DiMarzio Steve Vai Gravity Storm pickups
Been looking for more info on DiMarzio’s new Gravity Storm pickups? The press release is now out and it’s a very interesting read. It sounds like Vai was really pushing for something different tonally with these compared to his previous signature pickups.
DiMarzio was nice enough to send a set for review, and while you’re waiting for the final verdict, here’s a little recording of me noodling on them through my Marshall.
DIMARZIO TO RELEASE STEVE VAI GRAVITY STORM™ PICKUPS
DiMarzio, Inc. announced it will release two new Gravity Storm™ humbucking pickups for electric guitars in mid-August. The Gravity Storm™ Neck and Bridge Model pickups were designed for Steve Vai. The pickups are named after a song on his new CD, Steve Vai: The Story of Light, that will be released on August 14, 2012 by Vai’s Favored Nations label.
The Gravity Storm™ is the next step in Steve Vai’s pickup evolution. Vai used to speak of pickup sounds in terms of specific frequency responses, but now he describes them in terms of flavors and textures. The flavor of The Gravity Storm™ Neck Model (DP252) is sweet and warm, but the texture has an edge to it. The combination of fat neck position tone with harmonics gives the Gravity Storm™ Neck Model an unusual throaty quality that sounds like a cross between a humbucker and a single-coil.
Steve described the sound he wanted from his new Gravity Storm™ Bridge Model (DP253) pickup as “a thundering cloud of ice cream”. It is very much a plug and play pickup – it does not require a lot of tweaking to get a great sound. Because the highs are very fat, it is possible to increase treble response on one’s amp without losing tone and sustain on the high frets.
DiMarzio’s new Gravity Storm™ Neck and Bridge Model pickups are made in the U.S.A. and will be available August 15, 2012 from guitarcenter.com and musiciansfriend.com. They will go on sale from all DiMarzio dealers on September 17, 2012. Suggested List Price for each pickup is $115. For more information about Gravity Storm™ pickups, visit the DiMarzio website at www.dimarzio.com.
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Hi! I'm Peter Hodgson. I write for Gibson.com, Australian Guitar, Australian Musician, Mixdown Magazine (including my instructional column, 'Unleash Your Inner Rock God,' which has been running since 2007), Blunt, Beat (including their weekly hard rock/metal column Crunch) and The Brag. And I'm Assistant Social Coordinator with Seymour Duncan.
I've been playing guitar since I was 8 years old, and I've been writing for magazines since I was 18. I've also worked as a guitar teacher (up to 50 students a week), a setup tech, a newspaper editor, and I've also dabbled in radio a little bit. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and my hobbies include drinking way too much coffee, and eating way too much Mexican food.
You can check out my guitar playing at Bandcamp or on YouTube, and feel free to email me at iheartguitarblog@gmail.com
I didn’t really get what you meant about it being a cross between a single-coil and a humbucker…until I listened to the audio sample. It was as you said- lots of treble in there, but still nice and warm.
I’ve always loved the sound of neck single-coils- especially for lead stuff- but I’ve always preferred humbuckers generally. Would you say it’s worth getting these pickups if you wanted a cutting (yet warm, and mellow), lead tone?