Liquifire 7 AND D-Activator(n) - Unique Tonal Options?

[Chabo]

I have a basswood Ibanez RG7 (RG7320Z), with D-Activator 7 neck & Liquifire 7 (coming in the mail).
The D-Act (neck) I plan to use in the bridge, but interestingly, both D-Act & LFire are "able" to be used in either bridge or neck position.

What do people think of the options here? I "can" do LF in Bridge & D-Act in the neck, or get a third pickup that pairs well w/ LF neck, LF bridge, D- Act(N) neck, AND/OR D-Act(N) bridge to swap in for one of the other two for a tone change (e.g. a D-Activator 7 bridge, could be swapped in so both D-Acts are in their "intended" position for a very different tone).

Would this setup (neck DA 7 and LFire 7) not have a unique amount of interesting tone options, in theory?
What configuration(s) should I try, & what pickup would be interesting to add as a 3rd pickup (to add or just to trade in the DA or LF for?

[BTW I like modern heavy tones, djent, late Meshuggah/Martin Hagstrom, tight but ballsy low end, I like Actives and passives, depends on the situation]

 

[odibrom]

Put the pickup with the higher output at the bridge position, then let your ears guide your thought. There are no rules, just personal tastes.

The reason for the higher output pickup to be at the bridge has to do with a more balanced volume between the 2 pickups.

Other than that, I've tested either a Blaze Neck and an AirNorton 7 at the bridge position this weekend in my RG7421 (basswood body) and they surprised me a lot in a positive way. The DA7 neck was on the list, but I had to fetch the soldering iron first and was not in that mood... next time maybe...

 

[Chabo]

Thank you odibrom, I appreciate your insights...

Well the Liquifire 7 is definitely hotter, a 470 rating vs. the D-Activator 7's 380.
Since I heard good things about the D-A7 neck in the bridge (e.g. clarity), & the LFire goes well in the neck (generally, but I haven't heard it in the bridge and I AM curious), I figured I'd try that & just lower the LFire's height in the neck until it matched the bridge.

Do you think the LFire is too hot (in comparison) for a height adjustment to make up for the difference (or maybe the tone might be altered too much if the height is too low)?

 

[odibrom]

Thank you odibrom, I appreciate your insights...

Well the Liquifire 7 is definitely hotter, a 470 rating vs. the D-Activator 7's 380.
Since I heard good things about the D-A7 neck in the bridge (e.g. clarity), & the LFire goes well in the neck (generally, but I haven't heard it in the bridge and I AM curious), I figured I'd try that & just lower the LFire's height in the neck until it matched the bridge.

Do you think the LFire is too hot (in comparison) for a height adjustment to make up for the difference (or maybe the tone might be altered too much if the height is too low)?

You are equivocated, the Liquifire output, as stated in the DiMarzio's site, is 270 against the DA7 Neck of 380. So, this to say that IMO there will be no problem whatsoever with output levels... looks like a fairly balanced set.

 

[0rimus]

I have this exact setup in a cheapo neck thru flying V 7 string I bought off of Aliexpress.

I thought using the DA neck in the bridge was gonna be some kind of revelation after reading a couple posts about it here...

I ended up getting tighter faster bass response out of the Luiqifire in the neck position lol.
I'd like to try switching them but I rarely use that guitar anymore.

The DA neck in the bridge is super clear, don't get me wrong. But when it comes to getting fast percussive palm mutes out of power chords or single notes, it kinda blows actually.

Imagine you're playing guitar and your friend goes; "Check this out, I'm gonna make your tone WAY tighter!"

And then they turn the master volume knob on your amp down lol.

It eats gain for breakfast and if you wanna hear all the notes in huge chords ring out, then yeah.

But the first word that comes to mind for the DA7 neck in bridge, is weak. YMMV

 

[Chabo]

Thank you for clearing that up odibrom, you're 100% right.

I can see that might be a problem, 0rimus, it's what I was afraid of. I think I might have to look into a replacement for the bridge, to pair with the Liquifire 7. I could go with Crunchlab 7 obviously, but I don't know how tight that would be. If I can find a Pegasus for cheap, I think that might be nice pairing.

 

[0rimus]

Yeah, I'd still love to try the LF in the bridge. It's so tight and chunky in the neck that I think it'd be awesome in the bridge.

But then your options for matching output in the neck might be an issue.

 

[Chabo]

Yeah, I'd still love to try the LF in the bridge. It's so tight and chunky in the neck that I think it'd be awesome in the bridge.

But then your options for matching output in the neck might be an issue.

I keep thinking about what you said 0rimus, mentioning the tight/chunky aspect of the Liquifire 7. It's a good point and makes me really really curious now to try it out in the bridge. I'm definitely trying that when I'm feeling less lazy, maybe even if I don't have a neck to pair it with. If I CAN think of a neck pup to match with that, one I like, I think it could be real interesting to hear what that sounds like. Just for kicks I'll be looking into that asap, I'd absolutely try to do a demo clip so you and anyone else curious about it here can get an idea, if I can do it right.

I setup the d-acts/Lfire 7 btw, I just haven't an amp worthy of hearing it properly (firewire pcie is in the mail, need it for my interface with new rig. Ugh I wish I had an amp that crushes)

Found a Kiesel Lithium Kl14b & thought about getting it, been toying with the idea of trying that in the bridge with Liquifire 7, nice cleans and real warm, I usually go for more output but I keep leaning lately towards the idea of doing what I can to keep distortion sounds tight and less muddy (hence d-activator neck in bridge). Otherwise I'd go for crunchlab or Nazgûl, love both, I'm not sure if I'll end up regretting going in that direction but I guess we'll see.

 

[Emperoff]

In my experience, exchanging positions between neck and bridge pickups never had positive results. EMGs would be the exception.

 

[0rimus]

Yeah I'd definately be interested to hear how the LF works in the bridge. I'm also too lazy to try it and the liquifire is my favorite neck pickup so I don't really want to move it. But I am curious.

 

[op1e]

I got a Titan neck pickup by accident from Sweetwater and put it in a POS Warlock 7 and I loved it against my DA in my 7421 reissue. I sold the Warlock and kept the pickup, sitting around for 2 years. Threw it in the bridge of a EC 257 I picked up on the cheap, and you're right. Now I'm underwhelmed. True representation of "Results may vary". It's kinda bright and weak, but not horrible. It works and its articulate. But I pick up my 8 with Cepheus Actives or that 7421 now and world of difference in fullness.