DiMarzio D Activator 8 Bridge DP820

I've had DiMarzio pickups installed in various guitars before, both for six and seven strings, and they've always kept me happy: they are affordable, versatile and sound very good. So when I got myself an eight-string guitar, going the DiMarzio route was a rather obvious choice.

Pickups are no matter what a very subjective thing. This review will detail my own experience - and that's mine only! - with the D Activator 8 bridge pickup, installed in an Ibanez RGA8 with 500K potentiometers.

With the pickup installed, I was initially blown by the upgrade from the original pickups in the RGA8. The D Activator 8 is a high output pickup on the DiMarzio scale, but the pickup retains ridiculous amounts of clarity even under loads of gain. The pickup's got a really tight sound, with hifi-like highs. Clean sounds are sparkly but by no means harsh.

However, all good things must come to an end: in time I grew somewhat tired of the tones I could achieve with the pickup. All the tones ended up being very dark - not muddy at all, but missing some spark and punch - and I'm personally a fan of overly bright tones. This is not a fair conviction, though, as thinking it through led me to believe the guitar itself was to blame. The mahogany body of my RGA8 was very heavy and dense and wouldn't resonate well. To support this view, I had a DiMarzio PAF 8 neck pickup installed which was equally as dark, if not darker.

It could be that the body of the guitar was a poor sample of wood, or possibly it would've sounded wondrous with a completely different kind of pickup. I can't tell. In the end I parted ways with the guitar - and both pickups - and got another eight-string loaded with pickups of another brand; a combo I would absolutely fall in love with.

To sum it all up, I would certainly recommend the D Activator 8. It is a wonderful pickup - an opinion most users will likely agree on. It is unfortunate, however, that it wouldn't couple up with my guitar.

Da ich mittlerweile in meinen 6- und 7-Strings den DiMarzio D Activator verbaut habe und das Resultat mich immer ungemein zufrieden gestellt hat, musste nun auch für meine 8-String einer her. Bis dato hatte ich einen Lundgren M8, der locker das doppelte kostet und den meisten wohl durch Meshuggah bekannt sein durfte, in der Gitarre verbaut, war damit aber nicht vollends zufrieden. Zu harsch, schrill und kalt war er mir.

Also den DA8 besorgt, verbaut und et voila - er macht, was er am besten kann! Der DiMarzio fährt ordentlich was an Mitten auf und ist nicht ganz so aggressiv in den Höhen, wie der Lundgren es war. Vom Grundcharakter ähneln sich beide PU's sehr, aber der DA8 wirkt einfach angenehmer ausbalanciert, scheint mir sogar ein bisschen mehr Output zu haben und klingt einfach breit und groß, dabei aber immer transparent.

Der D Activator wird ja oft als die passive Alternative zum EMG81 genannt und dies bestätigt sich auch hier einigermaßen, natürlich mit etwas mehr Dynamik abgerundet. ;)

Kurzum: Ich bin sehr zufrieden mit dem D Activator, wie immer, und kann ihn nur empfehlen.