I love the crunch and squeal of a high-gain pickup at the bridge. That being said, wow - that tone @3:00 to 4:00 was just magic. Now I have to watch all of your videos!
Your playing is amazing! I also wanna say that I absolutely love your track “Before the Fall”, so atmospheric and heavy! Thank you and all the best in the future!
I'm with you on that. I always have returned to Dimarzios over the years. No two guitars respond the same way, and I always seem to be able to find an instrument/pickup combination with dimarzio that satisfies what I want to hear in my head. Thanks for checking out the video.
Terrific demo! I liked both settings, clean and with gain. I put a set in my USA CUSTOM guitar and in my Charvel. 67 in the neck, 61 middle. I used Humbuckers on both guitars in the bridge.
Thanks! I really love how those pickups complimented that guitar. It's very comfortable and I can get a wide range of useable tones out of it. All the best!
Ethan, I try not to judge a guy by his cover but have to admit when I parked I hear I wasn't expecting the great musicianship, or at least shreddy stuff. Very well done, new fan.
Thanks a lot! I've had a few S540's over the years. Believe it or not, I left them stock. They just naturally sounded balanced to me. I've been playing my newer S470's more recently. In one of them I have an AT1 in the bridge, an Area '67 in the middle and a 36 anniversary PAF in the Neck. The other is a maple neck with a Norton in the bridge, Area 67 middle, and a PAF Joe in the neck.
FINALLY a Good Demo of the Area 67 pickups! thanks so much. This video was Epic. Great tone. I've been putting off buying the Area 67 bc All the videos online Suck so bad and people Can't play guitar. Finally There is a Good Demo and NOT some bs Blues playing old guy. This was the Video I've been waiting for. Ps Great playing. you should totally do a bunch more vids in the future. Great Tone. 2 Thumbs up for a Good Player and Great Demo!
For my highest gain settings I use the Fulldrive 2 in vintage mode for some extra drive, but at gig volume this is rarely necessary. I played a gig using only the gain on the Triaxis recently and it was perfectly comfortable. Good luck.
Good demo of your playing, which is beyond complaint, but with the heavy distortion and the (at best) heavy chorused clean sound, you can't separate as a listener, how the pickups sound by themselves with no effect versus the other stuff in the signal.
The intent of my demo is to show how the pickups interact with the full signal chain to create a final, polished sound. Since a pickup is always just one component of a guitar, it's hard to anticipate its impact on your particular instrument. I can say that tonally, they are comparable to the Suhr V60 LP's that they replaced but with less hum, a bit more ping to the pick attack and a bit more output. Many single coil demos dwell on the clean sound and the slightly overdriven response. There are many such demos of these pickups with that approach. I wanted to show that even with lower output than traditional humbuckers, these pickups can still successfully drive an amp, something that is frequently overlooked, and one of the reasons many players are hesitant about single coil pickups. Mic choice and placement, body wood, pot impedence, amp and speaker choice, pre-amp choice, A/D converters, FX chain, volume settings, room tone, and many other factors color our impressions of sound, so my approach is to go for what sounds good to me and is useful for my style of playing. It's highly individual. They are versatile pickups and a lot of fun to play.
It was hard to listen to the pickups... I was too busy listening to your technique. Awesome, man. HOWEVER... I did find an Area Set (58, 67, 61) on sale and put them in my MIM w/maple neck. Very "crystalline" sound, and you're right, they are VERY sensitive to picking technique, something I've got to get used to. As my bridge pickup does not have a tone control I took the easy way out and did a 7-way mod with a toggle to employ the neck pickup when needed to compensate for the really bright 61 bridge. As an added benefit, I can now use ALL the switch positions. The electricity in my building is very dirty, and positions 1-3-5 were virtually unusable before. Now I have 7 switch combinations. This is a very cool set. Thanks for the demo. It really helped make my decision.
Sounds like a great way to go! Without a tone control in the signal path, you have very little resistance on the bridge pickup. With a maple neck and the '61, I would imagine it would be pretty bright. Glad to hear you found a cool way to tame it. All the best.
Just saw this, 11 yrs late to the party... Great phrasing and tone Ethan!!! Love the D- Areas! (wondering JS's reaction when noticed his pickups were replaced by Dimarzio Areas...:)
Thank you! For the cleans I'm using the Triaxis Clean Green channel, with a little bit of delay (around 500 ms with 2 repeats), the detuner from the Digitech 2101 set to about 30 percent wet with about 5 cents of modulation, and some EQ to bring out the sparkle and tame the low end. Also, the Redeemer from Creation Audio Labs does wonders for my clean tone. Best of luck.
I just cant get over how sweet these pickups do high-gain. I could NEVER do that with my mexi strat, even though it's HSS the 61 has a better reaction to all that gain... I'm jelly man
Mostly, on recommendation of my rep from Dimarzio. The '67 is the brightest of the series and especially nice to get some extra string definition from the 2 and 4 position. I had a '58 and '61 to try in the Neck position and ultimately went with the '61. Every guitar is different, and I could easily see preferring the '58 in a different guitar. It's definitely worth experimenting.
This is a hard one because I didn't do this audio mix. On the lead patches I have the delay set to 624 ms with 2 audible repeats at about 30%. The delay is coming from the Digitech GSP 2101 with the artist upgrade. Had the unit for many years. The studio delays used were most probably stock delays from Digital performer set up at around 350ms with each side slightly different to get some depth. The reverb was probably the UAD Plate 140 plug-in. Sorry I can't be more specific! Thanks.
Thanks! The '57 is just a little brighter in my opinion, so the split coil position chimes a little more. I like it where it sits on this particular guitar. The guitar is naturally a little dark.
I recorded them, but the video was getting too long, so we cut them out. The neck pickup alone is throaty, articulate and has a bit more ping than your standard neck pickup. It's flexible. I could do a jazz gig on it pretty authentically rolling off the volume a little and the tone to about 5. Full on, it's round with some bluesy bite. Thanks for checking the video out.
Thank you very much! The choice problem is the hardest problem! One of my favourite guitarists is Doug Aldrich. You have got the same tone! Good luck!)))
Thanks a lot! The output should be comparable to the Fender noiseless pickups. You shouldn't notice a huge dropoff in volume. You may have to adjust the pickup height a little bit to find the balance that works for you, but I've used the Area 67 in a Hum Single Hum Configuration without any problem. Good luck.
The 250K pots will darken the tone a bit but probably won't produce less output than the 500K. The '67 is probably the brightest of all of them, that's why they work well in the middle position. I think it would be a little bright in the Bridge. If you are looking for less output, you may consider getting a true single coil instead of a stack. If you look on the Dimarzio site, they show the output of all of their pickups. Worth checking out. All the best.
Killer tones, brother, esepcially on the 61' that's in the bridge position. I just have one question for you- Are you using a 500k or 250k volume pot? Thanks!
This guitar has a naturally dark character with a lot of bass response, so the Areas balances that perfectly. Every part of the signal chain is going to impact the character of the guitar. There is no one perfect pickup that is going to balance out every instrument. We all have different ears, and different preferences regarding tone and feel. They are a great match for this instrument, and a good pick if you are looking for more clarity and ping to the note without generating any noise.
The pickups sound good in this video, but I think it doesn't accurately reflect how bright these pickups sound IRL. The Area 61 in the bridge of my strat was very bright and thin, just like a stock MIM Fender pickup. I replaced it with Seymour Duncan STK-S7 which I really like because of the warmer and thicker tone.
Killer sound & great playing, I have that same combination in my relic strat and they get it done, clean and with distortion. Now, if I could only play like that?
Your clean sound reminds me of Shawn Lane's sound. Great stuff man! I wish I would've gotten these pups before I purchased my Chopper/ProTrack combo. Keep rockin'!
Ultimately, it would depend on the guitar, but I try to get a lot of chime out of my middle pickup, so I would prefer the 57 there. The differences between the three pickups is a little subtle and will react differently to different guitars depending on their body wood, bridge style, and a whole host of other smaller factors. I can't imagine being disappointed using anything in the area series, unless you are starting with a really bright guitar.
I have never played the YJM's so I can't really compare them. For one reason or another I've never found a set of Seymour Duncan pickups that worked for me. There are plenty of players that use them and sound great but I've never felt comfortable on them.
Why the fuck are you not more famous? Doesn't make sense! You obviously can hold your own with ANY other guitarists in the world! Hope to see you play live and in person someday!
Great Playing!
Great and usefull video, Ethan. Many thanks! Excelent guitar player too 🙂Zdeno. Czech republic
So , you are the mind who play this wonderfull music. Beautiful to meet you Ethan
sharp style bro!!!
Very pro all across the board ! Thank you for the several answers bellow. Very interesting !
I love the crunch and squeal of a high-gain pickup at the bridge. That being said, wow - that tone @3:00 to 4:00 was just magic. Now I have to watch all of your videos!
damn that tone and it's so clear in the neck !!
It cuts without being harsh. Still love these pickups.
Awesome tone and technique.💯
i've been using the 61's and 58's for years but i do have a 67 in another guitar....i really like the 67's too
Thanks for the great review. Finally someone who mics the amp properly so we can hear every note. THANKS! Oh and very nice riffs man.
Nasty playing man! These pickups sound seriously good.
nice guitar playing..i love the pickups..thanks for demo.
That was great demonstration. Very nice!
Your playing is amazing! I also wanna say that I absolutely love your track “Before the Fall”, so atmospheric and heavy! Thank you and all the best in the future!
Thanks, Silvano!
Dude, you SHRED. And MAN, those pick-ups sound amaze!
wow, ethan, great moves. keep it up! proud of you.
amazing buddy, killer tone.
Very nice playing Ethan!
I'm with you on that. I always have returned to Dimarzios over the years. No two guitars respond the same way, and I always seem to be able to find an instrument/pickup combination with dimarzio that satisfies what I want to hear in my head. Thanks for checking out the video.
great review, great playing, thanks!
Love your stuff, keep up the good work Ethan!
You sound great! Thanks for a great pickup demo.
very sweet sounds!!!
Great playing :-) Nice pickups :-)
Love your style Ethan. Keep up the great work.
'Lack of compression'.... Thank you! That explains so much!
Likewise, thanks for the clean tones. Hard to find a pickup review on here with clean sound. Great playing.
The 61/67s is my favourite combo 🔥
Gorgeous!
Thank you! Doug Aldrich has one of the best tones in the business, in my opinion. Being compared to him is very high praise. All the best.
Your tone on "IN THE SHADOWS" is MASSIVE!!!!
That is so cool! Thank you man. )
agresiff dynamic brutal sound ..tq mr Ethan
OMG! That Triaxis. Hope you are still rocking out with it :D
That's some tasty guitar-playing. I have a few Area series pickups myself and I love 'em...
Thirdgen83 Really useful pickups. They've become my "go-to" for strat-like tones.
Thanks, man! These pickups sound great, for sure.
You're a great guitar player, Ethan! Love your stuff!
Terrific demo! I liked both settings, clean and with gain. I put a set in my USA CUSTOM guitar and in my Charvel. 67 in the neck, 61 middle. I used Humbuckers on both guitars in the bridge.
Thanks! I really love how those pickups complimented that guitar. It's very comfortable and I can get a wide range of useable tones out of it. All the best!
Great job dude!!!
You are a great player man! Loving "By The Sword" ;-)
Great tone,Great playing
Rob Chapman Thanks Rob! Been a big fan of your videos for a long time. All the best!
Richard c Ruh Thanks, Richard!
Amazing sound. Really rich and warm while still being crisp and clean. Nice guitar skills. Thanks for the demo.
+Ethan Meixsell my brother is a big fan of you please get his favorite song led foot
You've got a ripping tone and great feel.
Those Dimarzios are very articulate.
Cool demo.
Peace
Ethan, I try not to judge a guy by his cover but have to admit when I parked I hear I wasn't expecting the great musicianship, or at least shreddy stuff. Very well done, new fan.
"Walled In" is one of the best instrumental tracks I've ever heard.
It's on constant repeat in my car.
This Video is 10 Year old, but it helped me alot to convince myself to purchase a nice set of good sounding pickups ;))
I still use them all the time. My go-to singles.
Yes sir! I´m very inspired. thanks for sharing :D
Thanks a lot! I've had a few S540's over the years. Believe it or not, I left them stock. They just naturally sounded balanced to me. I've been playing my newer S470's more recently. In one of them I have an AT1 in the bridge, an Area '67 in the middle and a 36 anniversary PAF in the Neck. The other is a maple neck with a Norton in the bridge, Area 67 middle, and a PAF Joe in the neck.
FINALLY a Good Demo of the Area 67 pickups! thanks so much. This video was Epic. Great tone. I've been putting off buying the Area 67 bc All the videos online Suck so bad and people Can't play guitar. Finally There is a Good Demo and NOT some bs Blues playing old guy. This was the Video I've been waiting for. Ps Great playing. you should totally do a bunch more vids in the future. Great Tone. 2 Thumbs up for a Good Player and Great Demo!
Oh boy you're KILLING me!! I'm a fan you're a hellva player great tone!!!
I love the chorus sound. Reminds me of an Ibanez BC-9
Good demo, good playing too!
You play quite well. Congrats.
God damn dude, you rock!
Killer tone! I grew up thinking I needed humbuckers to have a tone like that but I'm convinced I need a strat with those dimarzios now. Subscribed!
dude, awesome!
Clean sound at 3:15 is incredible !
In 1986 maybe.
That tone sold the Area 67 Pickup for me. Tasty AF.
Thanks for the advice mate.
For my highest gain settings I use the Fulldrive 2 in vintage mode for some extra drive, but at gig volume this is rarely necessary. I played a gig using only the gain on the Triaxis recently and it was perfectly comfortable. Good luck.
Good demo of your playing, which is beyond complaint, but with the heavy distortion and the (at best) heavy chorused clean sound, you can't separate as a listener, how the pickups sound by themselves with no effect versus the other stuff in the signal.
The intent of my demo is to show how the pickups interact with the full signal chain to create a final, polished sound. Since a pickup is always just one component of a guitar, it's hard to anticipate its impact on your particular instrument. I can say that tonally, they are comparable to the Suhr V60 LP's that they replaced but with less hum, a bit more ping to the pick attack and a bit more output. Many single coil demos dwell on the clean sound and the slightly overdriven response. There are many such demos of these pickups with that approach. I wanted to show that even with lower output than traditional humbuckers, these pickups can still successfully drive an amp, something that is frequently overlooked, and one of the reasons many players are hesitant about single coil pickups. Mic choice and placement, body wood, pot impedence, amp and speaker choice, pre-amp choice, A/D converters, FX chain, volume settings, room tone, and many other factors color our impressions of sound, so my approach is to go for what sounds good to me and is useful for my style of playing. It's highly individual. They are versatile pickups and a lot of fun to play.
It was hard to listen to the pickups... I was too busy listening to your technique. Awesome, man. HOWEVER... I did find an Area Set (58, 67, 61) on sale and put them in my MIM w/maple neck. Very "crystalline" sound, and you're right, they are VERY sensitive to picking technique, something I've got to get used to.
As my bridge pickup does not have a tone control I took the easy way out and did a 7-way mod with a toggle to employ the neck pickup when needed to compensate for the really bright 61 bridge.
As an added benefit, I can now use ALL the switch positions. The electricity in my building is very dirty, and positions 1-3-5 were virtually unusable before. Now I have 7 switch combinations. This is a very cool set.
Thanks for the demo. It really helped make my decision.
Sounds like a great way to go! Without a tone control in the signal path, you have very little resistance on the bridge pickup. With a maple neck and the '61, I would imagine it would be pretty bright. Glad to hear you found a cool way to tame it. All the best.
Just saw this, 11 yrs late to the party... Great phrasing and tone Ethan!!! Love the D- Areas! (wondering JS's reaction when noticed his pickups were replaced by Dimarzio Areas...:)
Smokin it Ethan !!!
Thanks, Johnny! You're a killer player!
Thank you! For the cleans I'm using the Triaxis Clean Green channel, with a little bit of delay (around 500 ms with 2 repeats), the detuner from the Digitech 2101 set to about 30 percent wet with about 5 cents of modulation, and some EQ to bring out the sparkle and tame the low end. Also, the Redeemer from Creation Audio Labs does wonders for my clean tone. Best of luck.
brother thanx ...bought them .......awesome
I just cant get over how sweet these pickups do high-gain. I could NEVER do that with my mexi strat, even though it's HSS the 61 has a better reaction to all that gain... I'm jelly man
Mostly, on recommendation of my rep from Dimarzio. The '67 is the brightest of the series and especially nice to get some extra string definition from the 2 and 4 position. I had a '58 and '61 to try in the Neck position and ultimately went with the '61. Every guitar is different, and I could easily see preferring the '58 in a different guitar. It's definitely worth experimenting.
This is a hard one because I didn't do this audio mix. On the lead patches I have the delay set to 624 ms with 2 audible repeats at about 30%. The delay is coming from the Digitech GSP 2101 with the artist upgrade. Had the unit for many years. The studio delays used were most probably stock delays from Digital performer set up at around 350ms with each side slightly different to get some depth. The reverb was probably the UAD Plate 140 plug-in. Sorry I can't be more specific! Thanks.
Thanks! The '57 is just a little brighter in my opinion, so the split coil position chimes a little more. I like it where it sits on this particular guitar. The guitar is naturally a little dark.
Thanks! All of those clips, outside of where I'm playing to the song "Walled In" were just demo improvs. All the best.
omg at 2:59 what a beautiful awesome sound! thats killer man!
I recorded them, but the video was getting too long, so we cut them out. The neck pickup alone is throaty, articulate and has a bit more ping than your standard neck pickup. It's flexible. I could do a jazz gig on it pretty authentically rolling off the volume a little and the tone to about 5. Full on, it's round with some bluesy bite. Thanks for checking the video out.
Thank you very much! The choice problem is the hardest problem! One of my favourite guitarists is Doug Aldrich. You have got the same tone!
Good luck!)))
Man !........my Jaw dropped !!....I was about to buy a SD Pearly Gates or Seth Lover but now I don't know anymore.
Thanks a lot! The output should be comparable to the Fender noiseless pickups. You shouldn't notice a huge dropoff in volume. You may have to adjust the pickup height a little bit to find the balance that works for you, but I've used the Area 67 in a Hum Single Hum Configuration without any problem. Good luck.
The rhythms are a combination of that guitar and in Ibanez S470 with an AT1 in the bridge position.
The 250K pots will darken the tone a bit but probably won't produce less output than the 500K. The '67 is probably the brightest of all of them, that's why they work well in the middle position. I think it would be a little bright in the Bridge. If you are looking for less output, you may consider getting a true single coil instead of a stack. If you look on the Dimarzio site, they show the output of all of their pickups. Worth checking out. All the best.
Ive been looking for noiseless pickups for a strat.. I think this would do.. and nice playing!
I think they are a great choice.
Whats the outro song?
That's Walled In. Thanks!
WHAT A PLAYER WHAT A SOUND
HI...after watching your video I did an order for these pick ups..so thanks a lot
you rules!!!
Killer tones, brother, esepcially on the 61' that's in the bridge position. I just have one question for you- Are you using a 500k or 250k volume pot? Thanks!
This guitar has a naturally dark character with a lot of bass response, so the Areas balances that perfectly. Every part of the signal chain is going to impact the character of the guitar. There is no one perfect pickup that is going to balance out every instrument. We all have different ears, and different preferences regarding tone and feel. They are a great match for this instrument, and a good pick if you are looking for more clarity and ping to the note without generating any noise.
Thanks, Bill!
Eric Johnson needs to discover these pickups.
Yes you inspired me to not only check them out but to also buy them but why don't I sound like you😬
do more demos man. your a good presenter.
Cara estou impressionado com você. Tem ótimos riffs! É um dos melhores!
you Sir... are a very talented composer & great guitar virtuoso..
The pickups sound good in this video, but I think it doesn't accurately reflect how bright these pickups sound IRL. The Area 61 in the bridge of my strat was very bright and thin, just like a stock MIM Fender pickup. I replaced it with Seymour Duncan STK-S7 which I really like because of the warmer and thicker tone.
Killer sound & great playing, I have that same combination in my relic strat and they get it done, clean and with distortion. Now, if I could only play like that?
Still is my favorite combination of singles. Thanks for watching.
Man, you have put the quality in the audio library.
Your clean sound reminds me of Shawn Lane's sound. Great stuff man! I wish I would've gotten these pups before I purchased my Chopper/ProTrack combo. Keep rockin'!
more than 50% of video made by users have a Ethan Meixsell song in the background
Ethan your are an incredible talent,better than anything you ever did in Penn and Teller, moves me to tears.
Saludos cordiales desde Oaxaca México 🤝 felicidades
I love your Suhr...
Ultimately, it would depend on the guitar, but I try to get a lot of chime out of my middle pickup, so I would prefer the 57 there. The differences between the three pickups is a little subtle and will react differently to different guitars depending on their body wood, bridge style, and a whole host of other smaller factors. I can't imagine being disappointed using anything in the area series, unless you are starting with a really bright guitar.
Holy crap you can play!!
Nice demo Ethan,great guitar playin.It would be so cool to see you and Rob do some lick trade offs and harmonies together.
Nice demonstration and some tasty playing but all I could think was "please send me that beautiful Ibanez behind you" :)
How do the Area 61's compare to YJM Fury for metal? Specifically the Bridge and Neck
I have never played the YJM's so I can't really compare them. For one reason or another I've never found a set of Seymour Duncan pickups that worked for me. There are plenty of players that use them and sound great but I've never felt comfortable on them.
Great video what tone pots are you using 250k or 500k? Thanks
Thanks! These are 500's.
Why the fuck are you not more famous? Doesn't make sense! You obviously can hold your own with ANY other guitarists in the world! Hope to see you play live and in person someday!