Our first heavy humbucker of the 21st century, the D Sonic™ is a high-output bridge humbucker designed for the extended low end and heavy chords that dropped tuning delivers; with serious treble response for single-note solos and standard tuning. The D Sonic™ is more than just a one-sound pickup, too. In addition to the standard series humbucking sound, our patented design utilizes 4-conductor wiring to access two different single-coil sounds plus parallel humbucking mode, for three additional sounds that are distinctive and versatile.
Tech Talk: Those of you familiar with DiMarzio® history will note the visual resemblance to our old MegaDrive™, but the design is completely different. Installation direction makes a noticeable difference in the sound, particularly with overdriven amps. With the solid bar toward the bridge, the sound is a little brighter and better-defined, and this is the direction we recommend for heavy strings and low tunings. With the adjustable polepieces toward the bridge, the sound is warmer and a touch louder, and we think this works best for standard tuning and more solo-oriented playing. Each coil has a unique tonal character, so the two split sounds are different, and parallel humbucking produces a third clean and bright sound.
Recommended for Bridge position
DiMarzio Tone Guide:
Treble, Middle, Bass, pretty much like on your amp. Scale is 0-10. Relationship between Treble, Middle & Bass is important too.
- Treble - 5.5
- Middle - 6.5
- Bass - 6.5
DiMarzio Output (mv) Guide:
The higher the number, the more power you get. Humbuckers (generally):
200mv "classic"
300mv "punchy"
400mv "hot"
*Full-Size Humbuckers are available in Standard & "F"spacing. Pickup size is the same, but the polepieces are set further apart on F versions. Measure the E to E string spacing over each pickup. 48mm takes Standard, 51mm takes F-spaced