DiMarzio

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DiMarzio (full name: DiMarzio Musical Instrument Pickups, Inc.) is a US-based electronic manufacturing company, famous for its guitar pickups. Company also produces miscellaneous guitar accessories, such as cables, straps and hardware.

DiMarzio became known for its Super Distortion model, which was the first after market replacement guitar pickup available to the mass market. It is still one of the most popular models.

The super distortion pickup produced a higher electrical output than the pickups normally fitted as standard to guitars at the time. It has around twice the impedance of a PAF type pickup, and a stronger ceramic magnet. This drove the input stage of guitar amplifiers with roughly twice as much voltage as a PAF pickup, so that an overdriven distorted sound was easier to obtain.

Two of the technologies that they are known for are:

their patented Dual-Resonance design which uses two asymmetrical coils tuned to different frequencies to produce unique sounds.

their Airbucker (tm) design which reduces string pull and increases sensitivity and sustain.

[edit] Notable users

Steve Vai (The Breed, Evolution, Evo 2, Blaze II and many others)
Billy Sheehan (Model One, Model P, Will Power)
Joe Satriani (PAF Joe, PAF Pro, FRED, Mo' Joe)
Eric Johnson (EJ Custom, HS-2)
Steve Morse (Steve Morse Model)
Chuck Schuldiner of Death (X2N)
David Gilmour of Pink Floyd (FS-1)
Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden (Super Distortion, humbucker)
John Petrucci of Dream Theater (Modified Air Norton, Steve's Special, D-Sonic, Tone Zone, Humbucker From Hell)
Paul Gilbert (PAF Pro, Tone Zone)
Yngwie Malmsteen (HS-3, YJM)
Kristian Niemann of Therion (Super 2, Super 3)
Andy Timmons (Cruiser, AT1 Custom)
Randy Rhoads (Super Distortion, PAF)
Jerry Garcia (SDS-1, Super 2)
East Bay Ray of Dead Kennedys(Super Distortion, PAF Pro)
Ace Frehley of KISS (Super Distortion)
Pete Townshend of The Who (Super Distortion)
Bryan Levesque of The Routers (Super Distortion)
Trent Coddington of Stevie Tan in Wonderland (PAF Pro, FRED)
Kurt Cobain of Nirvana (PAF, Super Distortion)
"Fast" Eddie Clarke of Motörhead (X2N, SDS-1)
Michael Romeo of Symphony X (X2N, Tone Zone)
Herman Li of DragonForce
Sam Totman of DragonForce
Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age/Kyuss (Super 2)
Dexter Holland of The Offspring (Super Distortion)
Bumblefoot of Guns N' Roses
Austin Hedges of Altopuck (Ultra Jazz)

[edit] References

Lawrence P. DiMarzio holds following US patents:

US4133243 (1979-01-09) DiMarzio, Lawrence P. Electric pickup
US4227434 (1980-10-14) DiMarzio, Lawrence P. Adjustable soundhole mount for a musical pickup
US4320829 (1982-03-23) DiMarzio, Lawrence P.; Altilio, Daniel Merchandise display container — a special container for merchandising pickups.
US4442749 (1984-04-17) DiMarzio, Lawrence P.; Blucher, Steven L. Electrical pickup for a stringed instrument having ferromagnetic strings