard has an HS-4 (formerly YJM) in the neck and middle positions and an HS-3 in the bridge position.

Billy Corgan setup
As a result of working with Billy Corgan on his custom Strat, DiMarzio modified the Air Norton S (neck) and the Tone Zone S (bridge). Billy asked for a deeper sound from the low strings without losing punch and a cleaner sound with high-gain amps. They lowered the frequency response of one coil in each pickup to boost the bass while opening up the mids. The end result is the new BC-1 and BC- 2 which come pre-wired along with a Chopper in the middle on this Billy Corgan pickguard.

The company has also released details on upcoming solderless replacement pickup sets for Tele, Les Paul, J-Bass and P-Bass.

Tele-style
The Tele replacement set includes chrome Tele control plate, knobs, chrome and black pickups, wiring harness with solderless installation and two options: Vintage Set (Twang King neck & bridge) and Area Set (Area T neck & bridge).

Les Paul-style
Replacement Les Paul sets will be available for both long shaft & short shaft pots. Both will offer the same three choices: Vintage Set (PAF 36th Anniversary & PAF 36th Anniversary Bridge F-spaced), Classic Rock Set (PAF 36th Anniversary & Super Distortion F-spaced), and Modern Metal Set (D Activator Neck & D Activator Bridge F-spaced).

P- and J-Bass-style
The P-Bass replacement pickguard will includes white-black-white laminated pickguard, black pickups and knobs. It will be available with DiMarzio Model P or Split P.

The J-Bass replacement set includes a chrome control plate, black pickups and knobs. It will be available with DiMarzio Model J set or Area J set.

For more information:
DiMarzio

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