Are Dimarzio Fusion Edges meant to be this shite?

[bzhang9]

its supposed to be an all purpose high-ish gain pickups they put in to a bunch of models, can't really compare them to super tight metal pickups

yeah if you just compare djenty rhythm they might be worse, but they also probably have better cleans, medium gain rock tone, and leads

 

[Eric Tripton]

LOL, I am receiving a new Prestige RG that have these pups in them.. Guess what, I will mount a Duncan '59 to a DiMarzio plate and install it, and be done with it.
I agree, pickups are a subjective piece of gear like playing through preamp distortion, or output tube distortion.... subjective, hence Seymour Duncan guts being installed on the DiMarzio plate..LOL

 

[skullfxr]

Anything that comes stock on a stock guitar has to appeal to an audience one way or another. I would imagine (have no real stat) most don't change them and stay happy. They are a compromise on every aspect.
If it's a signature guitar they are meant to represent one way or another a the endorsed player's instrument.

I buy a guitar and decide to keep it, I change it to my preferences. Then I am happy. I don't buy an instrument thinking that it will be tailored to me. I do what I do and enjoy it.

 

[Grindspine]

I have Fusion Edge 7 pickups in my basswood body, maple fretboard RGDR3127 and Titan 7 pickups in my mahogany body, rosewood fretboard RG3727. Both are okay pickup sets, but neither can compete with my EMG 81x equipped guitars or my Duncan Alpha/Omega equipped guitars (to my ears).

There are times that I have liked the compression and attack of the Titans, they do remind me of 81s in a way, but lack output. They are passive after all.

The Fusion Edge just sound like weaker Titans to me. They are ballpark of a good sound, but don't quite nail it. They can be acceptable, but when I plug in my other guitars, I constantly toy with doing a pickup swap. The reason that I have not done so is that it is hard to find white bobbin 7 string pickups that fit a Dimarzio route with certainty of a good fit.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

The Fusion Edge just sound like weaker Titans to me. They are ballpark of a good sound, but don't quite nail it. They can be acceptable, but when I plug in my other guitars, I constantly toy with doing a pickup swap. The reason that I have not done so is that it is hard to find white bobbin 7 string pickups that fit a Dimarzio route with certainty of a good fit.

15 options for you here - available with white bobbins (and choice of three pole piece colours) for an up-charge

D Activator and X2N both have significantly more output than Titan (let alone Fusion Edge).

 

[jl-austin]

It has been my experience that Dimarzio's in general aren't that good for chugging. They typically have different coil windings on each bobbin, which helps with clarity. They sound great for solo work, but when you are looking for that "chainsaw grind" look else where. Especially from "stock" pickups.

Of course there are going to be exceptions, but for the most part, look at their artist line-up and that will give you an idea of what they are about. Mostly all solo instrumental guitarist, very few flat out metal chuggers. Which is why there are glowing reviews of the fusions. For some reason the majority of Ibanez players are "happy finger" type players and couldn't play a decent rhythm if they had too.

 

[Eyelessfiend]

I found the Fusion Edge 7 to be okay. Definitely serviceable. The Fusion Edge 6 bridge was muddy and a bit thin sounding in my buddies guitar. Especially compared to the Crunch Lab and Super 3 in my guitars at the time

 

[Foshizzle]

I've had these pickups for a while now and I can't seem to get a good sound out of them, they have a huge bottom end but not in a good way, it's very boomy and lacks any clarity. If i try and eq it to be more bright it just sounds awful, no crunch or tightness at all. they also seem kind of low output for a metal guitar, it almost sounds like the tone knob is all the way down, though my guitar doesn't have a tone knob and i assume it's just always up to the full without one? The pickups also buzz pretty loudly, so weird that i read such good reviews about the pickups before i got the guitar!

I made a comparison here to how it sounds vs my EMG 81 in my other guitar, exact same amp settings. What do you guys think? are they bad pickups or is something not right with mine.

I made a account just to reply to this

My ibanes RGIXL7 had this same exact problem and also no tone knob.... Only thing they had going for them was the clean neck tone, dimarzio fusion edges were a huge disappointment, i swapped them out with some Activators and there 100x better

 

[Themistocles]

I have all 3, D-Activators, Titans and Fusion Edge, and I like them all, so yeah it's really purely a subjective thing. The D-Activator I really like but its maybe a bit too "colored" for certain genres. The Titan is imo the perfect balance between a D-Activator and a more standard humbucker so it is much more versatile, while still having a good roar to it. Weirdly the Fusion Edge, is the less impressive of the 3 to me, but it still a very solid pick-up.
From the OP's clip, I find the EMG's too bright and fizzy, which is also the issue I have with my EMG loaded guitar.
All in all, and it also shows in the Devin Townsend clips, pickups are not the most important part of your chain. What sounds pleasant in those clips as far as I can tell is mostly the roar of these 4x12 Mesa cabs. The only reason I like some pickups more than others is because they give you a certain color right out of the guitar with minimum tweaking, but I've gotten satisfying sounds out of pickups I initially didn't like.

Yeah, Titan 7's are pretty much my favorite all round pickup. Gutsy but capable doing all genres and doesnt squash the tone.

 

[sell2792]

Every pair of Ibanez-DiMarzio pickups I've ever used has been fairly garbage. I've heard people say they love them, and while tone is subjective, I completely disagree.

My 7620? Stock pickups were garbage. 550? Garbage.